STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State University’s Center for Agribusiness Excellence (CAE), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA), has been commended for its achievements in utilization of geographic information systems software and technology.
A group from the CAE traveled to San Diego, Calif., in July to receive the Special Achievement in GIS award from Esri, a global company specializing in GIS software and technology, geospatial analytics and mapping. Esri presents its SAG award during its annual user conference in recognition of outstanding work with GIS technology. Only 215 winning organizations were nominated by Esri representatives out of more than 650,000 clients worldwide, including Fortune 100 companies, national, state and city governments, and 12,000 universities.
“Given the exceptional work being completed around the world, I felt honored to be recognized for CAE’s hard work and achievements in the field of GIS by one of the industry’s leaders,” said Jennifer Ireland, Manager of Geospatial Services for the CAE.
The partnership between the CAE (part of Tarleton State’s Division of Research, Innovation and Economic Development) and the USDA’s RMA resulted from the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 requiring the USDA RMA to improve compliance and integrity within the Federal Crop Insurance Program.
According to Troy Thorne, Director of the CAE and Tarleton Analytics Institute, the CAE ingests large amounts of heterogeneous data from a wide variety of sources and processes it through advanced analytic and data science tools to provide vital information to the USDA RMA, as well as secondary customers such as the USDA Farm Service Agency and insurance companies participating in the FCIP.
“It was very satisfying to see the amazing team members here at Tarleton State University’s Center for Agribusiness Excellence get recognized publicly for their outstanding work,” Thorne said. “I see it every day and could not be prouder to be part of such an amazing organization.”
Tarleton State established the CAE in 2000 to provide research, training, data warehousing, data mining and advanced analytics to aid the government’s efforts to create efficiencies and maintain program integrity. CAE’s insights through these endeavors are delivered to the RMA through customized decision support systems and agricultural risk management products.
Over their 20-plus-year partnership, CAE and RMA have established a fully geo-enabled platform across both the multiparallel processing and the ArcGIS Enterprise environments. The integration of geospatial data and the advancement of geographic information system technologies within the FCIP have provided data-driven insights into what is happening in the field.
A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State University is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of approximately 18,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. For 125 years, Tarleton State has been committed to accessible higher education opportunities for all while helping students grow academically, socially and professionally through programs that emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.