As the busyness ebbs and things quieten down, we stand in awe of our Maker and see His hand in the year past.

Time, Rhythm and Reflection was part of our festive season wish list for you at the end of 2013.

Although 2014 passed at the speed of thought, at AfriGIS we were blessed with the time and rhythm to increase our understanding of the AfriGIS product range and what it can and should do for our customers.

At the ripe age of 17 we were also blessed with several insights and successful initiatives about our own personal and organisational growth and purpose.  In certain instances our envisaged application of our products and services, and how we see our customers using them, are spot on, but in other instances we stand in awe at how you are using what we are producing.

However it may be, the relevance of the “Big Data” of Location information is gaining prominence in the minds of decision makers everywhere. And this prominence is what AfriGIS is about. We are on a quest to bring information about Location to life. We do this by bringing the greatest minds to the greatest maps. This results in giving you simple, fast access to quality product and data solutions.

 

Some of the highlights and numbers of the year include:

• Hosting another three successful Data Shows during the year, with our 47th Data Show scheduled for December 2014. Always building and reinforcing the strong foundation of AfriGIS and in turn delivering World Class Datasets.
• AfriGIS has been involved with the IEC since 1997; Elections 2014 was another milestone for the company where AfriGIS solutions played an important role before and during the election process. The IEC USSD Voting Station Monitor, a solution powered by AfriGIS, reflected this and was shortlisted as Best Cost Efficiency in Africa finalist at the 2014 AfricaCom Awards.
• On our CSI and Skills Development initiatives we have extended our Learnership, in association with CTU Training Solutions & MICT SETA, for the year and we are proud to announce that all our 2012/2013 learners were placed in the industry. We also welcomed five employees from Employment Solutions for People with Disabilities in the AfriGIS Team. Employment Solutions strives to create an accommodating and disability-friendly work environment according to their unique capabilities through integrated and meaningful employment within the Gauteng North region.
• Launching of the Spatial Data Special Interest Group (SIG) with Oracle, the first local one with a focus on Spatial and Graph.
• Some noteworthy numbers of the year include – crossing the 16 billion impression mark on our Communications & Advertising Platform Marbil, delivering millions of SMS’s and MMS’s, 8.7 million Address lookups performed, 182 million Navigation points logged, more than 26 million searchable Address combinations, 13.9 Terabytes of data served, more than 120 million Map tiles served, 10 adverts published and AfriGIS Navigator reaching more than 400 thousand downloads across all platforms.
• A significant milestone of the year is the Department of Social Development’s Gender Based Violence Command Centre where AfriGIS is involved as one of the solution partners. The GBV CC model offers help, hope and the chance of a better life to the victims of gender-based abuse, even in the remotest and most underdeveloped corners of our country.  The DSD GBV CC won the Changing Lives in Africa Award at the 2014 AfricaCom Awards. (Read more in the complete article included in this Newsletter or on our website.)

A special thank you to the talented AfriGIS team; for the important role you play in the organisation, your dedication, energy, expertise and hard work.

Thank you to our project partners and clients for your loyal support and interaction with AfriGIS during the year, allowing us the opportunity to serve you and grow as people and an organisation during 2014.

As always, we remain committed and passionate in our quest to make our beautiful country and the world a better place for all.  We thank our Heavenly Father for His guidance and grace in our lives. We look forward to continuing our journey with you in 2015!

We wish you a blessed festive season and peace in the beautiful message it brings.

 

Regards,

Magnus