Envista Technologies wows 'em in Kuwait.

It's hard to imagine the complexities that must be involved in tracking and reporting on changes to such elaborate environments as water, air and ground. Add to that the different protocols used for such measurements across the world and the problem becomes mind-boggling. More perplexing still is trying to apply a quantifiable number to determine the economic cost of the degradation of these environments.

That's why it took a Saskatchewan company to come up with the solutions.

In the wake of the 199l-'92 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, Kuwait appealed to the United Nations for compensation for the extensive environmental damage visited upon their country by the invaders. In response, the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) made funds available to Kuwait to undertake an assessment of the extent of the devastation, and Kuwait put out a call for bids to companies with varying capacities to complete the assessment.

It took two years of dogged determination, but in March of this year, Envista Technologies, an offshoot company of Clifton Associates, won the five-year contract. "It was a very stiff competition," says Clifton Associates President, Wayne Clifton. "I'm very proud that we won it. And I'm proud of the people who did it."

Clifton Associates Ltd. of Regina, Saskatoon and Calgary, was the mastermind behind development of a software program known as an Environmental Data Management, Reporting and Assessment System. President Wayne Clifton explains "It's basically an accounting system for the environment."

Clifton makes it seem like a straightforward comparison, but closer scrutiny reveals some very astute and refined programming at the heart of the software. Four areas of investigation are contemplated within the contract: marine and coastal environments, ground water contamination, land damage and degradation of plants and wildlife. Each minute detail of each of these environmental aspects will be assessed, measured and entered into the Envista data base, along with the protocols by which measurements were taken. The software not only records all the data, but actually checks it for validity sending back queries when a problem is identified. In fact, 400 such checks are made on each piece of data entered into the system! Reporting and presentation capabilities are also built into the software.

Although the exact value of the contract is not yet known, Clifton estimates that 60 person-years of work will be required over the five-year period. He expects the final value to be "well into eight figures."

"It's a unique opportunity and piece of work in a part of the world you wouldn't expect to see a Saskatchewan company," emphasizes Clifton. By his assessment, "Worldwide, Saskatchewan companies can compete."