URISA Annual Conference - Thursday Program

Conference Program — Thursday, September 28, 2006

8:30 – 10:00 AM

2006 ESIG Awards Ceremony

The 2006 Exemplary Systems in Government Award winners will be recognized this morning. Learn why the systems were judged as exemplary systems. During Friday's closing plenary session, the top ESIG winners will present their accomplished systems.

Keynote Address
Mike Liebhold, Institute for the Future, Palo Alto, CA

Mike Liebhold is a Senior Researcher for the Institute for the Future, focusing on pro-active, context-aware and ubiquitous computing, as well as social implications and technical evolution of a geospatial web. URISA is honored to announce Mr. Liebhold as a keynote speaker at URISA 2006.

The Geospatial Web: An Update

Beyond a growing interest in mobile GIS and location services, there's deep fascination with web mapping and location hacking. After several years of early experiments by a first generation of geohackers, locative media artists, and psychogeographers, a second, larger wave of hackers are demonstrating some amazing tricks with Google Maps, Flickr, and del.icio.us. Meanwhile, a growing international cadre of open source digital geographers and frontier semantic hackers have been building first-generation working versions of powerful new open source web mapping service tools based on open standards like WMS (web map services) and WFS (web feature services), all built on GML (geographic markup language) and XML.

Out of this teeming ecosystem, we can see the beginning shapes of a true geospatial web, inhabited by spatially tagged hypermedia as well as digital map geodata. Google Maps is just one more layer among all the invisible cartographic attributes and user annotations on every centimeter of a place and attached to every physical thing, visible and useful, in context, on low-cost, easy-to-use mobile devices.

The first-generation internet and Web generated a huge amount of economic energy, and so will a geospatial web. So it needs the same high level of early, informed financial support from forward-thinking public servants, geospatial service entrepreneurs, and philanthropists. However, while it is interesting to entertain ideas of early public benenfit from geospatial web services, we all need to take a deep breath and perform a sober and unhyped assessment of where we are, and what we still need to do to enjoy the social and creative benefits of a geospatial web. We can't afford a second dot-bust; investments and developments have to be smarter this time. In this talk, I'll review what we still need to do in order to build and enjoy the benefits of a sustainable geospatial web.

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Exhibit Hall Hours
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Note that the exhibit hall dismantles after 2:00 PM today.

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Educational Sessions
10:30 AM – 12:00 Noon

Management
An Enterprise Approach to GIS

Learn the many successes, challenges and benefits associated with implementing an enterprise GIS. From migration, to web enablement, to enterprise wide support attendees will surely gain insight into three significant GIS solutions – and the importance of making a difference with an enterprise solution.

• Migrating a Mature GIS Program From A Legacy System to An Enterprise Database
  Jules Robichaud, City of Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach, VA
• An Enterprise Solution That Is Making a Difference
  William Latchford and Robert Meikle, City of Brampton, Brampton, ON
• Enterprise-Wide GIS Implementation: How to Support the Whole Organization
  Brian Sovik, GISP, AMEC Earth and Environmental, Tempe, AZ
  Michael Franschman, Orion Technology,Richmond Hill, ON
  Jeff Albee, AMEC Earth and Environmental, Nashville, TN

Management
Affordability, Availability and Generating Revenue

The "traditional" litany of benefits like improved efficiency, better customer service, and better decision-making do not begin to justify the expense of developing new spatial datasets and expanding the focus of an organization’s GIS implementation. New, innovative approaches are required. Learn about a GIS storefront that not only generates revenue through the sale of value added data products and services, but is valued by elected officials as a public relations success. Hear about the implementation of a web-based data distribution system and about the cost benefits analysis to justify the expense of developing new database layers.

• Creating Efficiencies in Data Availability
  Alison Palmer, Township of Langley, Langley, BC
• Assessing the Affordability of Database Development Using Cost Benefit Analysis
  Douglas Adams, Baltimore County, Towson, MD
• Improving the Usability of Spatial Information Products and Services
  Dr. Gary Hunter, Department of Geomatics, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Data
The Highs and Lows of LiDAR Data in GIS

The inclusion of LiDAR data into GIS has led to fantastic analysis and discoveries. The following presentations highlight three projects incorporating LiDAR and GIS, from collection and distribution to advanced application of the data.

