URISA ESIG Award Deadline Approaching

Des Plaines, IL - April 25, 2012 - URISA, the Association for GIS Professionals, has extended the deadline for the Exemplary Systems in Government (ESIG) Awards. All submissions are now due Monday, May 21, 2012.

The awards recognize exceptional achievements in the application of geospatial information technology that have improved the delivery and quality of government services.

Applications may be submitted in two categories, Single Process and Enterprise Systems:

SINGLE PROCESS SYSTEMS - Systems in this category are outstanding and working examples of applying information system technology to automate a specific SINGLE process or operation involving one department or sub-unit of an agency. The system application results in extended and/or improved government services that are more efficient and/or save money.

ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS - Systems in this category are outstanding and working examples of using information systems technology in a multi-department environment as part of an integrated process. These systems exemplify effective use of technology yielding widespread improvements in the
process(es) and/or service(s) involved and/or cost savings to the organization.

Winners in each category will be recognized during GIS-Pro 2012: URISA's 50th Annual Conference, September 30-October 4, 2012 in Portland, Oregon.

For more information or to review past submissions from winning systems, visit http://www.urisa.org/esig or call (847) 824-6300.

URISA Announces LiDAR Webinar Series

Des Plaines, IL - April 16, 2012 - URISA, the Association for GIS Professionals, is offering a three part LiDAR webinar series for all members of the geospatial community.

The first session, LiDAR 101, is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25th at 1 PM ET/ 10 AM PT. Followed by part two, Project Planning, on Wednesday, May 23rd and part three, Data Quality Control, on Wednesday, June 27th.

The purpose of this webinar series is to review concepts involving light detection and ranging (LiDAR), its real-world applications, current visualization, data processing and quality control approaches. The target audience of this webinar is at the beginner to intermediate level, including GIS managers, geospatial analysts, survey professionals, scientists and students.

Series presenter, Mark Stucky, currently serves as the MARS® Technical Support Specialist for the GeoSpatial Solutions division of Merrick & Company, a professional engineering services firm based in Aurora, Colorado (USA). In this position, Mark is responsible for technical support and software maintenance of MARS®, Merrick’s LiDAR visualization and data processing software solution. Mark is extensively involved in MARS® design, testing, and documentation.

URISA Connect is an effective way to develop your professional skills and even work towards GISCI Certification Education Hours. URISA Webinars count towards the EDU-2 section of the application.

URISA Addressing Workshop in Austin, Texas

Des Plaines, IL - April 9, 2011 - URISA is pleased to present its popular Addressing workshop in Austin, Texas on June 5, 2012.
URISA Certified Workshop: Addresses and IS/GIS Implementation: Key to GIS Success
When: Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - 8:30 AM- 5:00 PM
Where: Freese and Nichols – NW Austin
Cost: URISA Members and/or GISPs - $75 / Nonmembers - $125
Workshop Description: This workshop will help you understand the addressing process, managing address data, and organizational challenges. It will guide you in developing a Master Address Repository that serves the needs of the entire organization.  The workshop will also review the FederalGeographic Data Committee Street Address Data Standard, and help you understand how the standard can help you build quality address data.
Intended Audience: GIS Managers, staff members who assign, maintain or use addresses. This workshop will focus on managing address workflows, address data, and use.
Instructor: Martha McCart Wells, GISP, Spatial Focus, Inc.
This workshop is being presented in conjunction with URISA members in Texas who are organizing a local URISA Texas Chapter. To join their discussion, visit http://www.urisa.org/texas_chapter.
For more information and to register online: http://www.urisa.org/June5_Addressing_Texas

URISA Connect Webinar Events Announced

Des Plaines, IL (April 2, 2012) - URISA, the Association for GIS Professionals, has added several significant webinar events to the 2012 URISA Connect calendar. The next event, "I’ve seen the Future and it’s my Browser: GIS Development in the Mobile Era", will be presented on Wednesday, April 11, 2012. Presenters Dave Bouwman and Brian Noyle of DTSAgile will discuss trends in web and mobile development with a focus on how the GIS community can leverage these technologies in the delivery of maps and “geo” functionality to a wide audience. For details and registration information, please visit http://www.urisa.org/URISAConnectGISinMobileEra.

