URISA: GIS for Hard Times

October 7-10, 2008 in New Orleans, GIS professionals will convene at URISA's 46th Annual Conference & Exposition, to address the important topics of the day including inter-governmental collaboration for cost savings and efficiencies; infrastructure sustainability and asset management; enterprise solutions; disaster response and readiness; and results-oriented public participation GIS.

"With the troubled economy and natural disasters impacting the global community," said URISA President Susan Johnson, "it's more important than ever for GIS professionals to discuss ways to make our limited technology dollars stretch further and more effectively. I'm looking forward to a number of sessions during the URISA conference that will demonstrate ways of doing more with less."

Following are just a few of the sessions that are highlighted in this year's educational offerings:

• Cooperative Orthoimagery Acquisition -- If the diverse business needs of governmental agencies using orthoimagery can be met, significant cost savings can be realized through collaborative efforts. Learn how two such efforts have successfully implemented cooperative orthoimagery acquisition programs.
• A New Funding Model for GIS Development -- This highly interactive panel session will present results of collaborative national effort to define a mechanism for tracking GIS benefits to various levels of Government. A proposed method will be presented, followed by discussion.
• Infrastructure Lifecycle and Sustainability -- Using an integrated approach to Asset Management throughout the lifecycle reduces the challenges in managing and maintaining an aging infrastructure with limited funding.
• Postal Data & Google Maps Shine Light on New Orleans Recovery -- After Hurricane Katrina emptied New Orleans and damaged 71 percent of the housing stock, government, nonprofits and neighborhood groups needed a way to track when and where people returned. Learn how the data center developed an alternative source of population data, created a Google Map application to deliver it, and most importantly, how groups are using the data to support their efforts in the recovery of New Orleans.
• Disaster Response and Readiness -- Regional response and collaboration across multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary boundaries to mitigate or respond to natural or man-made disasters is not only a concept, but a requirement.