CEU Receives Donation From Leading Geospatial Software Company Esri

Esri, the leading global geospatial software company based in Redlands, California,  donated over 30 licenses of their latest geographic information systems (GIS) software, ArcGIS 10, for CEU students and faculty. Esri was represented in last week’s Summer University course co-directed by Viktor Lagutov entitled “Bridging ICTs and Environment – Making Information Talk and Technologies Work,” which was aimed at showing decision-makers and policymakers the potential that accessible data and the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have in water management and water security applications.

As data availability is constantly increasing and technologies are constantly changing, it is crucial for environmental professionals to have access to and the capacity to utilize the latest technologies to be in a better position to make decisions. There is a rapidly growing interest in geospatial technologies within the CEU academic community promoted by SMARG, the Spatial Mapping and Analysis Research Group (http://syslab.ceu.edu/smarg), and the Environmental Systems Laboratory (http://syslab.ceu.edu/). As a result of Esri’s generous donation, the ArcGIS software can both enrich teaching curricula and can be used to teach students in various disciplines (public policy, sociology, history, international relations departments) how to use these geospatial technologies, for example, mapping geographic information and sharing data online.

In addition to the software, Esri has agreed to support both the course and the ISEPEI Project at CEU (http://syslab.ceu.edu/projects/eoe_isepei), under which the course was run. They have also donated multiple copies of two books, volume 28 of the “Esri Map Book” and “GIS for Water Management in Europe,” which will be made available in the CEU library.