Frisco Texas Residential

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The following information is distributed from the City of Frisco's News
and Information service.

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CITY OF FRISCO GIS TEAM RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR DEVELOPING
S.A.F.E.R. PROGRAM

(October 5, 2010) The City of Frisco’s GIS Division has received an
international award for its role in developing Situational Awareness For
Emergency Response – or S.A.F.E.R. – which is a unique program giving
Frisco firefighters, EMTs and police officers immediate access to school
building information, including real time video, while heading to school
emergencies at any of the Frisco Independent School District’s 52
campuses.

“The project makes the schools, students, and first responders safer,”
said Susan Olson, GIS Manager, City of Frisco. “It enables our first
responders to better serve the school district and will eventually help
all commercial business owners when phase two is developed. Implementing
this system has allowed the departments to reduce operations costs by
having all the relevant information in one place. It lowers risk and
better prepares responders on the way to an emergency.”

Olson and Curt Balogh, Director of Information Technology Services, along
with other members of the GIS staff, were honored by Mayor Maher Maso and
members of the Frisco City Council on Tuesday, October 5, during a Frisco
Council Meeting.

“We’re incredibly proud of our IT staff members and their achievement,”
said Mayor Maher Maso. “It’s an honor to be recognized internationally.
We appreciate their vision and leadership. More importantly, we applaud
the GIS division for its dedication to working with our Fire and Police
Departments, as well as FISD, to develop such an innovative system. Such
teamwork is Frisco’s brand. As the fastest growing city in the country,
Frisco is committed to being a leader when it comes to technology and
public safety.”

The GIS division was first honored in July, when it was announced the City
of Frisco’s GIS division received the ESRI President’s Award for
outstanding GIS work. The award announcement was made at the 30th Annual
ESRI International User Conference, held in San Diego, California. The
event is reportedly the world’s largest dedicated to GIS technology. The
City of Frisco was selected from more than 300,000 organizations
worldwide.

“We created the Special Achievement in GIS Award to recognize our users’
extraordinary contributions to global society,” said Jack Dangermond, ESRI
President. “The City of Frisco’s GIS, and the S.A.F.E.R project in
particular, is an example of how smaller local government agencies can do
important work cost effectively,” said Russ Johnson, public safety
manager, ESRI.

ESRI, which was founded as Environmental Systems Research Institute, is a
software development and services company providing Geographic Information
System (GIS) software and geodatabase management applications. To watch
the ESRI award presentation, go to http://www.friscotexas.gov/video

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Author Information

City of Frisco