New Centralized Geographic Information System Provides Framework for Efficient Asset Management

London, ON – ESRI Canada User Conference – April 5, 2011 – ESRI Canada today presented the City of Brantford with an Award of Excellence for enhancing enterprise asset management using ESRI geographic information system (GIS) technology.  Since the 1990s, the City has recorded and managed information on the location and attributes of their municipal infrastructure.  To efficiently manage the large amount of data they have accumulated, the City integrated numerous systems and centralized geographic and asset data into a geodatabase in 2010.  The new system allows 600 users in various city departments to access accurate and up-to-date information through a Web map, enhancing asset management planning and operations.

“GIS is the backbone of an effective enterprise asset management framework,” said Alex Miller, president, ESRI Canada.  “The City of Brantford recognized this early on.  They had already managed their asset information geographically using GIS for decades, so they were ahead of the curve when PSAB 3150 requiring municipalities to account for capital assets came into effect.  With the integration of their asset and corporate databases with their GIS, they've made it easier for municipal staff to find the data they need to make effective decisions, perform their work efficiently and better manage community assets.  What they've done is quite impressive and serves as a model for other municipalities.”

The geodatabase is powered by ESRI's ArcGIS Server technology, which integrates with other corporate systems such as the City's Linear Asset Data Repository and work order management systems.  Using a Web map, engineers, city planners and other staff can access hundreds of data layers on thousands of municipal assets including road networks, buildings, trees and property basemaps.  They can also view video records of the City's underground wastewater network through the map.  Municipal employees can access the application in the office and in the field, enabling more rapid decisions.  The system supports various municipal processes including capital planning and reconstruction projects, fire and police operations, and economic development.

“One of our biggest challenges was maintaining data accuracy,” said Claudia Puchalski, manager, Asset Management, City of Brantford.  “After integrating our systems into the ESRI geodatabase, managing information has become easier and much more efficient.  We now have all our asset information in one place and have eliminated redundant data.  There's also increased accountability because we're now able to set up the system to allow editing access only for data that each individual or group manages.  This project required significant buy-in internally, which we were able to obtain because our senior management and staff saw the efficiencies from using GIS.  Our new online mapping application has become an indispensable tool for our users and has helped increase collaboration between departments.”

The system has also improved the productivity of the City's four-member mapping team, enabling them to produce internal maps more quickly – from half a day to an hour.  This has increased their capacity to produce public maps such as transit route/schedule and tourism maps, which were previously done by outside consultants.  In the future, the City plans to further leverage the GIS to support their e-government initiative and enhance public access to their GIS data using Web maps.

For more information about ESRI's ArcGIS Server, visit esricanada.com/products/arcgisserver.

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About the City of Brantford
The City of Brantford is a municipal corporation in southern Ontario serving a population of 95,600 residents and over 5,000 businesses.  As a single-tier municipality, it provides services to the public in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Act, including management of public assets.  Detailed information about the City of Brantford is available at www.brantford.ca.

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, Telvent, Cityworks and other technology partners.  Headquartered in Toronto, the company serves over 10,000 customers from 16 regional offices across Canada and has been named as one of the top 250 Canadian IT companies and top 25 IT professional services providers in Canada by the Branham Group.  Information about ESRI Canada can be found at esricanada.com.

Media contact:
Joy Chan
PR Specialist
ESRI Canada
416-386-6488
Email Contact
esricanada.com