GIS-Pro 2024

Cybersecurity Awareness for GIS Professionals - Half-Day Workshop
Monday, October 7, 2024 - 8:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Instructors: David Lanter Ph.D., Director - Information Technology Auditing and Cyber Security, Temple University – Fox School – Management Information Systems, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Matt Gerike, Ph.D, GISP, Geospatial Program Manager, Virginia Geographic Information Network, Williamsburg, Virginia

National and economic security depends on reliable functioning of critical infrastructure, including transportation, utility, pipeline, and other distribution and collection networks. Cybersecurity threats exploit the increased complexity and connectivity of critical infrastructure systems, placing our nations’ security, economies, and public safety and health at risk. Similar to financial and reputational risk, cybersecurity risk can affect an organization’s bottom line by driving up costs and impacting revenue. It can also impact an organization’s ability to innovate, share and protect information, keep agreements, and gain and maintain public confidence.

In this half-day workshop, you will learn key concepts and components necessary for protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA) of geospatial information assets. You will gain an understanding of the importance and key techniques for managing security of information assets including access control, disaster recovery and business continuity that can be made part of the GIS organization’s management process.

The first part of the workshop will focus on information security risk identification and management. The second part of the class will cover details of security threats and the mitigation strategies used to manage risk.

Learning Outcomes

• Gain an understanding of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and threats
• Learn how cybersecurity risks are identified, classified, prioritized and matched to control strategies
• Develop an understanding of how cybersecurity risks are managed, mitigated and controlled
• Gain familiarity with a number of cybersecurity frameworks, standards and guidelines

Cost: One full-day or one half-day workshop is included with full conference registration. The cost to add a second half-day workshop is $100 member/$125 nonmember. 

Emergency Preparedness for GIS - Half-Day Workshop
Monday, October 7, 2024 - 8:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Instructors: Theresa (Tari) Martin, GISP, Director, National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation
Doug Adams, GISP, Senior Lead GIS Specialist, Maryland Environmental Service, Catonsville, MD

Today, disasters are becoming more complex, costly, and frequent. First responders and emergency managers are relying more and more on geospatial technology to prepare for, respond to, and recover from these disasters. There is a pressing need for cross-training on the non-technical disciplines GIS staff is being asked to support. Specifically, public safety (emergency management, police, and fire services) and the rigid workflows that accompany their daily duties often prove foreign to those unfamiliar with these activities.

To accommodate their needs in a time-sensitive situation, GIS professionals must be armed with enough knowledge of emergency management and first responder activities, and information requirements. They must also be able to effectively anticipate and discern the needs of decision-makers and first responders and quickly produce the spatial document(s) that best support decision-making in an emergency.

This workshop is divided into two parts:

Part 1. First, a brief overview of the Incident Command Structure and the National Incident Management System, which provide the framework under which public safety and homeland security operations occur.
Part 2. Then, we will introduce the Geospatial Concept of Operations and the integration of geospatial technology across the mission areas (Protection, Prevention, Mitigation, Response and Recovery).

Throughout, we will review common situations at the local level and showcase studies/examples of how GIS is used to support the disaster continuum. We will also discuss relevant data sets for public safety, resources and emerging technologies, and suggestions for integrating GIS into an organization’s disaster preparedness planning.

Learning Objectives:

• Communicate a basic understanding of the framework that shapes emergency management preparedness activities for the whole community.
• Understand the key integration points of GIS data, analysis, and technology to support preparedness activities aimed at building a more resilient nation.
• Gain knowledge of standards and best practices for the production of decision-support tools, field applications, and public information products.

Cost: One full-day or one half-day workshop is included with full conference registration. The cost to add a second half-day workshop is $100 member/$125 nonmember. 

A Knowledge Workers Guide to Visual Management - Full-Day Workshop 
Monday, October 7, 2024 - 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Instructors: Tim Nolan, GISP, CGCIO, LAVM, Senior Applications Manager, Collin County, Mc Kinney, TX
Wendy Peloquin, GISP, Business Development Manager, Avineon, Jacksonville, FL
Brett Horr, GISP, LAVM, Corporate GIS Manager, Terracon Data Solutions, Portsmouth, NH 

“Visual Management is the application of Lean and Agile practices to build new ways of working for individuals and teams on-the-fly” (Modus Institute).

