Esri Supports USAID-Funded Center For Managing Foreign Assistance Data

REDLANDS, Calif., Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Esri will provide software, data, online services, training, and professional services support to the AidData Center for Development Policy. The center, which will be headquartered at the College of William & Mary (W&M) in Williamsburg, Virginia, will seek to dramatically increase global aid transparency. It was created with a five-year, $25 million award from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

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"The center will build a global network of geographers, health scientists, economists, political scientists, computer scientists, and statisticians who are committed to helping USAID and other development agencies reduce the cost and increase the impact of their aid programs," said AidData coexecutive director Brad Parks.

Esri's ArcGIS Online, along with other technologies, will provide a platform for taxpayers in donor countries, development organizations, and beneficiaries to draw on the largest collection of development finance activity data in the world through interactive maps and web and mobile applications. Key objectives of the center include the following:

• Building capacity in the collection and use of geocoded aid information
• Supporting the development of innovative technologies that make it easier to track aid distribution and impact
• Creating a global, interdisciplinary network of experts that will help USAID and other aid agencies solve critical development challenges

The newly established AidData Center for Development Policy is a joint venture between W&M, Brigham Young University (BYU), the University of Texas at Austin (UT- Austin), Development Gateway (DG), and Esri. The new center will build on the work of AidData (a partnership between W&M, BYU, and DG), which has established itself as a global leader in the provision of reliable, timely, and detailed information about foreign assistance projects. Esri has been a partner to AidData for the past two years, providing numerous technology, support, and outreach resources to support its efforts.

"Collaborating with these leading agencies and higher learning institutions will allow us to create and leverage a virtual network of experts around the world," said Jack Dangermond, president of Esri. "This is a great opportunity to build on a long history of partnering with USAID and AidData, knowing that together we can make great strides toward solving global development challenges."

Esri is providing support for this innovative center through its Nonprofit Organization and Higher Education programs, which provide affordable means of acquiring ArcGIS software and services in these important communities. For more information, visit esri.com/aiddata.

About EsriSince 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at  www.esri.com.

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