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SpatialNews.com Press Release
Electric and Gas GIS Users Exchange Ideas at the 12th Annual EGUG Meeting
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Redlands, California-Electric and gas industry geographic information system
(GIS) users gathered at ESRI's Electric and Gas User Group (EGUG) 12th annual user group meeting in Galveston, Texas, October 13-15, 2003. More than 300 GIS professionals, representing 55 utilities and 55 GIS solution providers, attended the meeting. The conference, hosted by CenterPoint Energy, enabled users to exchange ideas and learn about the latest advances in GIS technology.
"This year's EGUG conference reflected the business value utilities can gain from ESRI's technology," says Roxanne Cox-Drake, electric and gas industry manager, ESRI. "Users shared papers about their GIS infrastructure that supports process efficiencies, decision making, and communication across the entire enterprise. It is exciting to see ESRI's technology strategy align so well with the evolving needs of our electric and gas community."
The EGUG opening Plenary Session encouraged users to break through old perceptions to gain value from GIS. Keynote speaker Don Cortez, vice president of distribution support for CenterPoint Energy, encouraged audience members to make GIS accessible to a large user community. "Think of GIS as more than a technological tool. Think of it as a method for strategic planning," says Cortez.
ESRI President Jack Dangermond's address emphasized expanding the parameters of GIS concepts and capabilities. "The drivers for value are better efficiency, record keeping, and mapping," said Dangermond. "The GIS challenge is to take the corporate database of geography and bring it into the other work of the company. This will connect utilities to their communities."
Dangermond continued his presentation by discussing the improvements to look for in the next level of ESRI's software. ArcGIS 9 will offer better ways to deal with annotation and labeling, geoprocessing, visualization, cartography, and a host of other functions. New ESRI technology was demonstrated at the end of the plenary with special focus on annotation and labeling, ArcGIS Engine, and ArcGIS Server.
Following the Plenary Session, a Map Gallery presentation displayed a collection of maps developed by utility GIS users, and the doors opened to the GIS Solutions EXPO, where business partners displayed GIS software solutions, applications, and innovations. Map Gallery winners were David Reed from Dominion for People's Choice, John Chambers from CenterPoint Energy for Best Communication, and Steve Murphy from Truckee Donner PUD for Best Content.
EGUG breakout sessions featured papers focusing on setting up a foundational GIS, the values delivered with GIS today, and the values GIS will make possible in the future. Other sessions provided a foundation for
sharing ideas and learning about innovative GIS projects.
"The conference enabled users to share their successes and plans for extending GIS benefits to interactions with outside agencies and companies as well as nontraditional users whose work is enhanced by integration with GIS," adds Cox-Drake.
After EGUG's closing session, more than 50 attendees were transported from Galveston to Houston to view CenterPoint Energy's full-scale enterprise GIS in action. Preconference recreational events included the annual EGUG Golf Classic hosted by LogicaCMG; a fishing tournament hosted by POWER Engineers, Inc., and Miner and Miner; and a welcome social hosted by CES International.
The 13th Annual EGUG Conference, hosted by Dominion, will be held October 10-14, 2004, at the Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia.
More information about EGUG and the 2003 conference is available by visiting www.esri.com/electricgas.
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About ESRI
For more than 30 years, ESRI has been the leading developer of GIS software with more than 300,000 clients worldwide. ESRI software is used in all 200 of the largest cities in the United States and in more than 60 percent of counties and municipalities nationwide. Headquartered in California, ESRI has regional offices throughout the United States, international distributors in more than 90 countries, and more than 1,500 business partners. ESRI's goal is to develop comprehensive tools that enable users to efficiently manage, use, and serve geographic information to make a difference in the world around them. ESRI also provides consulting, implementation, and technical support services. ESRI can be found on the Web at www.esri.com.
ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, GIS by ESRI, ArcGIS, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
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