In our highly interactive workshop, we will concentrate on…

• How we as professionals are doing the right work?
• How do we come to alignment?
• How do we make decisions?
• Do we understand the work to be done?
• When is it to be delivered?
• How complex is the work?
• Where might the work stumble?
• Can we see what is important?

We take a system thinking approach to the complexities of new/unexplored work, (mis)understanding, decision-less meetings, interruptions, prioritization, communicating decisions and difficulty of collaboration. We will introduce the system of communications, system of meetings and the system of doing the right work at the right time.
We will conduct practical exercises that focus on visualizing our and limiting our work in progress. We will look at value stream mapping as an effective visualization and put those visualizations into action. There will be exercises to harvest ideas and tackle sticky problems. Ultimately, we will turn learning into action items.

Learning Outcomes:

• Visualize your work
• Limit your work in progress
• Understand your work
• Filter complexity
• Turn your visualization into action

Upon completion, the student should know how to visualize their work, limit their work in progress, understand their work, filter complexity and demonstrate how to turn their visualizations into action. The student will have the framework to facilitate these exercises with others.

Cost: One full-day or one half-day workshop is included with full conference registration. The cost to add a second half-day workshop is $100 member/$125 nonmember. 

An Overview of Open Source GIS Software - Full-Day Workshop
Monday, October 7, 2024 - 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Instructors: Matthew Yurman, PMP, Principal, Spatial Focus, Inc., Decatur, GA
Sara Yurman, GISP, Director of Information Services, Spatial Focus, Inc., Decatur, GA

Free and open source software (FOSS) has been offering choices to computer users for a number of years. This workshop offers a quick dip into open source, focusing on the use of a common suite of GIS open-source software. Both technical and management discussions of open-source development will be accompanied by a series of exercises that start with freshly installed software and progresses through creating a spatial database for use by a work group, along with examples of data analysis and web publication.

Participants are invited to bring their own laptops and follow along with the step-by-step instructions. The workshop ends with an overview of a wide variety of open-source software packages that can extend the capabilities explored in the exercises.

Exercises include:

• Using QGIS
• Using PostgreSQL/PostGIS
• Reading from web services
• Publishing data as web services
• Creating a web map in GeoServer

Intended Audience: Anyone interested in free and open-source geographic information system software. The workshop will suit both managerial and technical needs and it does not require any prerequisites.

Cost: One full-day or one half-day workshop is included with full conference registration. The cost to add a second half-day workshop is $100 member/$125 nonmember. 

GIS Program Management - Full-Day Workshop
Monday, October 7, 2024 - 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Instructors: Peter Croswell, PMP, GISP, CMS, President, Croswell-Schulte IT Consultants, Frankfort, KY
Steve Steinberg, Ph.D., MPA, GISP, Geographic Information Officer, Los Angeles County, CA

This URISA Certified Workshop is designed to provide insights and guidelines for public agency GIS programs. It will examine the various organizational and management issues that program managers must address in order to develop and manage a successful GIS program.
The course material will cover all aspects of GIS project and on-going program management including such areas as:

• strategic and implementation planning
• budgeting and financial management
• business case development and cost-benefit evaluation
• team building and human resources
• product/service procurement and vendor/contract management
• key technical management concerns and
• important legal and policy issues for GIS project and program management

The workshop will focus on practical issues and challenges faced by GIS managers. It includes examples from actual GIS implementations and students will receive access to a variety of supplemental digital references and templates useful for GIS planning and management. The workshop will include a number of short demonstrations and group exercises focusing on GIS management challenges. The workshop is structured to encourage interaction and provide opportunities for attendees to share their ideas and experiences.

This workshop is most appropriate for the following types of people:
a. current GIS management personnel seeking to polish their skills and examine approaches to management challenges
b. GIS or IT users and technical staff who are moving into management roles
c. IT management personnel who are becoming more involved with GIS program management or oversight

Cost: One full-day or one half-day workshop is included with full conference registration. The cost to add a second half-day workshop is $100 member/$125 nonmember. 

