MOOSE JAW – The City of Moose Jaw Information Technology (IT) department has won a municipal award for our drone program.

The Municipal Information Systems Association Prairies Chapter held their annual municipal showcase this past May in Edmonton, Alberta and the award for the best presentation was recently given to the City of Moose Jaw for the “Evolution of a Municipal Drone Program” presentation. Bret Rowlinson, GIS Supervisor, and Ryan Nelson, Information Services Manager, created and delivered the presentation.

“The City of Moose Jaw was an early adopter of the technology,” said Wade McKay, IT Director. “We have deployed drones for uses such as large scale volumetric calculations, landfill capacity planning and even community marketing.  The presentation also touched on the challenges faced while implementing this program; changes to Transport Canada UAS laws/regulations, training requirements, data processing issues and flying in military airspace. We’re proud of our program and it’s an honour to be recognized with this award.”

Following the showcase in May, the pair won a free trip to the British Columbia MISA conference to show the presentation again this week and just returned.