GIS applications have become necessary utilities in our public and private workplaces. Correspondingly, an increasing number of public issues affect, and are affected by, the California GIS community. GIS professionals have specific expertise that can inform important public policy, and we are also impacted by public policies propounded by others. This session summarizes what URISA's Policy Advisory Committee and the California GIS Council are doing about these issues, and invites participation by URISA members.
Some of the issues include:
- Supporting Federal and State efforts to coordinate geospatial data
- Creating and maintaining essential base data such as addressing, property ownership, elevation, land use, and transportation.
- Defining and providing education on the professional boundaries of Surveyors and GIS Professionals
- Encouraging networking and coordination between all GIS users with specific attention to emergency response, and open data distribution
- Promoting fair public agency procurement policies for geospatial services
- Supporting open access to our governments' geospatial data
- Using NSRS and CSRS geodetic control for geodatabase themes
- Preserving GPS infrastructure
- Balancing divergent concerns about the use of sUAS (drones) for mapping
Following the presentation there will be an open session with the California GIS Council. All are welcome to join the GIS Council for a discussion about how to get involved; helping the GIS Council set priorities, and improving GIS collaboration in California.
Speakers:
Bruce Joffe, GISP, Principal, GIS Consultants, Piedmont, CA
Nathaniel Roth, Ph.D., GISP, Chair California GIS Council