Calgary, Esri Canada User Conference – May 27, 2014 – The City of Lethbridge, Alberta was honoured today with an Award of Excellence by Esri Canada for building upon their use of geographic information systems (GIS) with the creation of the Community Asset Management Program. The integration of ArcGIS and Cityworks in the pilot project for their Water Operations department has seen immediate benefits in locating, assessing and documenting the conditions of aging fire hydrant infrastructure.

“Our field inspectors used to carry around a large binder with printed documents that they would make notes on and send back to the office to be scanned, copied and reprinted every three months,” said Joel Sanchez, Asset Manager, Community asset Management Program, City of Lethbridge. “Now they can easily look-up current hydrant information such as model, depth, maintenance and flushing history and send requests to the IT department or receive instant updates on iPads that have been deployed in the field. This allows the City to keep track of hydrant conditions more easily and to plan maintenance more efficiently.”

The City of Lethbridge is one of Alberta’s fastest growing municipalities and is a key rural population centre in the province.  As the largest city and the commercial, financial, transportation and industrial centre of southern Alberta, it is responsible for providing vital services to a population of nearly 90,000 including emergency services, infrastructure and utilities.  The Community Asset Management Program will leverage the ArcGIS platform and Cityworks to dramatically improve the City’s ability to maintain tangible capital assets and achieve their goal of sustainable asset management.

“Today, the City of Lethbridge’s incorporation of ArcGIS and Cityworks enables a proactive approach to the maintenance of their fire hydrant assets,” noted Alex Miller, president, Esri Canada. “In the near future, it will provide the foundation for a complete and accurate view of all infrastructure assets so that the City can effectively allocate resources, prioritize work orders and support long-term capital planning.”

Following the initial implementation within the Water Operations Department, the solution will be expanded to other departments. The Transportation Department is looking to utilize these templates to manage maintenance on roads, sidewalks, paths and trails.  Waste and Recycling will leverage the solution to keep track of bin condition to determine when they need replacing, while the Parks Department will be able to determine upkeep and repairs needed for trees, benches and playgrounds.

About City of Lethbridge
A mid-sized city of approximately 90,000 people, Lethbridge is located in the southern part of Alberta, Canada. With an average of 320 days of sunshine each year and one of the warmest winters in the western provinces. The geographic location also ensures close proximity to world class ski resorts in the Canadian Rockies, majestic national parks, the vibrant city of Calgary and the U.S. border.  The city’s information and cultural industries continue to grow due to the strong presence of two post-secondary institutions as well as the emergence of Lethbridge as a significant high-tech presence in Alberta.  Lethbridge also serves as a hub for commercial activity in the region by providing services and amenities and is southern Alberta's commercial, distribution, financial and industrial centre.

About Esri Canada
Founded in 1984, Esri Canada provides enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower businesses, governments and educational institutions to make timely, informed and mission-critical decisions by leveraging the power of geography.  The company distributes the world's leading GIS software from Esri, Schneider Electric, Cityworks – Azteca Systems, Inc. and other technology partners.  Headquartered in Toronto, the company serves over 10,000 customers from 16 regional offices across Canada.  Esri Canada joined the elite rank of Canada’s Best Managed companies and is on the Branham300 list.  Information about the company can be found at esri.ca. Follow Esri Canada on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.  

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