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Habitat for Humanity Leverages Spatial ETL in Affordable Housing Projects
Written by Safe Software
Thursday, 08 May 2008
Safe Software’s FME Enables Imperative Unified Data View
Vancouver, BC, May 8, 2008 - Habitat for Humanity has received FME, the recognized standard in spatial ETL, through Safe Software’s Software Grant Program. Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity will use FME to provide project planners and volunteers with a unified view of the spatial data they need to fulfill Habitat’s mandate to provide affordable housing for Dallas families in need.
"Today using FME, we are able to make our data usable much faster, increasing our efficiency in planning upcoming housing projects and focusing our volunteer efforts on building decent housing for deserving families," says Cyndy Lutz, Director of Real Estate at Dallas Habitat.
Habitat will use FME to bring information together into a single, unified dataset that they will use to support neighborhood planning, construction proposal and fundraising efforts. City-maintained ESRI Shape files will be gathered using web services through FME and combined with Habitat’s own land parcel information located in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. In addition to outputting Shape files, Habitat also uses FME to output their data into KML for a visual presentation of their spatial data for use in fundraising efforts and volunteer kick-off events.
"We’re pleased to see Safe’s Software Grant Program helping charitable organizations like Habitat for Humanity make a true difference in our world," says Don Murray, President of Safe Software.
Safe Software’s Software Grant Program offers educational institutions and researchers, including non-profit organizations who conduct research, with the powerful spatial data translation, transformation, and integration capabilities of FME at no cost. Since its inception five years ago, the program has provided FME to 300 organizations.
About Dallas Habitat Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity (DAHfH) is a Christian ministry that builds quality, affordable homes in partnership with deserving families. Habitat’s homeownership program is an innovative model that offers low-income families the opportunity to own a home with affordable 0% interest loans. Homes are financed by generous donations from community supporters and largely built by the partner Habitat family with thousands of dedicated volunteers each year. As the largest nonprofit homebuilder in the City of Dallas, Dallas Area Habitat has served 600 low-income families with homeownership since 1986, investing $50 million in 20 neighborhoods of Dallas county to build new homes, neighborhoods and hope.
About Safe Software and FME Safe Software powers the flow of spatial data with its software platform, FME. The recognized standard in spatial ETL (extract, transform and load), FME is the only complete solution for data conversion. It delivers the most extensive format support for data translation and integration, and provides unlimited flexibility in data model transformation and data distribution.
FME is used by thousands of customers worldwide in a variety of industries including government, utilities, and petroleum. Its powerful data access technology also makes FME the choice of leading GIS, CAD, and database vendors for integration into their own solutions. Designed for true data interoperability, FME unleashes spatial data so people can use it where, when, and how they want to. For more information, visit www.safe.com.
My Top 10 Things to do at the 2009 ESRI User Conference (#ESRIUC) - Once again another ESRIUC is ready to take place (this is #11 for yours truly) and just like years past, we've got you covered and have setup a dedicated ESRIUC section here on GISuser. See here for news, party tips, special announcements and much more.
Who's Tweeting from the ESRI User Conference (#ESRIUC) Here's a list! - I recently posted a request on Twitter asking people to Re-Tweet a post if they planned on Tweeting from the #ESRIUC next week. The following are some of the people we heard from as well as a few Twitterers that I know will be tweeting from San Diego. If you want to follow some conference goers on Twitter then this is a great list to start with
2009 ESRI UC Social Media Bookmarks, Tips for First Timers and much moreRemember, if you have ESRIUC related news, session info, party notices or ?? share details with us! - This year will be ESRI UC trip #11 for yours truly - a tradition of mine is to share tips, tricks, and down-right useful stuff with other GISusers that will be taking in North America's largest GIS conference.
Economic Stimulus Project areas that may create GIS/Geo Tech Opportunities - Like many of you, we haven't really had time to go through the entire 1,071 page Detailed List of Spending - you can view and download the entire document at ProRepublica. We did take a little time, however, to go through this fine summary.
ESRI Business GIS Summit, July 12-15, 2009 · San Diego, CA - This combination provides an unprecedented opportunity to learn how GIS addresses today's business challenges. If you're interested in business GIS as a manager, executive, or user, there's no better event to attend.vealed.
ESRI International User Conference, July 13-17, 2009 · San Diego, CA - ESRI customers across the globe are invited to register to attend the world's largest gathering of GIS professionals.
Webinar: Google Earth For Your Government Agency - Join Google and DLT an informative webinar on Tuesday, June 30th from 2-3 ET to learn more about how the Google Earth Enterprise solution is helping government agencies to collaborate, and take faster, more informed action.
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