Rocky View County Wins Award of Excellence in GIS

CALGARY, Esri Canada User Conference – May 17, 2017 – Rocky View County is a small municipality with a population of less than 40,000 people. Despite its size, the County has taken big strides in applying enterprise geographic information system (GIS) technology to better manage parcel data and provide access to this information. For its outstanding use of GIS, Esri Canada today presented the County with an Award of Excellence.

“Rocky View County’s application demonstrates how GIS levels the playing field for small municipalities,” said Alex Miller, president, Esri Canada. “With their enterprise implementation, the County is able to do more with less, reaping the same benefits bigger organizations receive from GIS.”

Rocky View has maintained its parcel data using a computer-aided design (CAD)-based system since 1991. The highly customized system provided limited functionality and did not allow the use of GIS data in the field other than as paper maps. To address this challenge, the County replaced its legacy system with Esri’s ArcGIS platform. They deployed ArcGIS Desktop in 2007 and signed a Small Local Government Enterprise License Agreement (SLG-ELA) in 2008, which gave their staff unlimited access to Esri technology at an affordable price. They used the desktop software to create and maintain the County’s parcel information, which was served up through the County’s Geographic Information System and Mapping Operations (GISMO) viewer, an ArcGIS Enterprise-based application.

GISMO has significantly reduced the number of requests for paper maps and data that the County’s GIS team receives from staff. With the self-service viewer, County staff can easily access parcel data they need to support key business operations including planning, road maintenance, assessment, bylaw enforcement, building services and development services. They can also retrieve department-specific information and workflows through customized desktop toolbars and MXD map documents (called “GISMO Desktop”), which they use in the office and in the field via laptops and tablets equipped with wireless routers.

“Moving to ArcGIS has helped the County save costs in GIS development and customization,” noted Lora Plante, GIS supervisor, Rocky View County. “It provides more efficient access to parcel information across our departments, enhancing our ability to provide better services.”

Soon, the County will release the RVC Atlas, an application that will give the public access to Rocky View’s parcel information, legal land descriptions and other data. It also plans to add other datasets, such as voting stations for municipal elections, to the atlas.

To get the most out of its GIS data, the County deployed Cityworks, a geo-centric asset management application built on ArcGIS, in 2016. Its six-member GIS team configured the powerful capabilities in the Cityworks suite of tools with training and support from Esri Canada. Through a Cityworks ELA, Rocky View plans to roll out the system to other departments and implement additional functionality that will further improve asset management in the County.

To learn more about the ArcGIS platform, visit: esri.ca/arcgis.

About Rocky View County
Rocky View County is located along Calgary’s western, northern, and eastern borders, and shares boundaries with eleven other municipalities. Rocky View County offers a unique mix of country residential, hamlet, and rural lifestyles, and a supportive environment for business and agriculture. Our nearly 40,000 residents are educated, successful, and demanding, and County staff rise to the challenge of meeting their needs while maintaining remarkably low residential and business property tax rates. For more information, visit rockyview.ca.

About Esri Canada
Founded in 1984, Esri Canada provides enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower businesses, governments and educational institutions to make timely, informed and mission-critical decisions by leveraging the power of geography.  The company distributes the world's leading GIS software from Esri, Schneider Electric, Cityworks–Azteca Systems, Inc. and other technology partners.  Headquartered in Toronto, the company serves over 10,000 customers from 16 regional offices across Canada. Esri Canada joined the elite rank of Canada’s Best Managed companies in 2012 and became a Gold Standard winner in 2015. The company has also been named to the Branham300 and Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures. More information can be found at esri.ca. Follow Esri Canada on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

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For media inquiries, please contact:
Esri Canada: press@esri.ca
Rocky View County: media@rockyview.ca