Then on April 12, a URISA Leadership Academy Virtual Information Session will take place. The ULA is URISA's popular five-day training program for GIS leadership (the next offering in Savannah, Georgia, June 11-15). If you've considered attending the ULA, this free session will provide an opportunity to learn more about the program with input from instructors and recent graduates (http://www.urisa.org/ULAInfoSession).

Other upcoming URISA Connect events include a three-part LiDAR Webinar Series and the return of the popular Asset Management series. For more information, or to register for these upcoming events, please visit www.urisa.org/urisaconnect.

URISA Connect is an effective way to develop your professional skills and even work towards GISCI Certification Education Hours. URISA Webinars count towards the EDU-2 section of the application.

URISA's GISCorps Recognized by White House for Volunteer Service

March 21, 2012 - Des Plaines, IL - URISA’s GISCorps was recently honored with a 2012 President’s Volunteer Service Award on behalf of the President of the United States for ‘making a difference through volunteer service’. The Award is given to individuals, families, and groups that have demonstrated outstanding volunteer service and civic participation.

The award and congratulatory letter from President Obama have been posted on the GISCorps website: www.giscorps.org.

Operating under the auspices of URISA, GISCorps coordinates short-term, volunteer-based GIS services to underprivileged communities. For more information about GISCorps and its missions, visit www.giscorps.org.

URISA Offers Two Certified Workshops at URISA Headquarters

Des Plaines, IL - URISA, the Association for GIS Professionals, is offering two URISA Certified Workshops at its Headquarters in Des Plaines, IL
Field Automation Options for Local Government
This workshop is designed to provide local government managers with practical guidelines for building an effective mobile GIS program across multiple departments. One way to meet demands for providing superior service levels and operational efficiencies under tightening budget constraints is to leverage new technology that places GIS data in the hands of field crews. This allows for improved management and better maintenance of work processes to properly appraise infrastructure assets and to meet service request response times.
Thursday, June 21, 2012, from 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
An Overview of Open Source GIS Software
Free and open source software (FOSS) has been offering choices to computer users for a number of years. Over the past few years the open source choices in GIS have been broader and more capable than ever before. This workshop will focus on GIS open source software. It will give an overview of current developments from technical and management perspectives. Selected packages and their applications in various projects will be demonstrated and discussed.
Workshop registration fees are $95 for URISA International members and $125 for nonmembers.

• Registration fee includes workbook, certificate of completion, and refreshment breaks – lunch is not included.
• Completion of an 8 hour workshop = 0.2 EDU points towards GISCI Certification.

For more information, or to register for either workshop, please visit http://www.urisa.org/workshops/calendar or contact URISA Education Manager, Jeni Griffith at jgriffith@urisa.org or by phone at (847)-824-6300.

URISA Invites Comments on the Geospatial Management Competency Model

URISA invites experienced geospatial professionals of all kinds – particularly those with management experience – to review and comment on a draft Geospatial Management Competency Model (GMCM). Reviews by GIS professionals, professional surveyors, photogrammetrists and remote sensing scientists, programmers and application developers who specialize in geospatial applications, educators with specialized expertise in Geographic Information Science and Technology, and others whose work relies on geospatial technologies and data analysis are all welcome to participate.
A URISA Task Force prepared the draft for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA). Reviews will be reported to the Task Force and DOLETA, and will used to refine and validate the GMCM. Reviewers who share contact information will also receive results of the public review as well as copies of the revised GMCM.
Links to the draft GMCM and an online questionnaire for reviewers are available at http://www.urisa.org/gmcm_review. The questionnaire will remain open through March 31, 2012.
The Geospatial Management Competency Model (GMCM) specifies 74 essential competencies and 17 competency areas that characterize the work of most successful managers in the geospatial industry.
The GMCM builds upon DOLETA’s Geospatial Technology Competency Model, which specifies the foundational, industry-wide, and industry sector-specific expertise characteristic of the various occupations that comprise the geospatial industry (http://www.careeronestop.org/CompetencyModel/pyramid.aspx?GEO=Y).
URISA convened a task force composed of ten experienced geospatial managers and one facilitator at the 2011 GIS-Pro Conference in Indianapolis to produce the GMCM for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA).
URISA’s qualifications to organize the GMCM effort include its nearly 50-year history as one of the founding organizations of the GIS profession, its successful organization of the GIS Certification Institute and the URISA Leadership Academy, and its healthy working relationships with other professional and scientific associations in the geospatial field through the Coalition on Geospatial Organizations (COGO).