Esri Donating ArcGIS Licenses to GISCorps Volunteers

The ArcGIS licenses enable volunteers to support local organizations, disaster response efforts and missions like urban economic development.

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REDLANDS, CALIF. -- Esri, the world leader in spatial analytics, announced it will be donating personal use ArcGIS licenses for each GISCorps volunteer who takes a GIS Service Pledge to support a cause.

GISCorps is a program of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) and has been providing a range of mapping and disaster response services for more than 14 years worldwide by harnessing the power of geographic information system (GIS) technology.

ArcGIS Licenses are Valuable Civic Volunteer Tools

Each personal use license being donated has a commercial value of approximately $6,000 per year and will enable volunteers to address crucial location-based issues. GISCorps volunteers can leverage this software donation to support any topic or organization, whether local or abroad, they are passionate about that meets the criteria described on the GISCorps website. Examples could include supporting a local food bank, land trust or animal shelter.

One of the things about Esri that I am most proud of is the fact that our community of users is so dedicated to doing good in the world,” said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. “GISCorps is one example of how the power of location intelligence can be harnessed for the public good.”
ArcGIS Licenses Supporting Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma & Hurricane Marie

This initiative also extends to disaster response projects that arise after disasters such as the recent Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the earthquakes in Mexico.

During and after disasters, volunteers provide assistance in a variety of ways including identification and mapping of one-story homes at risk of being flooded, locations of dry beds and shelters for the displaced and the quickest and safest routes to evacuate affected populations in the shortest amount of time.

URISA’s GISCorps volunteers have been involved in the response to almost every disaster since 2003,” said Shoreh Elhami, GISCorps founder.

GISCorps volunteers have also worked on Hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami, the cyclone in Burma, the Ebola epidemic and many other emergencies and natural disasters.

“Many of our volunteers have said they learn more quickly from GISCorps experiences than from their day jobs. They get exposed to different projects that require different skills and tools, and that provides a valuable learning experience,” said Elhami.

The Esri Disaster Response Program supports the work of GISCorps volunteers, helping them ingest and process imagery and digitize points of interest in a way that’s much easier than in the past. This is made possible with ArcGIS Online, which volunteers use to spread the work among themselves and create a communication platform to share updates on unfolding events.

Andrea Fox is Editor of Gov1.com and Senior Editor at Lexipol. She is based in Massachusetts.

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