Launch of the new IMSMA Version 4
Press Release
Geneva, 7 September 2005
Launch of the new IMSMA Version 4
The new version 4 of IMSMA - Information Management System for Mine Action - is completed and ready to begin filed testing. It has been handed over by FGM, Inc., the development firm, to the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).
“The latest version of IMSMA is designed as a decentralized system and will replace existing systems within the next two years. This new release is based upon open-source software and is being developed using the platform-independent Java programming language” says Alan Arnold, Program Manager Mine Action Information Systems. “Thanks to the generosity of ESRI the new system will contain a fully integrated GIS based on the Arc Engine software package. It allows users to perform interactive map-based navigation throughout the entire content of the database”.
This first release of IMSMA V.4 will under go a series of pilot tests starting in the fall of 2005 before it is made available for general release. The new system is designed for use by operations and management staff and contains a number of technical improvements, which will reduce the cost of operations and maintenance.
IMSMA is a software based data management tool for use at mine action centre level. It is able to provide the Mine Action managers and practitioners with up-to-date information management capabilities to facilitate decision making in the framework of mine action.
“The system is currently in use in more than 40 countries and covers 80 % of mine action programs around the world. Based on the input of field users, the system has been continuously revised and upgraded since its initial release in the summer of 1999” says Ambassador Stephan Nellen, Director of the GICHD.
IMSMA is a licensed and copyrighted product of the GICHD and is not freeware or shareware. All distributions of the system are covered by license agreements. IMSMA is provided free of charge by the GICHD to mine affected countries and to the governments of countries actively involved in peace keeping and mine action support operations. The use of IMSMA in the pursuit of any commercial enterprise is strictly prohibited.
For further information, please contact :
Davide Orifici
Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining – GICHD
Phone : + 41 22 906 16 91 – Mobile : + 41 79 747 10 57
http://www.gichd.ch/fileadmin/pdf/about_gichd/press/press_releases/050907_IMSMA_Version4_first_r elease_e.pdf