The grant program was established by ESRI in memory of GIS pioneer John E. Estes, who died in 2001.

ESRI, the leading developer of geographic information system (GIS) software, announces that recipients of the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping (ISCGM)/Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) grants will be providing status reports on their individual projects at the GSDI 6 Conference, to be held in Budapest, Hungary from September 16-19, 2002. The grant program, which attracted interest from national mapping agencies throughout the world, was established in memory of GIS pioneer John E. Estes, who died in 2001.

ESRI is underwriting the program with a comprehensive package of software, training, and support worth more than $6,000,000 (U.S.). Approximately 100 grants valued at $60,000 (U.S.) each will be awarded to support the building of national spatial data infrastructures in countries around the world. The program also promotes the sharing of geospatial data to expand the GSDI movement.