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A record number of participants in the jubilee World GIS Day

Nearly 700 representatives from more than 150 organizations participated in the forum.

„Beautiful Day. This U2 song we heard at the opening in the hall is a really great introduction to this today – for the GIS community today is the best day “- with this words Rossen Zhelyazkov, Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria, opened the 20th anniversary edition of World Geographic Information System (GIS) Day.

The event is organized by ESRI Bulgaria, the leading company in the field of GIS in Bulgaria, and was held under the motto “20 years we design the world together” in front of a record number of participants – nearly 700 representatives from over 150 organizations. It was held in two parts – a seminar part where the best Bulgaria GIS projects from the last year were presented, and an official ceremony where the prizes for “Special achievements in GIS” were awarded.

“20 years ago, only a handful of visionaries were aware of the need for information sharing, which is the hardest part of the human communication. Today, however, 80% of the information that is shared is GIS-based, “added minister Zhelyazkov.

The official opening of the forum was attended by the US Ambassador to Bulgaria Erik Rubin, Atanaska Nikolova – Deputy Minister of Environment and Water, Evgenia Karadjova – Manager of ESRI Bulgaria – the leading company in the field of GIS in Bulgaria and official organizer of the Forum , Colonel Ivan Inkovski, Head of Military Geographic Service, and Prof. Nikolay Vitanov – Deputy Rector of Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski “.

The participants at the official opening ceremony were also addressed by the US Ambassador to Bulgaria Erik Rubin, Atanaska Nikolova – Deputy Minister of Environment and Water, Evgenia Karadjova – General Manager at ESRI Bulgaria – the leading company in the field of GIS in Bulgaria and official organizer of the Forum , Colonel Ivan Inkovski, Head of Military Geographic Service, and Prof. Nikolay Vitanov – Deputy Rector of Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski “.

Откриване юбилеен ГИС ден

Stefan Jensen, Head of data governance group, European Environment Agency (EEA) and Guiseppe (Pino) Nobile, Head Geospatial Section at NATO shared their experience and presented the innovative GIS applications of the two international organizations that help them analyze, plan and make informed decisions in the areas of security and environment.

Jensen_EE

Among the other presented projects were the Integrated GIS platform of the Ministry of Interior for Criminal Analyzes, Crisis Management, and Public Order; the Agro-Statistics` Information System of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests; the GIS system of National Company Industrial Zones and many others.

At an official awards ceremony on the evening of November 14 were announced the awards for “Special achievements in GIS”.

The Ministry of Interior of Bulgaria received the highest international award in the field of GIS technologies for its integrated Geographic Information System for Criminal Analyzes, Crisis Management and Public Order. The system is distinguished among more than 100 000 international projects. The award was received by Milko Berner, Deputy Interior Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria by Nick Sutherland, Defence and Intelligence BD Executive at Esri, Inc.

МВР награда

SU “St. Kliment Ohridski “started the first Bachelor program in Geographic Information Systems in Bulgaria. This was announced by Prof. Nikolay Vitanov, Deputy Rector of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski “. Together with Prof. Stelian Dimitrov, Department of Cartography and GIS at the University, he accepted the award for “20 Years of Building GIS Capacity in Bulgaria” in the “Education and Science” category, which was given to them by the Deputy Minister of Education and Science Denitsa Sacheva.

Сачева

In the “State administration”  category, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests was awarded for applying the latest GIS technologies in order to build a national information system for the agrostatistics of the Republic of Bulgaria. Sergei Tsvetarski, President of the National Statistical Institute, presented the award to Diana Atanasova, Head of Agrostatistics Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

МЗХГ награда

National Center for Territorial Development EAD and personally Prof. Dr. Arch. Vesselina Troeva, General manager of the Center, was awarded for “Long-term Contribution to the Implementation and Development of Geographic Information Systems in the Sphere of Territorial Development in Bulgaria”. The award was given by Valentin Yovev, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, and Silvia Georgieva, Executive Director of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria.

Троева награда

In the “Utilities” category Electricity Distribution South has received a prize for a “Corporate Approach in the Application of the most conpemporary GIS Solutions in the Electric Distribution”. Stamen Yanev, Executive Director of the Bulgarian Investment Agency, awarded the award to Zdravko Bratoev – Head of Network Engineering – Electricity in Electricity Distribution South.

Ютилитис

The winners in the National Map Contest “Rediscover Bulgaria with GIS” were also awarded at the ceremony. The contest is organized in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria, the Ministry of Tourism in Bulgaria and the Ministry of Culture in Bulgaria. In the “Printed map” category, Colonel Ivan Inkovski, Head of the Military Geographic Service, awarded the first prize to CARTAGEO-Troyan and GEOPAN-Burgas for the first certified Large-scale tourist map of Sozopol. The second prize in the category received SAINED for an off-road map of Bulgaria. The awards in the “Interactive Map” category went to the State Enterprise “Port Infrastructure” for “Travel and Tourism” category, Bulgarian Red Cross  for “History and Culture” category, Vanya Stoycheva, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski ” in the category” Sustainable Development “and educational initiative” Space School “in the ” Education and Science” category. An award for “Audience choice” was received by the Border Police Directorate-MoI.

All interactive maps can be viewed here.

Partners:

The 20th anniversary of the World GIS Day in Bulgaria is being held with the official partnership and support of the record 41 organizations, including the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies, the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, the Foundation for Local Government Reform, Sustainable Development Council, Geodesy Union in Bulgaria, Union of Architects in Bulgaria, Union of Urban Planners in Bulgaria, Chamber of Builders in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Water Association, AFCEA Bulgaria, Association of the Police Chiefs in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Industrial Association, Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Atlantic Club in Bulgaria, Digital National Coalition, Move.bg, Bulgarian Cartographic Association, Society for Conservation of Nature and Cultural Heritage with GIS – Branch Bulgaria, Green Balkans , Bulgarian Geographic Society, Geograf BG, Bulgarian Red Cross, Center for Research, Development and Improvement of NATO Capabilities for Crisis Response and Response Management, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia University ersitet “St. Kl. Ohridski University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, University of Mining and Geology, University of Forestry, Bulgarian Association for Geospatial Information Systems, BTV Media Group, City Media Group, National Geographic Bulgaria, Geographica Ltd., SAP, Stem, GISolutions and Agora 66.

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