Canadian Tech Company Takes New York City's MillionTreesNYC Initiative to the Cloud

EDMONTON, Oct. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - On October 22 2014, Nektar Data Systems, a mobile data software solutions provider, based out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, secured a contract with the City of New York, North America's most populous metropolis.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141025/154367)

Nektar Data Systems will assist the City of New York Parks Department to monitor and report on events and tasks for tens of thousands of trees planted as part of the City's MillionTreesNYC environmental initiative. The New York City Parks department required a cloud-based mobile data collection system to quantify the contractual requirements for tree planting and maintenance work as completed by contractors hired within the program.

With the thousands of trees and the obvious congestion and geography of New York City, the monumental task of managing the contractual obligations of the contractors have led the city to seek out a tree tracking, mapping and data collection tool. After a successful pilot, New York City has chosen Nektar Data Systems' Histree product as their choice to accomplish this feat. 

Using Nektar Data Systems' Histree product, the City of New York's Parks Department will track, record and report on all contractor/tree events. This embracement of the Histree data collection solution will allow New York City parks staff to perform inspections on trees and to fully document, map and quantify exactly when and where work is being performed by contractors. The information gathered will include dynamic information such as tree inspections and assessments, pictures, date and time stamps records, as well as the exact GPS map location of each tree and event. All data will be hosted in cloud servers giving the contractors and NYC Parks administrative staff the option to add data to the data base or retrieve and view each tree's 'histree'  at any time from any device. Users will also be using Histree's GPS mapping functionality to facilitate routing and scheduling processes within a single interface.

"The ability to manage a tree's well-being, directly from the field, using a smartphone or tablet will revolutionize municipally managed tree planting programs" said Nektar Data Systems President and CEO Art Maat. "It brings everyone's accountability in planning, implementing and follow-up on any green project, big or small, to the forefront," he said.

About Nektar Data Systems 

Nektar Data Systems is focused in offering cloud-based mobile data collection solutions. Nektar's three core products, Arcsset, Equipdata, and Histree all operate on the same data management platform and are tools used in addressing the distinct needs of separate vertical industry sectors. Arcsset is a customized system concentrating on utilities, oil and gas and the industrial service sector. Equipdata is focused on the construction, road building, and manufacturing industry, and equipment rental and dealer networks. Histree is catered towards nurseries, contractors, consultants and municipalities within the green industry. Conceived, developed and beta tested within the operational environment of a decades-old, Canadian open-space site development and tree planting contractor, Nektar and its dynamic products work as practical and as simple as field staff require and expect. 

About MillionTreesNYC

MillionTreesNYC, one of the 132 PlaNYC initiatives, is a citywide, public-private program with an ambitious goal: to plant and care for one million new trees across the City's five boroughs over the next decade. By planting one million trees, New York City will increase its urban forest—its most valuable environmental asset made up of street trees, park trees, and trees on public, private and commercial land—by an astounding 20%, while achieving the many quality-of-life benefits that come with planting trees. The City of New York will plant 70% of trees in parks and other public spaces. The other 30% will come from private organizations, homeowners, and community organizations. In addition to community planting initiatives the City of New York engages with contractors to plant and maintain tens of thousands of street trees annually.

SOURCE Nektar Data Systems Inc