URISA's 4th Caribbean GIS Conference - Friday, August 29, 2008

9:00-10:30 AM
Educational Sessions

Land, Environment, Planning and Natural Resources
Conservation Planning: Habitat Mapping
This session will look at a series of case studies that use GIS techniques for mapping and modeling of habitats for conservation planning. Then, learn about the Caribbean Decision Support System and the supporting GIS tools and data that were developed.

Session Moderator: Vijay Datadin, Caribbean GIS, Georgetown NIL, Guyana

Disaster Management, Law Enforcement, Public Health and Safety
Strategic Approaches to Disaster Management
GIS is a powerful tool for Disaster Management. This session will look at strategic approaches to disaster management that incorporate geospatial technology. It will also demonstrate the need for the integration of mitigation and recovery efforts.

Session Moderator: Lavern Rogers-Ryan, Government of Monsterrat

Standards, Policy and Management
Metadata Jumpstart
Metadata is a fundamental component of effective geospatial data and project management. Many organizations, however, struggle to build the skills and methods necessary to incorporate metadata into the data development process. Join this full morning session to learn more about the value, content, and format of geospatial metadata as well as the tools and other resources that can support you as you adopt metadata creation, a GIS best practice.

Session Moderator: Valrie Grant-Harry, GISP, GIS Consultant, Kingston, Jamaica

Sponsor Session
Blom Aerofilms will present the results of their recent Pictometry and LiDAR survey of the Cayman Islands. A summary of how the survey was planned, acquired and processed to deliver these unique products, for the first time in the Caribbean, will be provided. A live demonstration of the final Pictometry library will also be given. This will provide the delegates with the opportunity to see how this unique technology combines aerial imaging with state of the art software solutions to provide visual intelligence unlike any other system available. In addition, Blom Aerofilms will also hi-light some of the other complementary survey technology that they have recently used in the Caribbean. This will include a review of recent topographic mapping, hydrographic charting and other projects where spatial data solutions have been provided.

11:00 AM -12:30 PM
Educational Sessions

Land, Environment, Planning and Natural Resources
Conservation Planning: Systems and Methods
In this session, a non-governmental organization and national governments will present innovative systems and methods that are being developed and employed for conservation planning.

Session Moderator: Edwin Joseph, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, USA

Disaster Management, Law Enforcement, Public Health and Safety
GIS in Health Applications
This session will explore how geospatial tools can be used in health planning and disease monitoring.

Sponsor Session
ESRI

ESRI staff will present on new capabilities provided in ArcGIS 9.3, which will be released to customers in July 2008. With the ArcGIS 9.3 release, ESRI has implemented many of your enhancement requests and addressed a significant number of common technical support issues to help make you more productive. ArcGIS Server 9.3 focuses on improved support for KML and other standards as well as creating GIS Mashups with the new ArcGIS JavaScript APIs. ArcGIS Server 9.3 also provides enhanced caching, security, and imagery support. These capabilities will be discussed and demonstrated as well as some additional discussion on future vision and direction for ArcGIS.

This session will also provide the opportunity to address your comments regarding future needs and uses with ESRI’s Chief Scientist, Dr. David Maguire, and other ESRI staff.

Sponsor Session
HP/Kirkiss

12:30-1:30 PM
Sponsored lunch

1:30-3:00 PM
Educational Sessions

Hot Topics
Copyright Issues, Public Access and Privacy
GIS data can be a valuable asset. Government agencies worldwide are faced with the choice of providing spatial data sets at cost or charging market rates for accessing and using these data. Which approach is the most appropriate for the developing world and is there a third way? This session will explore different viewpoints of licensing and charging for spatial data.

• GIS Data: Protection, Infringement and Enforcement
  Reshma Sharma, Senior Crown Counsel, Attorney General's Chambers, Cayman Islands Government
• Point/Counterpoint Panel Discussion
  Peter Rabley, International Land Systems, Silver Springs, Maryland USA
  Alan Jones, Cayman Land Info, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
  and others

Hot Topics
GIS Professional Certification
Learn about the GIS Certification Institute’s program for GIS professionals, something that you may consider for your own professional development and recognition.

Hot Topics
GIS in Education and Training
This session identifies real-world applications and training needs for sustainable GIS integration.

• GIS and Multimedia Integration: Opportunities for Improving Geographic Literacy
  Edwin Joseph, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, USA
• The Evolution of GIS Education in Jamaica (1998 -2008)
  

  Simone Michelle Lloyd and Tricia McLean, Ministry of Agriculture, Kingston, Jamaica
• Regional Impact of Twenty Years of GIS Education at UWI
  Bheshem Ramlal, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

3:00-3:30 PM
Refreshment break

3:30-5:00 PM
Closing Session – Town Hall Meeting

This session will strive to be interactive and inclusive with participation from all attendees. Both keynote speakers, David Maguire and Vanessa Lawrence, will serve as panelists along with GIS leaders from across the region.

Some topics of discussion:

Session Moderator:

Panelists to include:

Also, hear closing remarks from Conference Platinum Sponsor, International Land Systems, an organization that has been a major supporter of this conference since the first program in Jamaica in 2001.