Case Studies

Modernizing Alberta’s Resource Management with Mobile GIS

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Challenge Alberta Environment & Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) consists of three divisions that manage public lands, forests, and fish and wildlife. The agency must strike the right balance between economic development and competing interests which include the health of watersheds, grazing opportunities, prosperous fish and wildlife populations and recreation availability. With a workload that has steadily increased over the last several years, ESRD staff recognized a need for greater efficiencies in their day-to-day work. Staff within the Lands and Range Division, responsible for conducting field inspections to determine the best places for various types of land use, would spend an entire day in the office conducting research and preplanning inspections. They would print out paper maps and other documents to take with them on site. With each staff conducting up to eight inspections per day, it became impossible to collect the required information in a timely manner. After completing field work, staff would return to the office to manually update data and respond to clients regarding the inspections by phone or email. This resulted in field staff spending about two days a week in the office, rather than being in the field. ESRD recognized that the only solution would be to equip field staff with the tools required to remotely access and update real-time data. Mobile Office Initiative improves service delivery and increases productivity by 30% Despite the downturn in the global financial market, Alberta's economy continues to grow and represents nearly one-fifth of the country's $1.72-trillion gross domestic product. Alberta Environment & Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) is the government branch tasked with balancing resource extraction with preserving the earth's finite resources. Over the past few years, Alberta's growing economy created a significant increase in the number of requests submitted to ESRD. In response, the agency leveraged GIS to launch the Mobile Office Initiative which subsequently led to a 30% increase in productivity. 1 Esri Canada | Modernizing Alberta's Resource Management with Mobile GIS

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