URISA ESIG Award Testimonials

The following are testimonials from past Exemplary Systems in Government (ESIG) Award winners.

"I believe the award has done two things for me professionally. The first relates to leadership. The award was a source of pride for my team and reinforced the team’s belief in my ability to pull all the pieces together to develop a product worthy of national recognition and their ability to be successful in their roles. The second relates to credibility. Many of the District’s senior leaders have little experience in GIS. However, many of these leaders are familiar with URISA. Receiving this award has reinforced their decision to entrust me with this large, complex project and has demonstrated that I can deliver despite the statistics related to failed and overly expensive IT projects.

- Don Nehmer, Capital Program Business Manager, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, WI
SewerView, 2009 ESIG Enterprise Systems Category - Distinguished System

“It was an honor to receive the ESIG award from URISA this past year. By participating in the ESIG award process we were able to exercise another reason to evaluate our system, by doing so we were able to find ways to improve our current system. We also received local media exposure because of the ESIG award, this helped us inform the Forsyth County public of how we were applying GIS for public safety in their county. This award also validated all of the hard work and development that went into this system, this helped the GIS department fortify a trust with the Forsyth County Administration.”

- John Kilgore, GISP, GIS Director, Forsyth County, GA - GIS Mobile Emergency Response System (ERS), 2009 ESIG Single Process System Winner

"By participating in the ESIG process we are able to demonstrate how GIS technology benefits the whole organization in a very broad scope. Winning the award also greatly increased “GIS awareness” in the organization. The project eventually received an internal “City Manager Award”, boosting the importance of GIS in the organization’s technology environment."

- Nianwei Liu, GISP, Senior System Analyst, City of Charlotte, NC
Virtual Charlotte, 2009 ESIG Enterprise Systems Category Winner

"One of the most rewarding aspects of participating in the ESIG Awards process was the rare opportunity to formally acknowledge the outstanding efforts of our staff and regional partner agencies for their collaborative work. Recognition of their achievements by URISA's respected community of GIS professionals and peers has provided quite a charge."

- Eric Brandt, GISP, GIS Program Manager, Lane Council of Governments, OR
Regional Land Information Database (RLID), 2009 ESIG Enterprise Systems Category - Distinguished System

As a relatively small department in a large city government, the Department of Records was particularly proud of having PhillyHistory.org selected as a Distinguished System in the ESIG competition. The award helps to validate the hard work that has been put into development of the system, which has proven to be a great asset both for the department and for the general public who have been enthusiastic in their use of the application. Given tightening city budgets, particularly in relation to programs that do not address vital city services, recognition such as this helps to make the case in support of our efforts.

Application Preparation Time Estimate: 15 hours

Joan Decker & Megan Heckert
City of Philadelphia, PA
PhillyHistory.org
2007 ESIG Single Process Category
Distinguished System Winner

Winning the ESIG award is an exciting and very significant achievement for the entire REGIS Agency: the Board of Directors; member jurisdictions; staff; and stakeholders at large. This recognition further validates our mission of sharing services across the jurisdictional boundaries and not just organizational boundaries. The REGIS consortium works together under one umbrella, providing services and saving the communities’ money by pooling resources for hardware, software, personnel, etc. It also allows an interconnectivity not seen in other consortiums, thus promoting regional collaboration and planning.

We sincerely hope that through this recognition, we will be able to effectively share the REGIS model of collaboration and sharing with other similar jurisdictions throughout the nation. This recognition will help us in expanding membership to public and private sector agencies in the region. This award from URISA, a premier international association of GIS professionals, also proves a convincing use of tax dollars invested in REGIS Agency to our citizens, elected officials and law makers.

Application Preparation Time Estimate: 28 hours

Dharmesh Jain
Regional GIS Director
REGIS Agency, GVMC, Grand Rapids, MI
2007 ESIG Enterprise Systems Category Winner
REGIS: REgional Geographic Information System

At the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, we have a major objective in mind, that is, to provide our customers with a World-Class level of service. We have received many complements regarding our GIS system from internal (Authority staff) and external (consultants) users of the system in the past, but we needed to know how we are doing compared to other remarkable GIS applications implemented by other agencies. Winning the distinguished Award of the ESIG 2007 has emphasized that we are on the right track. It proved the hard work and cooperative efforts of our staff, and it also showed that the Authority is committed to providing high-quality work for San Diego.

Application Preparation Time Estimate: 2 weeks

Ataa A. Aly, P.E.
Project Engineer
San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
2007 ESIG Enterprise Systems Category
Distinguished System Winner

Winning the ESIG Single Process Award and being recognized on an international level was a tremendous achievement for Prince William County. It represents the hard work and accomplishments that our entire division achieved in the 18 month conversion process. It symbolizes the teamwork that went into the project and dedication of bringing a fifteen year old workflow into the most current technology and all the change that comes with it. The ESIG application process and award gave our customers a chance to see that GIS is not just about making pretty maps but that it is a powerful tool that can be used daily by our public administrators and citizens to make decisions and that there are endless possibilities of integrating it more in our future business processes.

Application Preparation Time Estimate: 150 hours over 2.5 months

Angela Mills, GISP
Prince William County GIS
2007 ESIG Single Process Category Winner