For instance, the entire sailing event for Olympics 2000 was staged for the first time in a harbour, allowing spectators to view races that have, up until this point, always been staged in the open ocean. Sydney Harbour officials took it all in stride. The harbour is big, and a sailing event, even if it is the largest in the world, would not dramatically affect its busy shipping lanes and cross-harbour traffic. Together, they mapped out a comprehensive strategy to stage a truly millennium-scale sporting event. Waterways Authority NSW is the governmental agency responsible for protecting and managing Australia's navigable waters.
Waterways monitors recreational and commercial boating and wetland property issues.
Waterways is also responsible for water safety and education, enforcement of marine laws, as well as environmental legislation and regulations. Sydney Harbour falls squarely under the jurisdiction of Waterways. As a matter of fact, the agency actually owns the bed of the harbour and therefore has a keen interest and responsibility for any and all harbour-related activities. We had a major role in helping to plan for this part of the Olympics, and that's where GIS technology comes in. To accomplish this required integrating a variety of sources of information, for which Waterways used MapObjects, ESRI's developers' software that includes embeddable mapping and GIS components, allowing the creation of dynamic live maps with GIS capabilities.