• Integrating High Resolution Digital Imagery and LiDAR for Local Government
  Jaymes Pardue, VARGIS LLC, Arvada, CO
• Planning and Implementation of the North Carolina Streambed Mapping Project
  Scott Edelman, Susan Phelps and Terri McLean, Watershed Concepts, Greensboro, NC

Management
Aquatic GIS Adventures

Come learn how the use of GIS technology has broadened in the area of marine ecosystem management. Attendees will learn practical GIS applications for this delicate environmental development.

• A Methodology for Developing an Aquatic Resource Management Strategy
  Carol Murdock, GISP, Clackamas County, Clackamas, OR
• Assessing Nonpoint-Source Pollution in the Weeks Bay Watershed, Alabama
  Jamie Carter, NOAA Coastal Services Center, Charleston, SC
• UDF Analysis Using GIS and Hydraulic Modeling
  Werner de Schaetzen, Earth Tech Canada, Burnaby, BC

Applications
GIS Transportation Applications

GIS is used extensively within the transportation arena. This session focuses on three such examples, ranging from bus performance visualization, large-scale transportation planning through to dissemination of traffic information.

• Transit Data Visualization
  Thomas Kimpel, GISP, Portland State University, Portland, OR
• GIS-Centric Transportation Planning Project
  Jaime Crawford and Angela Goodwin, CH2M Hill, Bellevue, WA
• Smart Way Maps – Interactive Online Traffic Information at the Click of a Mouse!
  Kim McDonough, GISP, Tennessee Dept of Transportation, Nashville, TN

Hot Topics
Open Source, Open Standards – What Can They Do for You?

Agencies have an imperative to engage their constituents and data consumers in a meaningful way. Come see how open source, open standards, Google Earth, and blogging come together to mainstream GIS.

• Sharing Local Government Information: Google Earth, Open Source GIS, and FME
  Jason Birch, City of Nanaimo, Nanaimo, BC
• disAbility Spin: Disability Community Connection in Missouri
  Yan Barnett and Chris Fulcher, University of Missouri-CARES, Columbia, MO
• GeoRSS: Adding Location to RSS Feeds
  David Arctur, Open Geospatial Consortium, Wayland, MA

Hot Topics
Infrastructure Asset Management: Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and GIS

With retiring workforces, aging infrastructure, and government regulations, the pressure is on to manage assets effectively. How are cities addressing these real life challenges? This session will focus on revealing first hand experiences of those agencies that have gone down this path.

• Implementation of a Utilities Network GIS Model for a Mid Sized Municipality
  Lynn DeVries and Tim Taylor, City of Nanaimo, Nanaimo, BC
• Creating a Utility Asset Inventory In-House
  Randal Krejcarek, GISP and Robert Mickl, City of Delray Beach, Delray Beach, FL
• Bridging the CAD/GIS Gap: Saskatoon’s Infrastructure Asset Management Approach
  Glen Boos, City of Saskatoon, Saskatoon, SK
  Michael Schlosser, Autodesk Canada Inc, Regina, SK

Professional Development
Effective Project Management

In the growing age of Information Technology, the URISA membership finds itself at a crossroads. How do we bridge the various islands of information spread amongst various departments when all parties need to share their GIS, design, cost estimation, bid management, and progress tracking data? Most importantly, how can we standardize our processes and methodologies to ensure consistency throughout our organization?

• Seven Habits of Highly Effective Project Management
  Bill Walker, Info Tech Inc, Gainesville, FL

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12:00 Noon - 2:00 PM
Exhibit Hall Hours and Walk Around Lunch

Demonstration Theatre Showtimes:

12:00 Noon - 12:30 PM

12:45 - 1:15 PM

1:30 - 2:00 PM

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Educational Sessions
2:15 – 3:45 PM

Management
Sandbox 101 – Collaboration and Management

Building collaborative relationships among the many governments, agencies and special interest groups that create and use GIS data is the desired goal for everyone involved. It is worth playing well with others. Learn how European, Canadian and U.S. counterparts have managed these struggles. Gain insight into the issues, benefits and synergy of collaborative relationships.

• Building Collaborations Across Agencies
  Cathy Raney, Campbell County, Gillette, WY
  David Holdstock, Geographic Technologies Group, Goldsboro, NC
• Alberta Capital Region GIS: A Shared Academic, Government, and Community SDI
  David Dubauskas, Alberta Capital Regional Alliance, Sherwood Park, AB
• INSPIRE: Information Policy issues of The European Spatial Data
  Katleen Janssen, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Management
Education, Training and Lessons Learned — Part I

The visibility and importance of geospatial data and information is growing rapidly. Students and volunteers with the help of modern information technologies, such as GIS, GPS, and the Internet, can bridge many data and analysis gaps. How do we attract “young” people into our fold? How do we employ the science-minded? How do we reach the K-12 students? Come learn about some of the emerging opportunities and challenges in expanding geospatial education and how such programs may shape the labor market, the profession and volunteer citizen efforts.

