GIS stands for Geographic Information System. GIS is a tool that allows you to analyze data on the basis of its spatial characteristics. For instance, if you are considering purchasing a new home, you might be interested in the school district it is in, as well as any assessment districts, flood zones, etc. with which it is associated. A GIS can provide this type of information in a matter of seconds because it relates these seemingly unrelated things (schools, assessment districts, flood zones, etc.) on the basis of where they are on the ground. In essence, you can relate anything that can be tied to the ground. It is estimated that eighty percent of business data has a spatial component to it. The possibilities are endless.

The public is largely unaware of GIS, how it benefits their lives and communities, and how it can help them make better decisions in their work. This is an opportunity for you to learn the benefits and significance of GIS. I encourage you to come to the GIS Day Conference and invite coworkers, friends, family and others who might benefit from GIS. The event will be held on November 19th in the University Business Center (UBC) at CSU Fresno. It is free. Free parking is available in Parking Lot "J" and in Parking Lot "A" on Woodrow north of Shaw. A campus map is available at www.csufresno.edu/.

Registration will begin at 8:30 am with the conference beginning at 9 am. Hal Eidal, an internationally recognized expert in GIS, will give the keynote speech, followed by Bill Greenwood (Fresno County Assessor), Kathy Millison (City Manager, Clovis), Jeff Reid (City Manager, Fresno) and Lee Johnston (VP, ESRI) doing a panel discussion on the importance of community-based data sharing. This will be followed by a presentation about the new Interdisciplinary Spatial Information Systems (ISIS) Center at CSUF. The ISIS Center will be a regional and community-based center for GIS (more broadly referred to as SIS -- spatial information systems). The afternoon is devoted to short presentations and discussions on the use of GIS in specific areas of interest. The presentations and discussions will be non-technical. In most cases, the presentations will be done by a team of at least one academic and one industry/agency practitioner, and followed by a question and answer period. The areas covered are:

Because GIS is such a powerful and broadening educational tool, we will have a special late afternoon session on GIS in K-12 education. This will include coverage of the GLOBE Program. Please invite all teachers you know. To learn more about the GLOBE Program go to www.globe.gov/.

For a conference schedule, additional conference information and daily updates, visit the ISIS Center web page at www.isis.csufresno.edu. Additional information on GIS Day can be found at www.gisday.com. For additional information on industry applications of GIS, please visit www.esri.com/industries/index.html and for an excellent and very readable article on GIS (you will need Acrobat Reader which you can download for free from Adobe), visit www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geomatte.pdf. If you have questions please contact Kathy Moffitt at kathym@csufresno.edu.