Practical Ethics for GIS Professionals - Full-Day Workshop
Monday, October 7, 2024 - 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Instructors: Rebecca Somers, GISP, President, Somers St Claire GIS Management Consultants, Fairfax, VA
David DiBiase, GISP, Adjunct Instructor, Penn State Online Geospatial Programs,  Yucaipa CA 

Every GIS Professional needs a solid understanding of ethics related to GIS work, and the ability to recognize and successfully solve challenging ethics situations. This workshop will help GIS Professionals understand the foundations of ethics, revisit the 20-year-old GIS Code of Ethics, and hone their ethical problem-solving skills.

The workshop is highly participative, focusing on:
• The GIS Code of Ethics and how it fits into larger ethical frameworks
• Framework for ethical decision making
• Individual ethics case analysis
• Group ethics case analysis
• GIS ethics issues
• Review and evaluation of the GIS Code of Ethics
• Ethics resources that would be useful for GIS Professionals

Learning Benefits:
• Learn how to recognize and solve challenging GIS Ethics situations
• Gain experience applying a framework for ethical decision making and using other resources to help respond with insight, empathy, and integrity to ethical challenges encountered in geospatial work.
• Evaluate the adequacy of the 2003 GIS Code of Ethics in light of issues arising more recently in geospatial practice.
• Be prepared to adapt, supplement and use resources to apply ethics in their own work and promote ethics within their own organizations.

The work involves reference to many case studies, exercise materials, and reference materials, so participants should bring their own computers for access to this material.

Cost: One full-day or one half-day workshop is included with full conference registration. The cost to add a second half-day workshop is $100 member/$125 nonmember. 

Strategies for Leveling Up Your Success - Half-Day Workshop
Monday, October 7, 2024 - 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Instructors: Dr. Shelia Lakshmi Steinberg, Director of UMass Global Institute for Geospatial Education, Irvine, CA
Sid Pandey, GIS Senior Consultant, Deloitte, Vienna, VA

The successful GIS professional navigates a variety of environments and groups throughout their career. Being successful requires regular assessments of your strengths and weaknesses and using that information to maximize existing skills and level up the areas that can be improved.

This workshop will provide hands on applications to both identify and strengthen one’s individual skills. Through hands on activities participants will explore the relationship between the individual and the larger group. Strategies will be provided for navigating how to first identify your skills and then how to apply these skills for success. We will also explore the definition of what it means to be successful. A major part of success is the ability to plug into different groups including the workplace, professional societies, and people external to your area of expertise. The two-way nature of mentorship will also be explored.

Cost: One full-day or one half-day workshop is included with full conference registration. The cost to add a second half-day workshop is $100 member/$125 nonmember. 

Urban Extreme Heat Mapping for Climate and Community Resilience - Half-Day Workshop
Monday, October 7, 2024 - 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Instructors: Michael Gould, PhD., Education Manager, Esri and Professor at University Jaume I (Spain)
Teresa Townsend, AICP, Chief Executive Officer, Planning Communities

This half-day workshop will provide participants with hands-on experience in GIS workflows for identifying and analyzing urban extreme heat using local community datasets. Where does extreme heat occur, how does tree cover affect heat, and who are the vulnerable populations affected?

This is the first step in a medium-term project to train university students, GIS professionals, and urban planners/designers (both key stakeholders in a city) in a set of simple, consistent heat index mapping workflows.

Learning Objectives:

• Sourcing geospatial data
• Online GIS (everything is done using ArcGIS Online)
• Basic image processing
• Population data basics
• Creation of a Composite Index
• Cartographic techniques
• Publication of the results
• Storytelling (StoryMaps)- optional

Participants will work in a group setting. Bring your own laptop, and ArcGIS Online licenses will be provided for the workshop exercises.

Cost: One full-day or one half-day workshop is included with full conference registration. The cost to add a second half-day workshop is $100 member/$125 nonmember.