Check out these cool interactive maps

NEWS RELEASE

SAULT STE. MARIE INNOVATION CENTRE

************************* GIS portal available to the city of Sault Ste. Marie

Interactive maps now available on City website

November 28, 2006 - The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) in partnership with Community Quality Improvement (CQI) is pleased to introduce a Geographical Information System (GIS) Portal for the city of Sault Ste. Marie.

This is an innovative web page with access to several interactive maps of various groupings within the community.

For those interested in visiting this portal site, please click here.

The portal is also available on the City of Sault Ste. Marie's website and is located in the banner section.

Please click on this for more information.

This interactive public portal will allow sector leaders and visitors to access indicators on a visually appealing platform.

The map groupings available concern economics and education, culture, tourism and recreation, social and public safety in addition to environmental health.

Visitors can access the site to view such information as bear and rat sightings, transit routes, trails and parks (including snowmobiling, biking and hiking trails) and the location of heritage features in the community.

Other useful features such as the address locator and where to vote applications are also included in this portal.

Paul Beach, GIS program manager, Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre states: "GIS technology has a wide variety of applications that provide tangible benefit to communities, industry and government organizations. We look forward to growing this site and adding more information in the near future."

The vision of the SSMIC is to continue to maintain its leading edge capabilities in the GIS sector, grow the services offered through its Community Geomatics Centre (CGC), and add capacity, knowledge and skills to private sector firms in Northern Ontario.

The SSMIC has brought approximately $2 million to the private sector in Northern Ontario through skills and knowledge transfer.

It has also added capacity when needed to partners who are bidding on GIS projects.

The SSMIC GIS team plays an important role in the community by providing award-winning GIS services, creating skilled GIS jobs in Northern Ontario, assisting with course development and placements and conducting information sessions and training workshops that are available to the community throughout the year.

About Community Quality Improvement Community Quality Improvement (CQI) exists to facilitate quality of life improvements in Sault Ste. Marie through:

- production of the Community Performance Report, which monitors and analyses a variety of quality of life issues in the community, Establishes benchmarks for excellence, addresses areas of concern and celebrates successes

- delivery of professional development programs focused on improving quality of life for employees, volunteers and the community at large

About Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre

The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre was founded in 1999 as a catalyst for economic development activities in the IT and knowledge based sectors in the Algoma District.

It works closely with community partners to enhance and improve IT sector opportunities.

The Innovation Centre is focused on three core areas:

- the operation of a business incubator to encourage the establishment and growth of technology start-ups

- the provision of support services to the SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) IT community

- the development of strategic markets such as the highly successful GIS project

The Innovation Centre has developed and implemented an award-winning GIS product, which serves a number of municipal customers and is responsible for the growth of private sector GIS firms in the Algoma District.

Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre 1520 Queen Street East, NW 307 Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 2G4 Telephone: 705-942-7927 www.ssmic.com

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