Letter From ESRI President Jack Dangermond
Hello everyone!
Iam writing this letter from the ESRI headquarters in Redlands, California, USA. It is my distinct pleasure to have the opportunity tosend this to you, the Chinese students. I really appreciate that ESRI China (Beijing)Limited organized this contest. There are nearly 1,000 students from more than100 Chinese universities who are participating in the ESRI contest this year. Representingmore than 4,000 ESRI staff, I want to congratulate the winningteams on work well done.
Ihave visited many universities around the world. It is always my pleasure tocommunicate with young people at these colleges. In the early 1980s, I visitedChinese colleges many times, and what impressed me most during my visits wasthe assiduity and intensive study. At that time, geographic information system(GIS) schools were limited in China, and few people knew about GIS technology;however, now more than 100 colleges and universities have opened a GISspecialty and the Chinese GIS industry is in a rapid development period. Youare very fortunate.
“The GeographicApproach,” the theme of the 2007 ESRI International User Conference, conveysthat GIS is not simply a technology. GIS helps us use geographic knowledge toresolve the problems that human beings face such as increased population,natural disasters, and pollution. Importantly, it changes our methods of understandingand our thoughts about the world, influences our analysis and evaluation methods,and helps us make better decisions. This includes the education of youngergenerations, communication and management practices, and our behavior regardingthe environment. Therefore, GIS is very meaningful for the development of thewhole community. You have many reasons to be proud of mastering GIS. It is agreat thing that you learn GIS, spread GIS, and use GIS in all aspects of yourwork. The contest is full of countless difficulties andchallenges. During just a few months, you have conquered many unimaginable difficulties.You succeeded through hard study and repeat exploration, in addition to yourintelligence, wisdom, and the spirit of teamwork. I believe you will feelconfident at the moment you have finished the program and your work has beenaffirmed by many experts. I know that participating in the contest is not only ameans of learning GIS and improving your ability of operation, but also aself-challenge. This experience will help you grow rapidly and give you knowledgeyou cannot learn from textbooks such as teamwork, perseverance, andresponsibility.
As the leader in the GIS industry, ESRI pays extremeattention to our social responsibilities, especially GIS education. ESRI has establishedgood relationships of cooperation with many education agencies, including 7,000colleges and universities around the world, and millions of users are usingArcGIS software to work and study every day. We are also working with theChinese colleges, universities, and even middle schools by donating softwareand holding contests, spreading the concept of geography, and helping moreschools, teachers, and students benefit from it. Meanwhile, ESRI also hopes tomake contributions to Chinese spatial information, enterprise development,environmental protection, disaster relief, ecological protection, urbandevelopment, and so on.
Today, global GIS is booming and is known to more and morecountries, governments, and people every day. Finally, I hope that all of you willbe GIS experts and will use GIS proficiently. Let us work diligently togetherto make great contributions to GIS communication and development.
Jack Dangermond
Oct. 22, 2007
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发表于 2007-10-29 16:05
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发表于 2007-10-29 16:07
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真的假的 太出人意料了
发表于 2007-10-29 16:41
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