• Helping to Bring Geographic Information Systems Technology to the Classroom
  Carol McCoy, City of Olathe, Olathe, KS
• SPACESTARS Curriculum for Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Education
  Eddie Hanebuth, Digital Quest Inc Ridgeland, MS

Data
Shift Happens – Improving Data Accuracy in GIS

All agencies with a GIS deal with the continuing issue of improving data accuracy to some degree. This session focuses on three different techniques to improve positional accuracy of their GIS data.

• Geographic Program Innovations for the 2010 Census and Beyond
  Robert LaMacchia, US Census Bureau, Washington, DC
• Correcting the Spatial Accuracy of a Land Base-Building a Foundation for Success
  Chris Schaefer and Jurek Kolman, Inside Oregon Enterprises, Salem, OR
• How and Why Trans-Link Aligned Stats-Can Vectors to GPS Centerlines
  David Murray, Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, Burnaby, BC
  Bernard Catalinotto, Data Enhancement Services, LLC, Bethesda, MD

Tools
“Where am I?” Using Mobile Mapping Tools to Find Out

The spatial technologies continue to evolve in the workspace as mobile hardware becomes readily available. This session will focus on future potential for spatial data collection in the field, design and implementation, and benefits to users such as municipalities, engineering firms, and other sectors.

• Modernizing the Municipal Geo-Spatial Reference System in British Columbia
  Brad Hlasny, Base Mapping & Geomatic Services, Victoria, BC
  Vern Vogt, Base Mapping & Geomatic Services, Victoria, BC
• Oakland County, MI - E-Health Well & Septic Permitting System
  ESIG 2006 Distinguished Systems Winner
  R. Scott Oppmann, Oakland County Information Technology, Pontiac, MI
• Achieving The Promise of Mobile Mapping
  Paul Wilson, MapFrame Corp, Dallas, TX

Applications
Innovative GIS Applications—Part II

With GIS becoming more prevalent and understood, new uses of this technology are emerging everyday. This session focuses on three innovative uses of GIS including Eco Tourism, location enabled web services and self service applications.

• Self – Service Customers Through a GIS Enabled Interface
  Robert Lunn, City of Fredericton, Fredericton, NB
• Bringing Eco-Tourism to the Masses: Interaction through GIS and the World Wide Web
  Charlene LeBleu and Manan Pathak, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
• The Spatial Infrastructure for Location-enabled Web Services
  Xavier Lopez, Oracle Corporation, Nashua, NH

Applications
Municipal Enterprise Applications

Local governments are increasingly under pressure to do more with less. Enterprise GIS is one vehicle for providing better information to stream line the decision making process. This session will showcase three Canadian examples of the Enterprise approach to GIS.

• Spatially Enabling the Municipal Enterprise
  Laine Wyman, City of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON
• Vancouver’s Enterprise Approach to GIS: Architecture and Applications
  Jonathan Mark and Meng Li, City of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
• Engineering Drawing Spatial Search
  Randy Hall, City of Richmond, Richmond, BC

Hot Topics
Public Health and Disease Monitoring: Adding GIS to the Toolkit

Come see how GIS is providing health professionals with a decision support tool to help protect our community against new health threats such as the Avian flu and the West Nile virus. Preparedness, monitoring, mitigation, and abatement issues are explored in these sessions.

• Using GIS to Monitor West Nile Virus (WNV) Occurrence in SE Alberta
  Nigel Forster, City of Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat, AB
• Avian Influenza – Role of GIS
  Gurdeep Singh, Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, Surrey, BC
• Temperature, Rainfall and West Nile Virus in Northeast Illinois
  Marilyn Ruiz, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL

Professional Development
Managing Change/Measuring Performance

Bringing in projects on time and within budget, succession planning, and measuring performance are challenges faced by public and private sector managers. In this session three seasoned professionals will share their insights and practical tips for effectively managing the complexities.

