Events and Opportunities Coming Up!

Leslie Pelch, VCGI

Fall NEARC Conference (Burilngton, VT, Nov. 8-11) – Call for Submissions Open, deadline is June 19!

• Click here for more info: http://www.northeastarc.org
• Or here to submit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FallNEARC2015-PresentationSubmissions

VT Geospatial Forum, June 2, Montpelier, VT

• Click here for more info: http://vcgi.vermont.gov/geospatialforum_2015
• Or here to register: https://secure.vermont.gov/ACCD/eventreg/event.php?eid=65

Intro to GIS/GPS Summer Training, two locations in July, registration is open!

• Click here for more info: http://vcgi.vermont.gov/node/826
• And here to register:
  • July 13 &14 (Randolph Campus) – Click here to register: https://events.vtc.edu/Register/IntroGISGPSRandolph2015
  • July 20 & 21 (Williston Campus) – Click here to register: https://events.vtc.edu/Register/IntroGISGPSWilliston2015

VCGI and Census Webinars Coming Up!

Webinar: Remote Sensing of Lakes: They’re Not All Just Blue!

Come join us for an exploration of the remote sensing of lakes with Shane Bradt of UNH! While most common land remote sensing approaches treat surface water as a single class (“blue” most of the time), a great deal of information about the dynamics and water quality of lakes can be obtained through remote sensing. This webinar will detail the important considerations when using remote sensing on inland water bodies, and summarize some of the recent advances in the remote sensing of lakes.

Webinar takes place May 28 from 1:30 to 2:30 PM

Reserve your FREE Webinar seat now at:

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/563164318

U.S. Census Bureau: Free Data Access Summer Camp (Webinars!)

This summer our Partnership and Data Services team will be conducting a series of free data access webinars. Join us online to learn about our datasets and data retrieval tools.We will be conducting thematic sessions utilizing different data tools such as the American Fact Finder, Quick Facts, Data Ferret, Local Employment Dynamics, Business Dynamics Statistics, Voting Hot Reports, etc. All sessions will be conducted by a representative from the U.S. Census Bureau, and will last approximately 2-3 hours.More details and links to register:

http://vcgi.vermont.gov/census_data_webinars_2014

Democracy Depends Upon Access to Government Geodata

From Sensors and Systems:

from sensorsandsystems.com

“Is my property being taxed fairly?”
“Are zoning variances being granted in a consistent manner?”
“Is my flood insurance rate justified?”

 

These are the types of questions concerned citizens may ask, both in their own interest, and in the interest of maintaining a responsive and equitable democracy. Our democratic system of government is supposed to conduct the public’s business fairly and consistently within the explicit directives of the citizens’ elected representatives. But how can citizens know if that is happening? And how can citizens know that their representatives are actually conducting “the people’s business” rather than their own? Transparency is required for maintaining our governments’ accountability to its citizens.

 

Transparency means giving citizens access to their governments’ records, to the same information that government agencies themselves use to make decisions and conduct operations. With it, interested persons can understand, verify, and possibly challenge a governmental action. Since most governmental actions impact specific locations, geographic information is critical to governmental accountability, and GIS technology and professionals are critical to analyzing that information.

– See more at: http://www.sensorsandsystems.com/article/features/32431-democracy-depends-upon-access-to-government-geodata.html#sthash.BL6JWJAy.ZjdkA9g7.dpuf

Geospatial Contractors Cynically Attempt to Take Over US Federal Mapping

by Brian Timoney (MapBrief Blog: http://mapbrief.com)

Geography · Economics · Visualization

 

 

The party is over.

 

During the 1990s anything related to IT was expensive and fat profit margins were easily procured. Post-9/11 was very good for geospatial contracting with both the escalation of defense spending to support three wars as well as the mushrooming requirements of the Department of Homeland Security. But now sequestration–and its impacts on the DoD in particular–are the unmistakable sign that a golden era of contracting has drawn to a close.

 

But over the last decade another geospatial industry sprung up–the one we’re all familiar with: Internet-based, massive high-performance platforms taking full advantage of the plunging costs of computing to elevate mapping to its current status as a core component of the everyday web experience.

 

After a couple of decades of easy living, what would you do when confronted with the prospect of competing against lower-margin, faster-paced innovation?

 

You wouldn’t settle for half-measures, that’s for sure.  No, you too would get your lobbying group MAPPS busy helping draft something like H.R. 1604 “Map It Once, Use It Many Times”: a private sector takeover of Federal mapping activities in the United States.

Read the rest of this article here: http://mapbrief.com/2013/05/08/geospatial-contractors-cynically-attempt-to-take-over-us-federal-mapping/