GIS Framework Featured as a Sustainable Development Tool at International Conference

Redlands, California—June 15, 2012—By special invitation from the European Environment Agency (EEA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the US Department of State, Esri will take part in several important side events at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). The conference will be held June 20–22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Esri will use this opportunity to explain and promote the concept of geodesign, a design framework and the supporting technology for designing more sustainable cities.

"Providing solutions that support sustainable development has been at the forefront of Esri software development," said Esri president Jack Dangermond. "We are honored to be recognized as a key technology provider by these agencies and pleased to be supporting them with a framework for decision making."

At Rio+20, world leaders will write a focused political document renewing their commitment to sustainable development. In the days before this conference, thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, civil society, and intergovernmental organizations will attend side events and sessions to learn about sustainable themes and technologies.

During this time, a team from Esri will present the value of GIS for making place-based decisions. At the EEA side event, Esri's global affairs team lead, Carmelle Terborgh, PhD, will provide examples showing how the information technology industry is ensuring increased access to information for all.

Terborgh will join representatives of the USDA, the US Department of State, and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to present My Community, Our Earth (MyCOE). This partnership program encourages and supports geographic learning for sustainable development. In addition, the Esri team will show Change Matters, a web mapping service that follows US government open data sharing policies. Esri will also demonstrate its cloud-based mapping service ArcGIS Online at the US Center pavilion demonstration alley.

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