The Swedish Armed Forces Enlist Geospatial Technology

Will Use ESRI Software to Develop Digital Geographic Services for All Military Branches

Redlands, California—January 19, 2010—The Swedish military, a longtime ESRI software user, will continue to receive access to the company’s latest geographic information system (GIS) technology and expertise.

Försvarets Materielverk (FMV), the Swedish Defence Material Administration, acting on behalf of the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF), renewed a contract for three years with ESRI S-GROUP Sverige AB. ESRI S-GROUP is Sweden’s distributor for ESRI, the market leader in GIS software.

The agreement will give the military the cutting edge geospatial technology needed for situational awareness, planning, and geospatial analysis. This means the SAF will receive the newest generation of geospatial capabilities and services from ESRI S-GROUP. The company provides software, services, support, and training to a wide range of organizations in both the private and public sectors.

The SAF have multilateral commitments and need geographic information to plan and execute international operations. The organizations use technology and expertise from ESRI and ESRI S-GROUP to better understand the geography and create situational awareness in places around the world where members of the armed forces deploy. This helps the military to respond quickly and make timely decisions.

The SAF have used GIS technology from ESRI for more than 15 years and have a comprehensive knowledge of ESRI’s products. This contract deepens that relationship. The products and services provided for in the agreement include software that will help the SAF develop digital geographic services for all branches of the military, thereby saving time and reducing and consolidating costs.

“The Swedish Armed Forces have a significant requirement for an easy-to-use GIS to provide the military with the best possible foundation on which to base international operational decisions,” says Per Carlsson, chief executive officer (CEO) of ESRI S-GROUP. “Our products simply give them a clear geographic picture of where they might deploy.”

Adds Lars Gröön, project manager at FMV, “The agreement with ESRI provides the Swedish Armed Forces with access to advanced ESRI technology and consulting services from ESRI S-GROUP, making ESRI one of just a few strategic suppliers of GIS to the Swedish military.”

About ESRI S-GROUP
ESRI S-GROUP is the leading Scandinavian provider of GIS solutions, making software, services, support, and training accessible to more than 20,000 Swedish GIS users in both the private and public sectors. ESRI S-GROUP is the distributor in Sweden for ESRI, the market leader in GIS software. Visit us at www.esri-sgroup.se.

About ESRI
Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com/news.