The ministry was selected among over 100 000 applications from around the world

Minister of Environment and Water Julian Popov received an award on behalf of the ministry for special achievements in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The awards were presented on 15 November - World GIS Day 2023, and this year they comprised of five categories - Public Administration, Local Government, Private Sector, Security, and International Organization.

In the "State Administration" category, the highest international award in the field of GIS technologies was awarded to the Ministry of Environment and Water for the implementation of three strategic systems based on state-of-the-art GIS technologies. These are: "Flood Risk Management Information System", "Upgrading of the Unified Information System for Management of Protected Areas from the NATURA 2000 Ecological Network", and "Water Management System in the Iskar River Basin".

For its special achievements in the application of GIS, the ministry was selected among more than 100 000 applications from across the world. The award was presented by Philip Mott, Director General of ESRI Europe. "We are all increasingly dependent on geographic information systems. I am very proud to receive this award, and accept it on behalf of all ministry staff. I look forward to advancing the analysis of all natural climate risks so that we can face them more informed and manage them even more effectively," Minister Popov said after receiving the award.

The organizers of the traditional awards in the industry report that the Ministry of Environment and Water is one of the pioneers in the use of GIS in the central government in Bulgaria. The specialists note that the ministry demonstrates a clear management vision for the strategic benefit of applying GIS technologies to increase the quality and capacity of its activities for more effective management of waters and protected areas from NATURA 2000.