Since 1963, URISA members and friends have convened annually to learn about, share and discuss all things geospatial. The name of URISA’s annual conference has recently been updated to better reflect that focus. URISA is pleased to present GIS-Pro 2010: URISA’s 48th Annual Conference for GIS Professionals. The first conference under the new banner will take place September 28-October 1, 2010 in Orlando, Florida and the deadline to take advantage of discounted registration fees is July 19.

Along with the new conference name, GIS-Pro will reflect what GIS Professionals are looking for in a modern conference. Gone are restrictive conference tracks – the GIS-Pro 2010 program was organized according to these themes, designed to move the conversation forward and interactively share information among conference participants:

• Value of GIS – The value of GIS can theoretically be quantified in terms of Return on Investment (ROI), but the methodology for determining ROI for GIS has not been standardized. Sessions in this theme include information on measured return on investment (as opposed to estimated cost/benefit analysis performed prior to implementation); various methods for funding and justifying funding for GIS implementation; and ways to articulate the financial/liability, economic, social or environmental impact of GIS for a jurisdiction, region or organization.

• One Government – This concept is about multiple jurisdictions and overlapping levels of government (federal, state/provincial, regional, local) acting collaboratively. Sessions include data sharing challenges and approaches; standardization and integration of data, applications and services; collaboration and communication that leads to a "one government" approach, and activities that promote government transparency and accountability.

• Business of GIS - GIS as a profession and an industry is coming of age. Presentations will focus on the work to define the geospatial technology industry and associated occupations, curriculum needs to support current and future GIS technicians and analysts, how we conduct ourselves in terms of duty and standard of care, and learning to present our work in an effective manner.

• Stewardship – The notion of stewardship is one of service and support to a community of data users. Often, the steward has a vested interest in maintaining particular data set(s) for his/her organization, but no mandate (or funding) to maintain it for the rest of the community. Sessions focus on data management, maintenance and integration topics, metadata issues and processes, data governance approaches, and methods for treating data as an infrastructure, or other, asset.

• Place-based Decisions – This is a hot topic in 2010 at every level. U.S. Congressional Hearings are even focusing on ways to drive decisions based on data and "place". At last year’s Annual Conference, Dr. Wellar’s keynote focused on the need to manage various interrelated information infrastructures to make well-informed, accurate decisions, and the categorical need for GIS technology and geospatial sciences in that endeavor. Find out about Web 2.0 and social networking tools as a means of bringing information together and presenting it appropriately to everyone; how to promote GIS use to decision makers; better ways to visualize change spatially and temporally; and how to manage interdependent information infrastructures with geospatial tools and techniques.

For complete conference and registration information, visit www.gis-pro.org today!