ESRI GIS software license for students in Hawaii

[ESRI reports] With the signing of its K–12 statewide software license, Hawaii becomes the first state in the nation with a comprehensive set of license agreements that offers students in elementary and secondary schools, as well as those in colleges and universities, the opportunity to use the full complement of ESRI's GIS software products. State officials are enthusiastic about the potential for job creation through a greater emphasis on spatial literacy in the educational system.

The Hawaii Department of Education (DoE), which has been using GIS for administrative purposes for the past five years, can now install and use ESRI software on any number of instructional and administrative computers. Any school in the state will be able to do facilities management, safety planning, demographic analysis, and more.

The Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) is another strong advocate of the statewide licenses for GIS education and encouraged the DoE to expand its licensing agreements with ESRI.

Some schools have already included GIS instruction in their curricula, and the new licensing agreement will expand the opportunity for GIS project collaboration among students throughout the islands.