3 Reasons Why You Should Attend the Esri FedGIS Conference

The countdown is on with less than a month until Esri’s Federal GIS Conference in Washington, D.C., taking place on February 24 -25 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Haven’t registered yet? Need some convincing? Here are three reasons why anybody interested in GIS should register now.

#1: You’ll further your education

The Federal GIS Conference is an incredible opportunity to further your education, no matter what discipline you’re interested in. Work in health? Energy? Natural resources? Defense? Or any area that is geographic? The conference’s wide range of discussions about the ground-breaking ways government is using geospatial technology to solve the world’s greatest challenges will offer everybody something.

For instance, there will be more than 120 professional development workshops, each an hour long and focusing on topics such as aid and development, defense, and education. Want more? The conference also offers immersion summits – more hands-on and tech-oriented sessions that take a deep dive on topics like policy making, actionable information on how to use GIS for reliable data access, using GIS and open data, and more.

For those who want more experience working with Esri’s ArcGIS software firsthand, there will also be twelve hours of training exercises in the Hands-on Learning Lab in the GIS Solutions EXPO and Showcase. Between the hands-on learning opportunities, networking, and countless detailed workshop and immersion summits, you’ll be able to find motivation, learn from others working in GIS, and get practical training you can use right away.

#2: You’ll get inspired

The conference will kick off with a dynamic plenary session where you’ll join Esri President Jack Dangermond as he explores the future of GIS. You’ll also hear from federal government leaders about their groundbreaking GIS projects. Finally, tech experts from Esri will highlight advances in GIS technology and explain how the newest tools can help you do your job even better than before.

Following the plenary, the immersion summits will give you a closer look at how the federal government uses GIS. These summits will help you build on the material discussed in the plenary session, offering case studies to add to the technical skills gained in the workshops. You’ll hear from industry leaders who have used GIS to accomplish their missions, as well as Esri experts. Each summit will be two to three hours and focus on topics such as earth and environmental sciences; policy making; national to tactical intelligence; inspectors and auditors; land and natural resource management; mapping and statistics; and safety and security.

#3: You can seek expert guidance

The best way to learn by asking questions, and this conference is the perfect place to get your questions answered by GIS experts. In addition to the learning lab, the EXPO will have focus areas such as defense and intelligence, natural resource management, and policy making where you can meet subject matter experts in each area. These areas also give you the opportunity to follow up with speakers and experts from the various workshops and summits.

Attendees can discover how Esri’s partners are helping solve government’s toughest challenges and are taking organizations to the next level with GIS. Over 70 public and private partner organizations will have booths in the EXPO, highlighting the services and products they provide and the ways they’ve used GIS to achieve their agency or organization’s mission goals. The large variety of partner organizations and solutions ensures you will find someone who can help you with your specific agency needs.

You will also be able to network with government executives, elected officials, managers, GIS professionals, and staff from nongovernmental organizations, all of whom share a desire to learn more about GIS and how it can be successfully implemented in their work each and every day. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to troubleshoot challenges and seek guidance you can use to solve real-world problems.

Attending Esri’s Federal GIS Conference will help shape the way you apply and use GIS in your day-to-day work and mission. After the conference, you’ll further your GIS education, be inspired to solve new problems, and receive guidance from experts in the field. And registration is complimentary for federal employees – so why wait? Register now!