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News Roundup – October 2023

What’s the future of office buildings in a world being transformed by hybrid work? How is GIS helping address critical challenges faced by water utilities? And how can a business leader identify gaps in their GIS workforce’s strengths and shore up their operation against adversity? Learn more in the News Roundup for October 2023.

Feature Stories

Map of the Month: Wenco Wifi Signal Strength—Option 4
October’s Map of the Month is “Wenco Wifi Signal Strength—Option 4” by New Gold Inc. The map illustrates an analysis of wifi coverage zones over a specific work area and shows where there are potential “dead” zones. By identifying problem areas, wireless connection to dispatch and haul trucks can better be maintained throughout the work area.

Geographical Thinking: Season 4 | Episode 1 – The Case for Converting Commercial Real Estate
Hybrid work is changing the way organizations are using office buildings. So what’s the future of office buildings? Geographical Thinking host Guan Yue spoke to Mary Rowe, executive director of the Canadian Urban Institute, about adaptive reuse, ways to convert empty office real estate and how we can reimagine Canadian downtowns to be more resilient.

Listen to the latest episode of Geographical Thinking here. 

The Future of Planning
As urbanization continues to shape our cities, the need to design sustainable communities is becoming increasingly pronounced. So how to balance the competing priorities of functionality, aesthetics, environmental concerns, rapid population growth, changing demographics and alignment with the private sector? Esri Canada’s director of planning systems, Jeff Lamb, proposes GIS as a system for harmonizing all these aspirations and forging stronger partnerships between stakeholders.

5 Water Utility Challenges Transformed by the Utility Network
Water utility operators deal with complex challenges every day, like rising demand, water shortages, aging infrastructure and evolving technology. GIS can help address these challenges directly.

How to create an effective geospatial competency matrix
A geospatial competency matrix helps business leaders better understand their GIS workforce’s strengths and can identify gaps that they need to address to reach their goals. Creating a geospatial competency matrix is a great way to guide and uplift their GIS workforce skills strategically. In this article, Esri Canada manager of management consulting Allen Williams offer a practical guide to developing a matrix you can use in your organization.

Keeping geospatial innovation relevant: the resilient leader's guide
In this blog post, Esri Canada management consultant Kelsey Davis explores some resilience strategies that geospatial leaders can use to shore up their teams and programs in the face of adversity. Use these strategies to strengthen your geospatial value proposition and overcome common challenges that threaten the relevance of geospatial innovation.

Esri Canada News

Esri Canada acquires Ratio.City to help address Canada’s housing crisis
September 6, 2023

Esri News

Esri Launches Online GIS Course for Climate Action
September 28, 2023

Resources

ArcUser: App Saves Time and Adds Flexibility and Transparency to Capital Funds Spending
A capital improvement plan (CIP) is an important tool for organizations such as water districts and local governments when planning, managing and coordinating the expenditure of capital funds. CIPs help maximize the return on investment over an asset’s life cycle. This article describes a solution that enabled a water district to more effectively manage its water mains by moving its CIP from a static report to an app.

Read the latest issue of ArcUser online.

ArcNews: Using GIS for Asset Inspections Pays Off When It Matters Most
Esri business partner Meshek & Associates supports municipalities across Oklahoma in inventorying their water, sewage and drainage infrastructure—some of which predates the state’s even achieving statehood in 1907.

Read the latest issue of ArcNews online. 

WhereNext Magazine: Inside the Circular Economy with Smart Maps and Blockchain
Plastics manufacturer Rehrig Pacific is using blockchain and GIS technology to document the circular economy, and Rehrig Pacific director of environment, health & safety (EHD) & sustainability Erika Le is the catalyst behind it.

Video: Public Safety Agencies Harnessing the Power of Cloud-Hosted GIS
In this video, a panel of experts from Microsoft and Esri shares insights on how cloud-hosted GIS can benefit public safety agencies, and the challenges and opportunities that come with adopting leading cloud technology.

About the Author

Dani Pacey is a Marketing Specialist for Esri Canada. She digitized her first map at the tender age of 10 and has been fascinated by the relationships between people and places ever since. An avid technical communicator with degrees in Science & Technology Studies from York University and History of Science & Technology from the University of King's College, Dani has always blended science, social science and the humanities and loves bringing them all together to tell great stories about human life.

Profile Photo of Dani Pacey