Westminster, CO - July 12, 2005 - The Tompkins County Information Technology Services Office has selected Hitachi Software and the HouseDiff service to improve the accuracy of the county's building data. In phase one of the project, Hitachi Software will use the county's 2002 aerial imagery to extract highly accurate building outlines for planning, emergency response mapping, and taxation purposes. The automatic change detection project (phase two) is anticipated on a future series of ortho-photography in 2006.

With results from these projects, the Tompkins County GIS staff will know which buildings are new or have changed since the last data collection period. Staff will be able to focus more time investigating identified changes and less time verifying buildings that have not changed.

Tompkins County is a jurisdiction of approximately 100,000 people in mid-state New York. Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College are located within its borders.

About HouseDiff
HouseDiff is an automatic change detection engine that assists local governments in maintaining more accurate, up-to-date building data. HouseDiff automatically combines existing GIS building and parcel data with recently acquired imagery, resulting in a new GIS file with information on which buildings have changed.

Data product deliverables generally include updated GIS data layers (.shp) indicating changes against the existing data layer(s), a written report analyzing project results, and accompanying project documentation. From these deliverables, a jurisdiction can determine which parcels require additional on-site inspection to verify building changes.

In counties across the US, HouseDiff projects have resulted in improved accuracy of building data sets and increased county tax revenue through recognition of previously untaxed or undertaxed properties. For more information, please visit www.housediff.com

About Hitachi Software Global Technology
Hitachi Software Global Technology (HSGT) is a leading software, data, and solution provider for companies seeking to maximize their potential through spatial information. HSGT solutions combine Open GIS Consortium standards, imagery and vector data products, and award-winning automatic vectorization software. Headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, HSGT continues to pioneer new technologies and services for utilities, telecommunications companies, and governments. For more information visit www.hsgt.com.

All company names, products, and trademarks are owned by their respective companies.

END