On November 17 the world marked the Day of Geographic Information Systems.

For the thirteenth year in a row ESRI Bulgaria organizes GIS Day in Bulgaria. This year the event was conducted under the patronage of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Environment and Water and courtesy of Republic of Bulgaria, GIS Varna and Bulgarian GIS geo-information company.

Partners of the GIS Day were: Partners of the GIS day were: BASCOM, BAGIS, BGBC, Green Balkans, NAMB, FLGR, Bulgarian Cartographic Association, Sofia University, UACEG, UMG, UF. The event was organized with the support of the media from the newspaper City Building.

As every year, the Global GIS Day was celebrated with an official cocktail, in which prizes were awarded for special achievements in GIS. The prizes were awarded for design and innovation in the use of ESRI GIS technology.

In the category “Central Administration” was awarded the Ministry of Environment and Waters for “Outstanding Achievement in GIS implementation for water management.” The award was presented to Mr. Vladimir Stratiev Head office and adviser to the Minister of Environment and Water, by Tove Skarsteyn Her Excellency, Ambassador of Norway to Bulgaria.

In the same category the Executive Environment Agency was awarded too for “Excellence in GIS implementation for the conservation of biodiversity in Bulgaria.” The award was presented to the Secretary General of the Agency, Mr. Philip Penchev by Mr. Vladimir Stratiev head office in MEW.

In the category “Transportation” has been awarded the prize of the National Company “Railway Infrastructure” for “Outstanding Achievement in GIS implementation of effective modern management of the railway infrastructure.” The award was presented to Mr. Milcho Lambrev, Director General of the National Company “Railway Infrastructure”, by Mrs. Evgeniya Karadjova Director of ESRI Bulgaria.

In the category “Engineering Infrastructure” was awarded Sofia Water Corp. for “Innovative corporate GIS for integrated management of water infrastructure.” Award was received by the procurator of Sofia Water Mr. Jean Salles by Mr. Angel Semerdziev, chairman of SEWRC.

In the category “Local Administration” the prize was awarded to the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria for “Specific contribution to promoting the application of GIS for effective and accountable local government.” The award was presented to Mr. Blagoy Stanchev, Parliamentary Secretary of Prof. Dr. Arch. Vesselina Troeva, executive director of the National Center for territorial development.

In the category ‘Media’ first prize was accepted by bTV for “Application of GIS to create a green, active civil society.” The award was presented to Mrs. Petya Terzieva director “Marketing Communications” on bTV, by Arch. Georgi Kolarov, Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Council for Sustainable Development.

The second prize in the category ‘Media’ was awarded to Construction and City newspaper for “Outstanding contribution to the promotion of applications and benefits of GIS.” The award was received by Mrs. Veneta Krasteva, managing partner of City Media Group, Mr Dikov, chief architect of Sofia.

In the category “Education” was awarded the University of Library Studies and Information Technology on “Introduction to GIS training UNIBIT.” The award was received by the dean of the faculty of biology, information systems and public communications at the University Prof. Dragomir Pargov by Mrs. Evgeniya Karadjova Director of ESRI Bulgaria.

During the official cocktail was also held exhibition contest for maps by using a special jury and guests were honored with certificates most valuable cards

Traditionally the global GIS Day was celebrated in several metropolitan university where the occasion to hundreds of students were presented from faculty and GIS specialists.

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