State of Maryland Receives ESRI President's Award

06 August 2009, 7:45pm

Redlands, California — August 6, 2009 — During the Plenary Session at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, California, ESRI president Jack Dangermond recognized the State of Maryland with the ESRI President's Award. Governor Martin O'Malley accepted the award on behalf of state employees for their work using geographic information system (GIS) technology to manage government.

"GIS holds a tremendous amount of promise, and we're proud to be among the most innovative states in the nation to utilize its potential," said O'Malley. "GIS is more than a revolutionary technology. It has the ability to connect human efforts with human problems, track the basic needs and resources of any government, and recognize trends in the services we provide. In short, the GIS technology that we employed at the city level, and now at the state level, operates under the basic assumption that if we pay taxes, our government ought to work for us."

For the audience of thousands, O'Malley showcased the GIS implementations that have developed under his leadership including StateStat, BayStat, GreenPrint, and online recovery maps. These performance measurement tools are used to analyze the progress of state government, the health of Chesapeake Bay, the protection of ecological areas, and the impact of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

"Those of us who believe in the progressive power of GIS believe that in using the map—in using smart maps to strengthen our connections to one another—we have the potential to change the course of a city's history, to change the course of a state's history, to change the course of our country's history and maybe even the course of the planet's history," said O'Malley.

Among its many successes with GIS, in 2008, the state had the second-largest reduction in the homicide rate since 1985. It also decreased wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles from 61 minutes in July 2007 to 30 minutes in April 2009.

"He is truly one of America's great leaders," remarked Dangermond.

To watch O'Malley's acceptance speech, visit the link below.

O'Malley's acceptance speech

Geo: International