• Managing Changes To Your Projects
  Kevin O Connell, Colorado CustomWare Inc, Fort Collins, CO
• Succession Planning & Knowledge Transfer
  Trish Dunbar, Boulder County, Boulder, CO
• Measuring Performance in the Public Sector
  Kathy Covert, Federal Geographic Data Committee, Denver, CO
  

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Educational Sessions
4:00 - 5:00 PM

Management
GIS Environmental Models

GIS has become a tool in the management of decision making for various planners in both green and grey infrastructure planning projects. Learn about various planning disciplines and technologies implemented in both US and European environments. The presenters will discuss the development of GIS-based models for regional environmental and urban planning and assessment.

• GIS Processing Models for Regional Urban Environmental Planning and Management
  Joerg Schaller, University of Technology Munich, Kranzberg Bavaria, Germany
• Using GIS to Build a Green Infrastructure Plan
  Cecilia Lammers, Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission, Upper Marlboro, MD

Management

Public Records Panel – Private and Non-Profit Perspectives

This unique panel will explain and explore different perspectives on the rapidly changing and controversial issue of “public” geodata availability and access. Bruce Joffe, originator of the Open Data Consortium project, along with others in the field, will review the legal, political and economic framework for the distribution and spatial maintenance of public geodata.

• Public Records Panel: Government, Private and Nonprofit Perspectives
  Bruce Joffe, GISP, GIS Consultants, Oakland, CA

Data
Time—the 4th Dimension of Data

Frequently, time can be as important a component of a dataset as the spatial data. This session will look at issues involved with the use of temporal data in analyses.

• Extracting Point in Time Versions from an Unversioned Data Source
  Carl Anderson, Fulton County, Atlanta, GA
• Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Job Access Inequality Between Car and Public Transit
  Mizuki Kawabata, University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
  Qing Shen, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Data
Standards for a National Cadastre: Panel Discussion

This panel will discuss some of the developing practices that are hindering the creation of a seamless national cadastre and how universal application of certain standards may help create a layer that is usable by both private sector, state and federal organizations.

• Digital Parcel Map Database Standards for Broad Use
  Dennis Klein, Boundary Solutions Inc, Mill Valley, CA
  Panel Participants: Greg Babinski, King County GIS, Seattle, WA
  Carol Hall, Metro Regional Services, Portland, OR
  Cy Smith, GISP, State of Oregon, Salem, OR

Applications
Integrating Address Data in the Enterprise

With advancements in interoperability and enterprise systems, address data becomes an integral piece of effective operations. This session looks at how and why having a well integrated and maintained address system impacts data quality, integrity and usability for different enterprise applications.

• Address Maintenance Application in The City of Miami
  Martin Roche, EarthData International, Miami Beach, FL
• Developing Good Address Systems – A Danish-Portuguese Comparison Study
  Antonio Arnaud, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
  Morten Lind, National Survey and Cadastre Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

Data
Data Accessibility and Legal Issues

What is the rationale for a U.S. federal agency asking a local government agency to review and correct a federal dataset, and then denying that same local agency the right to access and use the dataset it corrected? What is the impact of Australian law that copyrights datasets and informational products effectively restricting access for public use? This session will present the latest information on efforts in the U.S., Australia, Canada, the U.K., and Europe to improve access to protected data.

• A Master Address File for Local Government
  Will Craig, GISP, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• Creating a Public Sector Information Commons
  Tim Barker, Queensland Spatial Information Office, Office of Economic and Statistical Research, Queensland Treasury, Australia

Hot Topics
Emergency Preparedness, Are You Ready? (III)

In the event of an emergency or disaster of any scale, access to accurate and quality information is the key to saving lives and minimizing property loss. Often, GIS can be the conduit through which this information can be brought together effectively. These presentations discuss different applications of geospatial technology used by local, state, and federal agencies for emergency planning and recovery operations.

• Estimating Diurnal Populations on the Oregon Coast in the Event of a Tsunami
  Rachel Trusty Sleeter, USGS/Western Region, Menlo Park, CA
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Professional Development
GISCI Certification Update

How can you boost your career? Become a certified GIS professional and draw attention to your educational achievement, professional experience, and your contributions back to the profession. This presentation is designed to help you complete the application and identify appropriate supplemental information that you will need to earn certification through the GIS Certification Institute. The session will begin with a brief history of GIS certification and an overview of the application review process. It will then provide helpful tips to completing GISCI's portfolio-based application.

• Scott Grams, GIS Certification Institute, Park Ridge, IL

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6:00 – 10:00 PM
Social Event – off site

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