Welcome to ESRI/IBM Connections, a quarterly electronic newsletter highlighting news and events about how ESRI and IBM deliver GIS-based solutions across the enterprise for our government and commercial customers. If you know someone who would like to be updated on the latest events regarding ESRI, please have them subscribe by visiting www.esri.com/ibmconnections.
Additional electronic and print publications are also available.
In This Issue
ESRI/IBM News
IBM ArcGIS Server 9.3 Solution Promotional Offers Extended
Special promotional offers [PDF] for IBM/ArcGIS Server 9.3 packaged solutions have been extended to February 27, 2009, for domestic U.S. customers. Each solution is designed to meet specific organizational needs. Explore all of our IBM offerings.
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ESRI Product News
ArcGIS Server 9.3 Radically Simplifies Users' Experience
With the release of ArcGIS 9.3, ESRI provides a new set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that extend the range of what developers can do with mashups. These APIs give mashup developers more opportunities to rapidly build lightweight, focused applications on top of ArcGIS Server using JavaScript, Flex, and many other scripting languages. GIS-powered mashups empower users to solve real problems by incorporating the business knowledge and resource investments made by the organization and putting it in the hands of the decision makers and analysts who rely on trusted information.
User Productivity Improved in the Business Analyst 9.3 Product Suite
ArcGIS Business Analyst is a suite of product solutions that addresses a series of business-related questions such as Where should I put my next store? How is my current store performing? Is my merchandise what consumers in the area want? and, Am I offering the right services to my population segments? In today's uncertain economy, businesses and government agencies more than ever need reliable and effective tools to help them decide where to locate; relocate; expand; or, in some cases, consolidate facilities.
ArcPad 7.1.1 and ArcPad Application Builder 7.1.1 Now Available
The latest versions of ESRI's mobile GIS software for field mapping and data collection have been released. New improvements enhance the user experience by increasing productivity and ease of use in the field, allowing mobile users to make decisions more quickly and accurately.
ESRI's 2008 Community Sourcebook Products Deliver Accurate U.S. Demographic Data
Experts and students across all industry sectors can now have access to the most accurate demographic data with the 2008 Sourcebook products. ESRI has published the softcover editions of Community Sourcebook of ZIP Code Demographics and Community Sourcebook of County Demographics as well as the Sourcebook•America with ArcReader CD-ROM, all of which include ESRI's 2008/2013 demographic updates and projections for data variables such as population, age distribution, and income.
ArcGIS Online Premium Services Now Available
New ArcGIS Online Premium Services are available for evaluation and purchase including the USA Prime/World Bundle, USA Prime Imagery, and Virtual Earth Maps. ArcGIS users can evaluate these services for 14 days or purchase annual subscriptions.
BusinessMAP Financial 2 Offers Updated Maps and Financial Services Data
Designed to address the specific needs of financial services professionals, BusinessMAP Financial 2 includes both data and feature updates and allows users to perform tasks, such as ring studies and drive-time and demographic analyses, which help them visualize demographics and market potential better than with conventional databases and spreadsheets. Additionally, 25 report templates allow users to understand demographics and market potential like never before.
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ESRI News
GIS Helps Bolster Hurricane Preparation and Response
Using ArcGIS software and Web GIS services from ESRI, federal, local, and state agencies were able to more effectively prepare for the impact of recent Hurricane Gustav in the gulf coast region. GIS enabled more thorough understanding of what was happening both before and after the hurricane hit land, enabling staff to make critical decisions for responding effectively.
Colonial Pipeline Uses ESRI GIS to Study Delivery of Ethanol by Pipeline
A mandate by the federal government for ethanol fuel production gave rise to Colonial Pipeline's interest in determining whether alternative fuels might be delivered by pipeline shipments. The company currently maintains a 5,500-mile underground network of pipelines from Houston to New York through which it delivers refined petroleum products. Ethanol's chemical properties present unique challenges to the use of pipeline delivery systems versus the existing rail and road alternatives. Colonial, already a user of GIS software by ESRI, recognized the opportunity it provided to create a framework for understanding every element of a particular situation to determine the feasibility of delivering ethanol by pipeline.
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GIS in Action
Podcast: How Banks and Financial Institutions Use GIS to Stay Afloat during Times of Economic Crisis
Shelli Stockton, the finance and banking industry manager at ESRI, explores how financial institutions, ranging from large national corporations, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), to local credit unions, use GIS during times of economic crisis to help them optimize their business and resources.
Karen Siderelis Selected as Interior Department's First Geospatial Information Officer
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced at the 2008 ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, that a new position was being created within the Department of the Interior (DOI)-geospatial information officer. Fulfilling this announcement, Karen Siderelis was recently appointed to the position. Siderelis previously served as associate director for geospatial information and chief information officer for the U.S. Geological Survey, a DOI agency. She will be responsible for providing leadership in advancing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure through the department's national and international responsibilities and ensure coordination of GIS efforts in all nine DOI bureaus.
Using GIS to Study Sports
We don't typically think of most sports as being geographic activities, but are they? It turns out that, indeed, they are. Whether it is education about sports or the business of sports, GIS has a great deal to offer. You may never look at a game quite the same again.
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Marketing Opportunities
ESRI Worldwide Business Partner Conference Sponsorships and Exhibitor Opportunities Available
Sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities are now available for this annual event that brings together professionals from ESRI's partner programs to examine the latest ESRI products and services, successful sales and marketing strategies, and future business directions. The event will take place March 22-24, 2009, at the Wyndham Hotel and Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, California.
The ESRI Developer Summit will take place March 23-26, 2009, at the Wyndham Hotel and Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, California. This event is for GIS, mapping, and spatial developers and provides a forum where these professionals can gather to learn firsthand how to build and deploy better GIS solutions in their jobs. This is an excellent sponsorship opportunity only open to ESRI Authorized Business Partners, Corporate Alliance Partners, and Hardware Vendors.
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