SAN ANTONIO, TX, March 5, 2007 -- The Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) announced today that EPCOR Water Services, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was named the recipient of the 2007 GITA Excellence Award for the water sector. The award recognizes the dedication, insight, and high degree of initiative in the outstanding application of geospatial technology. The award was presented during the Opening Session of GITA's Annual Conference 30, being held March 4-7, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.
In 2003, EPCOR Utilities Inc. started a second generation geographic information system (GIS) project based on Oracle Spatial technology with a proof of concept project. In the summer of 2004, the WALRUS and PUMA projects were started, and the deployment was concluded in November 2005. The entire final migration took only 16 days to complete -- during which time, existing data was still available.
Benefits realized from the project:
• Increased productivity by GIS recorders
• Increased usability of GIS data
• Reduced support requirements
• Increased flexibility to meet business needs of two unique business units
• A data-centric, application neutral system that can interface with other systems
"By providing a single facility master information database, WALRUS gives us reliable and consistent information in all interfaced systems. The WALRUS project has enabled us to start to move towards work management with real-time connectivity to the master facility in the field," said Terry Wilson, director, Distribution Operations & Planning, EPCOR.
For more information about GITA's Awards Program, click here...
The mission of the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA), based in Aurora, CO, is to provide excellence in education, information exchange, and applied research on the use and benefits of geospatial information and technology in business, utility, and government applications worldwide. Visit GITA on the web at www.gita.org
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Also see: "EPCOR Water Services receives GITA's Excellence Award" (EPCOR News Release)
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