Members of the GovLoop team recently spent some time at the 2011 Esri User Conference located in San Diego, California. The conference hosted over 16,000 GIS users including a strong government user community.
This interview series focuses on a few government recipients who were honored with the Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award. As you will see, Chris Thomas the Government Industry Manager for Esri explains, the government SAG award winners are not only exceptional users of GIS – they help make government better by sharing openly with other users across government.
And now on to the interviews…
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Chris Thomas Video Notes: Chris introduces the 2011 Esri User Conference in San Diego and discusses the role of GIS in our everyday lives. He talks about a few of the government users (Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award winners) involved with GIS and how they help make government better with technology and how they share solutions openly with other users. |
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Jason Duke Project Synopsis: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) responded to help with recovery of wildlife and habitat for the Wildlife Branch of the Deepwater Horizon/BP – Oil Spill Response. FWS responders played a critical role in the response efforts by using geospatial technology to map and evaluate wildlife for recovery efforts. Read More Video Notes: Jason Duke defines the primary mission of the Fish and Wildlife Service, describes the early days of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the US Fish and Wildlife response as well as the biggest GIS challenges they faced. |
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John Thomas Project Synopsis: UPlan was initiated with the goal of gathering data, organizing that data in a geo-database and display that data in a user friendly interface. This tool has allowed UDOT, for the first time in many instances, to view data spatially, share data and improve collaboration. Read More Video Notes: John Thomas defines the primary function of the Utah Department of Transportation Planning. He goes on to describe the UPlan project, the key aspects of UPlan and how GIS has aided their mission. |
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David Luhan, GeoSpatial Applications Director Project Synopsis: Denver GIS group tackles the Parcel Fabric Conversion project. Project goal was converting to a contemporary data model and the implementation of new workflows to streamline processes, improve communication and increase efficiency. Read More Video Notes: David Luhan and Doug Genzer discuss the origin of Denver GIS, the recent goals and the biggest GIS challenge. Listen to them describe the next big thing for Denver GIS and their initiatives for this year. |
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Jonathan Benett Project Synopsis: The SNAP Retailer Locator, is a web based application to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the Food Stamp Program) recipients find local stores that offer SNAP benefits. The application currently maps more than 222,000 authorized retail locations including farmer’s markets. Read More Video Notes: Jonathan Benett describes the USDA FNS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as well as the SNAP Retail Locator, how SNAP uses GIS to better serve its users and the unintended beneficiaries of SNAP Retail Locator. |