First American Real Estate Information Services has acquired Harvard Design and Mapping Co., a provider of Geographic Information Systems technology to businesses and governments worldwide, the company said Thursday.
Terms of the purchase, which closed on March 1, were not disclosed.
The purchase is expected to strengthen the company’s ability to use GIS technology solutions to help First American clients handle flood risk and data management, a company official said in an announcement.
GIS technology includes computer platforms that are capable of assembling, storing, manipulating and displaying geographically referenced information. GIS helps governments and businesses make better decisions and solve problems by understanding past, present and future scenarios, and are especially useful in land-use planning decisions.
The combination of HDM’s InsMap natural hazard analysis and portfolio monitoring product with First American’s flood risk products will create a comprehensive picture of any property’s risk exposure in real-time and integrated with sophisticated GIS-based models.
HDM’s founders, Kija Kim and James Aylward, as well as chief technology officer Dr. Wei Du and senior vice president David Chadwick, will remain with the company.
First American Real Estate Information Services is a subsidiary of The First American Corp., which has businesses in title insurance, specialty insurance, mortgage information, property information and risk mitigation and business services.
