A Canadian city has been recognized with a national award for its geospatially-enabled Web portal that features Visual Fusion software from IDV Solutions.

The City of Brampton, Ontario is the winner of the 2011 Innovator Award from the Geospatial Information and Technology Association; this award honors organizations that create new and original geospatial applications to benefit their customers. The City earlier received the GTEC (Government Technology Exhibition and Conference) Gold Medal Distinction Award, which recognizes innovation, excellence, and leadership in public sector service delivery in Canada.

Brampton's Web portal emphasizes interactivity, transparency, and self-service. Using Visual Fusion’s data connectors and integration with Microsoft SharePoint, the site unites data from multiple data sources and City departments. Users can access everything from transit schedules and meeting minutes to aerial photos and live webcams, directly from the Visual Fusion map interface, which leverages Bing Maps. The portal empowers City employees in all departments to update map-based and online information, freeing the City's GIS department for higher value work. Brampton uses Visual Fusion's dynamic map interface to deliver a wide variety of information to different audiences:

• Residents can find libraries, schools, transit stations, emergency services, road closures, parks, playgrounds, public meetings, and more.
• Businesses can search by type and size for vacant land parcels.
• Visitors to Brampton can find dining, shopping, accommodations and city attractions.

"Our Web portal offers our residents, businesses and corporate partners a positive and valuable customer-focused online experience,” Mayor Susan Fennell said recently.

Visual Fusion is business intelligence software for building applications that unite content from virtually any data source in a visual, interactive context for better insight and understanding. With a Silverlight front-end and strong emphasis on user experience, Visual Fusion is tailored for non-technical business users.

"The Brampton application is a great example of Visual Fusion’s strengths," explained IDV's VP of Products, Scott Caulk. "A compelling interface that makes information consumption and discovery quick, easy, and enjoyable, and an accessible back-end that makes keeping the data up-to-date a task that any employee can perform. The team at Brampton deserves all the kudos they are receiving. They have created a fantastic civic portal and we’re proud that Visual Fusion is a part of it."

About IDV Solutions
IDV Solutions is a business intelligence software company committed to helping organizations gain more insight from data. By repeatedly solving key problems for customers in the Global 2000 and government, IDV and its products have earned a reputation for innovation, speed, and the highest quality user experience. For more information, please visit www.idvsolutions.com