Last Wednesday, November 14, we hosted an open house at our Fairfax office to support GIS Day; an international event celebrating geographic information systems (GIS) technology.
GIS Day provides an annual opportunity for users of GIS to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society. Here at Dewberry, we're been doing just that—advancing geospatial technology to support our clients' missions. As we work to advance our geospatial services, we also realize the importance of outreach and collaboration. At the open house we demonstrated some of our newest GIS technology.
Dewberry Maps for Cloud-Based GIS
Dewberry's won many awards for GIS, and now we're excited to be taking the next great leap with cloud-based GIS. At the open house, Matt Viverito discussed how we're using Esri's ArcGIS Online platform to share geospatial content, create geo-collaboration groups, and share content seamlessly to any mobile device.
Matt also demonstrated Dewberry Maps; our internal customized ArcGIS Online organizational account which supports a collaborative work environment between GIS, engineering, and emergency management professionals, as well as several client applications. This provides internal staff with the experience they need to provide cutting-edge services to clients who also use the ArcGIS Online platform.
Mobile GIS
At Dewberry, we have immense experience in building mobile enterprise applications. During the GIS Day event, Sudheer Chadalavada showcased our products and capabilities, including two mobile GIS solutions which were built to embrace the Esri ArcGIS Runtime platform:
- WQD MS4 Windows Mobile – This scheduling, reporting, and field inspection tool is built for the Windows mobile platform
- Tobyhanna Field Collection Tool – This tool is built for the Android platform
LiDAR
Polina Lyamtseva showed participants how we're taking elevation data to new heights by making 3D elevation data accessible to everyone. She presented the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) public LiDAR server application, which is designed to accommodate users' needs. Industry professionals, governmental agencies, and the general public can quickly and easily view, query, and download elevation data for predefined or customized geographical areas. Polina explained how she and her team worked with Cloud providers to design a system with a high storage capacity and ability to process large datasets.
Flood Risk, Inundation, and Sea Level Rise
Mohan Rajasekar demonstrated how we use the latest technology and best available data to assess, map, and mitigate flood risk in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Risk MAP program and other projects. For example, the FEMA Region III Flood Information Portal provides a user-friendly interface with reporting tools to quickly show if a property is located in a high risk flood zone. Mohan explained the Portal's back-end sophistication—while showing the user's experience on the front end—to quickly determine flood elevations and depths along a user-defined profile.
A Successful GIS Day Event
Dewberry's GIS Day event was a great avenue for us to share our work and engage with fellow employees, as well as clients who came from various local, state, and federal agencies, in a collaborative environment. Everyone was enthusiastic to learn about the latest and most current GIS solutions.
With this event being such a success, I look forward to next year's GIS Day; hopefully expanding the event to include a map gallery, and a friendly competition for the best geospatial application or innovative idea. Thanks to everyone who came out for our GIS Day celebration!