Groundbreaking GIS-Based Performance Accountability Applications Improve Transparency in Maryland Government

Redlands, California—February 24, 2009—During the closing session of the 2009 National Governors Association (NGA) Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C., yesterday, geographic information system (GIS) software leader ESRI received a Public-Private Partnership Award for its work with the State of Maryland Office of the Governor. ESRI was acknowledged for its role in developing the innovative, GIS-based performance measurement applications MD iMap, GreenPrint, and BayStat.

"We are honored to receive this award for our work with the governor's office in Maryland," says ESRI president Jack Dangermond. "For the first time, a state has developed an online reporting system that uses geography and statistics to show citizens and government stakeholders hard data about government goals, activities, and progress. It was a privilege to work closely with Governor Martin O'Malley and his staff on these groundbreaking accountability tools."

MD iMap is a Web portal that provides an authoritative basemap of Maryland and allows government and citizens to assess information about state, local, and municipal performance. GreenPrint is a planning tool designed to help government staff, conservation organizations, and individual citizens make good decisions about land conservation and growth. GreenPrint is accessible via MD iMap.

Both MD iMap and GreenPrint build upon other GIS-based accountability programs O’Malley has initiated in the state including BayStat and StateStat. Those Web mapping applications allow government staff and citizens to assess Chesapeake Bay restoration projects and evaluate the effectiveness of state government projects. All these applications are based on the pioneering concepts of CitiStat, which O’Malley spearheaded when he was mayor of Baltimore.

"MD iMap and GreenPrint were possible because of our partnership with ESRI," says Governor O'Malley. "These tools have the potential to revolutionize the way citizens learn about government operations and how state and local governments share information. They encourage fact-based decision making and result-oriented policy development in addition to transparency in government. I hope other states will create similar initiatives based on these examples."

The Public-Private Partnership Awards recognize NGA Corporate Fellow companies for noteworthy partnerships with governors and states. The awards honor companies that have partnered with governors' offices to implement programs or projects that positively affect the citizens of those states.

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.


Contact:

Emily Vines
ESRI
Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-3571
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