– Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was awarded the Esri President’s Award at the annual Esri International User Conference in San Diego, Calif. Esri is a company specializing in GIS mapping software. The President’s Award is given to one organization each year that exemplifies a model for others to follow in implementing geographic information systems (GIS) successfully, as well as making a positive impact on the environment and society.

EPA was recognized for their pioneering use of GIS in protecting the nation’s environment, efficiently organizing their GIS assets, and bringing geospatial thinking to the public. One example of EPA’s use of GIS to help people use environmental information to make important health decisions is the AirNOW program – which provides local air quality data in real time. Additionally, EPA recently launched their Geospatial Platform, which is intended to support internal data sharing and operations, as well as the publication of public maps and data services.

This award has been given to 20 different organizations in the past two decades and winners are chosen from among hundreds of thousands of GIS users across the world.

More information on the Esri conference: http://www.esri.com/events/user-conference/index.html

More information on EPA’s Geospatial program: http://www.epa.gov/geospatial/