News Roundup – November 2020

November 6, 2020

Dani Pacey

What is the role of data standardization in improving Canadian governments’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic? How can users save time by automating repetitive tasks in a Web GIS? How can retailers use location intelligence to create a better post-pandemic shopping experience? Learn more in the November News Roundup.

Feature Stories

Mapping COVID-19: Let’s Standardize Public Health Data Now
Canada is at a crossroads in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with surges in infection rates that risk overwhelming our health systems. In this timely blog post, Esri Canada president Alex Miller calls on governments to redouble their data standardization efforts in support of critical public health decision making.

Resources for mobility planning and operations in the pandemic
This blog post contains resources—including a story showing how socioeconomic status and transit availability are connected—that transit professionals can use when adapting their transit systems to COVID-19.

Five steps to a better geospatial strategy
Learn how to craft a geospatial strategy with this comprehensive, step-by-step blog post. You’ll not only learn an overall framework, but also the questions to ask at each step along the way.

Powerful GIS toolsets for intelligence professionals
Learn how professionals working in defence and intelligence can make use of ArcGIS Pro Intelligence, a custom application that helps intelligence analysts examine spatial relationships, detect patterns, identify relationships, track movements and select the likeliest course of action.

Get more done! Use Python to automate tasks in your Web GIS portal
The latest release of ArcGIS API for Python can help you automate repetitive tasks, freeing you to focus on higher-value activities. Learn more—and discover related resources—by reading this blog post.

Greater Sudbury Hydro: Small steps to successful digital transformation
Read the story of Greater Sudbury Hydro, who successfully moved their inspection process—which had previously been conducted on paper—to a set of easy-to-use ArcGIS Online apps. By doing this, they’ve saved themselves over two months of inspection and administration time per year.

How do collaborative hierarchies impact SDI governance?
Hierarchies affect the relationships of individual SDIs within broader communities like Geospatial Collaboratives. Read this blog post to learn how your organization can ensure that it is integrating high-quality GIS data from other organizations when participating in such communities.

How to manage through a convergence of crises
At a time when many communities are facing multiple emergencies at once, Esri Canada’s David Hamilton calls on decision makers to engage in heightened planning and preparedness while making the best use of available resources.

Esri News

Esri, UN, and GEO Blue Planet Release Water Health Tool
November 4, 2020

Esri Announces New Security Enhancements through Integration of US Government-Approved Drone and Cloud Deployment to the European Union
October 6, 2020

Resources

ArcUser: Geospatial Infrastructure at Its Best
At the 2020 Esri User Conference, York Region’s shared geospatial infrastructure was recognized with the President’s Award. The Summer 2020 issue of ArcUser has the story of how York Region has built a data cooperative that successfully supports over 1.2 million residents across nine fast-growing cities and towns.

Read the latest issue of ArcUser online.

ArcNews: GIS—Visualizing Racial Equity
Race and place come together in various ways that generate different outcomes for different people. Esri’s core technology can therefore be an important tool for visualizing racial disparities. Esri also recognizes the role it plays in addressing racial equity in the broader GIS community. Read more about Esri’s new racial equity initiative in this article from the Fall 2020 issue of ArcNews.

Read the latest issue of ArcNews online.

WhereNext: Gaining Retail Advantage in the Post-COVID-19 Era
Retail executives face difficult choices as COVID-19 accelerates changes in shopping behavior. But writing off brick-and-mortar locations shouldn’t be the first reaction. In this WhereNext article, an industry insider offers advice on using location intelligence to create the best possible retail presence.

Esri & The Science of Where Podcast: The New Geography of Health and Disease
Dr. Jonathan Mayer, professor emeritus of epidemiology and geography at the University of Washington, discusses the historical and present relationship between human geography and public health with Esri CMO Marianna Kantor.

Video: Ten Most Destructive California Wildfires
In 2003, the Cedar Fire swept through Southern California’s San Diego County, consuming more than 273,000 acres, destroying nearly 3,000 structures and killing 15 people. It was the state’s worst wildfire since the Tunnel Fire hit the densely populated hills of the Bay Area’s Alameda County in 1991. Since then, California’s wildfires have reached a level of nearly incomprehensible destructiveness. For example, this year’s North Complex Fire, in the same region, has consumed almost as much acreage as the state’s nine other all-time worst fires combined—and it’s still burning after two months.