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Tag: Sustainability

Blue Raster Receives Sustainable Development Award and is Named Esri Cornerstone Partner at 2023 Esri Partner Conference

On March 6, 2023, Blue Raster received two significant honors at the 2023 Esri Partner Conference (EPC) held in Palm Springs, California from March 4-6, 2023. Our company was recognized by Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, for both our accomplishments in applying GIS solutions to support sustainable development worldwide, and for reaching the milestone of 20 years of Esri Partner Network (EPN) participation.

As a recipient of the Esri Sustainable Development Award, Blue Raster was commended for helping customers meet global sustainable development goals by understanding their needs, mapping their work, measuring impact, analyzing performance, and engaging stakeholders. We're proud of our long history of creating innovative GIS solutions that address some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. Among our most significant projects, our team has developed interactive applications and tools to map deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, manage and monitor water resources, and track progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations. We currently work with leading nonprofit conservation organizations including The World Resources Institute, the Jane Goodall Institute, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, UNICEF, The Earth Genome, NatureServe, National Audubon Society, and The Stimson Center, among others.

Esri is the global leader in location intelligence with a network of over 2,800 partners around the world. The award winners are organizations that have demonstrated innovative and creative ways to solve complex problems by using Esri’s ArcGIS software and those that have done exceptional work in advancing GIS technology. Blue Raster was one of 27 Esri partners that received an achievement award at the conference.

“Esri congratulates Blue Raster on their 2023 EPC award in recognition of their innovative work leveraging ArcGIS software,” said Robert Laudati, Director of Global Partners and Alliances at Esri. “We are proud to partner with Blue Raster to foster the use of Esri technology in support of our mutual customers.”

In addition, Blue Raster was officially named an Esri Cornerstone Partner for our long-term commitment to Esri and the GIS community. Cornerstone Partner recognition is given to organizations that have participated in the EPN for 20 years while demonstrating a consistent focus on helping customers succeed through the adoption of ArcGIS technology.

We are extremely proud to achieve Esri Cornerstone Partner status, as it has been a privilege to be a part of the EPN since our founding 20 years ago,” says Michael Lippmann, principal/founder, Blue Raster. “We are also honored to receive the Esri Sustainable Development Award and be recognized for the positive environmental impact our applications have helped to make around the world. Our team remains incredibly passionate about innovating new and creative ways to apply ArcGIS technology and help our clients make a measurable and meaningful difference.”

Green Keeper Africa – Utilizing Invasive Plant Species to Mitigate Lake Pollution in Benin

The water hyacinth is an invasive aquatic plant found in Lake Nokoué in the southern area of Benin. This plant grows rapidly, forming thick layers on the water, shading out other plants. As it decays, it depletes oxygen levels, impacting the fish and other aquatic life in the lake. In addition to the ecological impacts, the hyacinth also has economic impacts, clogging up transportation routes. The hyacinth fiber has a high-performance absorption power for all types of liquids, from dyes to crude oil and heavy fuel oil. Green Keeper Africa created a transformation path that takes harvested hyacinths and converts them into an absorptive product that can soak up oil spills.

Building an Economic Engine

In order to produce the absorption solutions, Green Keeper Africa works with local communities to collect and prepare the hyacinth for production. The company needed more visibility into the growth patterns to be able to set pricing each season and direct harvesters to the most abundant areas.

Blue Raster developed an application that uses an algorithm to detect water hyacinth in satellite imagery. The application also gathers data from water sensors currently being prototyped by MIT as well as other ground data and water quality readings. Green Keeper uses this view of real time and historic data to fairly set prices and plan for harvest areas they need to support.

Green Keeper Africa

Beyond Hyacinth Tracking

This application can help promote additional sustainable and profitable uses of Lake Nokoué. Acadja is a fishing method where dense masses of branches are set in an area to attract fish in large numbers for harvesting. The Blue Raster application can use footage from drones to map the placement of the Acadjas, overlaying that information with other data to track environmental impacts and/or present alternate locations or methods that may result in more fish with less environmental impact.

Contact us to learn more about how Blue Raster can customize applications for you!

 


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