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GIS conference attracts dozens of professionals
Gov. Joe Manchin speaks during the biennial 2010 West Virginia GIS Conference on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, at Marshall University.
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HUNTINGTON -- For most, geospatial information systems might seem like a highly technical term for a career they don't understand.
But, the technology is used every day, just as much by common citizens as the professionals who work in the field.
Geographic information system (GIS) mapping technology provides the online database that shows where sex offenders live. It also is the basis for information provided by utility companies when residents and companies are digging and need to know where underground utility lines are.
Many of the people who design those systems are in Huntington this week for the three-day 2010 West Virginia GIS Conference, held every other year in the state.
Gov. Joe Manchin, who spoke Tuesday morning at the conference's start, said GIS was used to create broadband mapping of the state in 2007 to determine where the most underserved areas were in regards to Internet access. Manchin said the mapping played a crucial role in West Virginia being the only state applicant and only state government to receive federal stimulus dollars -- $126.6 million -- toward the goal of wiring as much of the Mountain State as possible.
"GIS information is critical to how the state moves forward," said Manchin, who added that the need for updated data is past due.
An executive order is being looked over by the governor's office that seeks to catch up the state from the last executive order regarding GIS, signed in 1993.
According to Jon Amores, the deputy secretary for the West Virginia Department of Commerce, the order will allow information to be updated and serve the state by creating data that can be utilized by every agency and also sold to outside agencies.
"We need to continue GIS services and data collection throughout West Virginia," Amores said.
Tony Simental, the West Virginia GIS Coordinator, said the conference is a good start on such an executive order. He said the conference allows the 200 or so in attendance to share what they have been working on and create relationships between government agencies, public-private partnerships. It's also a forum on how to address geospatial issues as they relate to transportation, natural resources, education and economic development.
The conference also features scholarly presentations, agency reports, student posters, workshops, demonstrations and vendor displays.
This year's theme is "Partnering Together: A Strategy for GIS in the Mountain State."
