GITA's annual conference and exhibition is the premier educational event for professionals involved in geospatial information technologies, including automated mapping/facilities management (AM/FM), geographic information systems (GIS), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and related geospatial technologies. Conference 26 will provide attendees with better ways to plan, design, manage and maintain their systems and operations.

GITA's Conference 26 will begin Sunday, March 2, and run through Wednesday, March 5, at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. The conference will offer an exciting technical program, including one-and-a-half days of in-depth seminars followed by two-and-a-half days of educational sessions.

This year's conference theme, Wide Open Spatial Frontiers: Adding Value to Your Business, is designed to address the boundless opportunities that geospatial information technology presents to infrastructure-related organizations.

Newer trends to be addressed at the conference include mobile technologies, system integration, object-oriented programming, standards, methodologies and services, networks, communications, the Internet and more.

Conference seminars will offer attendees the opportunity to concentrate on some key issues that are critical to successful project planning and implementation. Conference 26 will feature more than 15 seminars, beginning on Sunday morning and concluding on Monday.

The technical program, beginning on Monday afternoon and running through Wednesday, will feature more than 200 speakers who will present conference papers on a full spectrum of topics, from an introduction to the technology, to database design, to systems integration and to people issues.

The conference exhibition will provide a showcase for state-of-the-art information technology (IT) products and services. More than 100,000 sq ft (9290 sq m) of exhibit space will house more than 140 industry vendors. Exhibitors represent a wide array of software and hardware suppliers, consultants, conversion companies, and other AM/FM/GIS and SCADA industry suppliers. Exhibits will be open for 14 hours, beginning with the opening ceremony on Monday afternoon and closing on Wednesday afternoon.

Full-conference attendees are invited to participate in scheduled social events: the President's Reception on Monday night, the Exhibitor Reception held on the exhibit floor on Tuesday, and the Closing Reception on Wednesday afternoon. Continental breakfasts and lunches are included on Tuesday and Wednesday. Other special attractions are the “Birds of a Feather” sessions for users. There is a Newcomers/International Reception for first-time attendees and international guests to help them get acquainted with the program. All social events are designed to promote networking while enhancing the overall educational experience. Full-conference attendees will also receive a complimentary copy of the conference proceedings.

Conference Seminars

GITA's 15 half-day seminars give you the opportunity to explore geospatial IT topics in great detail. The seasoned presenters fully understand the complexities, interconnectivity and intricacies behind the issues faced by geospatial IT professionals. You will achieve greater levels of understanding on a host of topics and be able to put that knowledge to immediate use as you face your on-the-job challenges.

The seminars at this year's conference have been completely redesigned to reflect a focus on progressive learning, allowing you to select topics that best fit your specific learning objectives. The seminars are based on three specific drivers that are important to attendees with varying levels of interest in geospatial technologies: business drivers, technology drivers and subject matter drivers. These drivers form the foundation of the seminars' content and collectively represent an exciting new approach to knowledge transfer.

Conference 26 Tracks and Sessions

GIS 201 — EXPANDING UPON THE BASICS (GIS-201)

Eugene Talmadge, Las Virgenes Water District
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

Understanding geospatial solutions and what you need to do to develop a successful program utilizing this technology is fundamental. This seminar is designed to educate and illuminate, as our speakers provide key tactics for a successful geospatial project. This seminar will provide an introduction to the commitment required for a program of change management that includes the who, what, when, where and how. You'll gain a broad understanding of the challenges associated with the implementation and integration of GIS, the fundamentals of the technology, and a step-by-step overview of a successful implementation or integration project.

Copresenter: Andy Moore, Utility Automation Integrators Inc.

GIS AND THE IT PARADIGM (GIS-ENT)

Mike Moore, Advantica Stoner
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

Geospatial solutions have existed as a unique industry for more than 20 years, and yet these solutions often remain segregated from the overall IT structure. How is acceptance of GIS achieved and what drivers support its integration with other IT initiatives? Our presenters will take a closer look at the business value and benefits gained by using GIS as an enterprisewide tool. Various methods for providing strategic and operational benefits that provide value and efficiencies when sharing spatial data will be presented. Demonstrations of select systems integration will be explored, and time will be provided for open discussion about how integration and deployment can be achieved.

OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS (OPR-ENV)

Tom Lonski, SchlumbergerSema
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

What is the real story behind operating environments, their stability, application compatibility, and relevance to deploying geospatial applications? This seminar will feature presentations from UNIX, Linux and Wintel experts touting the advantages of their technologies for enterprise applications with a spatial component as well as a discussion on business issues that affect operating system selection.

USING BUSINESS CASE AND ROI TO JUSTIFY GIT SPENDING (BUS-CAS)

Tom Bannon, ASI
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

Geospatial functionality may be your IT project's hidden jewel; however, development platform decisions become a matter of facilitating a business case through technology-based solutions. Functional requirements for corporate initiatives are typically driven by business case, and return on investment is king. This seminar will explore how to identify business-driven value propositions that will help you justify and quantify your investment. Learn techniques to proclaim the benefits of implementing, maintaining and enhancing your geospatial solutions so your project stands out by showing the “real” business value to your company.

WORK MANAGEMENT (WRK-MAN)

Chuck Drinnan, Logica
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

Driven by customer demands to integrate GIS with work maintenance management systems (WMMS) to allow gains in productivity improvements, increase data quality, and an increased return on investment, WMMS are experiencing a resurgence of activity as they seek a seamless integration with GIS. This seminar will reveal the benefits of integrating GIS with WMMS and discuss modern integration approaches that minimize implementation and maintenance cost. Discussions will focus on the types of WMMS systems, how they are working with GIS, and how the field components such as mobile systems enabling field personnel are rapidly becoming a critical component of the WMMS.

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS (APP-DEV)

David Totman, Idea Integration
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

Geospatial applications are based on today's Information Technology Development Standards. While fundamental methodologies govern the development lifecycle process, development platforms have a significant impact on the success of the enterprise application. The “development standards” debate involves the traditional client/server, Web and Web services paradigm. One must face the choice of J2EE vs. COM/.NET. Both support the acronym soup of B2B, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI. Both can provide the foundation for an enterprise application set. This seminar will present definition and requirements by industry experts on both sides, as well as a view toward relevance with the emerging Web services technology.

ENTERPRISE APPLICATION INTEGRATION (EAI-MOD)

Jeffrey Meyers, Miner & Miner
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

Integrating enterprise applications creates the greatest challenge for today's industries and the people responsible for making the connection across applications and platforms. This seminar will discuss the concepts of EAI, the tools and techniques that allow linkage to systems and applications utilizing new development code, and different types of supporting middleware technologies. What's available in the market today and how these tools can be used to integrate systems will be discussed. Also included in this seminar will be discussions on data distribution, an important element of successful EAI, and the business drivers and benefits of a systematic integration infrastructure.

Copresenters: Steve Grise, ESRI; Greg Robinson, BearingPoint

FIELD DATA ACQUISITION (FLD-DAT)

Kevin Eaton, Sokkia Corp.
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

Is your organization investing in advanced technologies such as wireless communications, GPS, laser rangefinders, or mobile computing? Are you interested in investigating how these and other new technologies can impact your organization? Learn how to evaluate currently available mobile field technology and applications; how to select the right tools and solutions for your unique situation; and how the technology can stream-line operations, reduce costs and improve customer service. The seminar includes a hands-on two-hour field lab that will give you the chance to experience how these new tools can protect and enhance your most valuable enterprise assets.

Copresenters: Ted Eynon, MapFrame Corp.; Jaimie Gilbert, George Butler Associates Inc.; Kenton Graber, ONEOK Inc.

GIT-ENABLING PUBLIC WORKS AND MUNICIPAL UTILITIES E-GOVERNMENT AND OPERATIONAL INITIATIVES (GIT-GOV)

David P. DiSera, EMA Inc.
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

This seminar will provide public works and municipal utility managers with an understanding of how GIT can be used to support vital operational and e-government initiatives. You'll gain an understanding of the major industry trends and how GIT can be used to improve operational effectiveness and customer service. Instructors with years of experience implementing GIT solutions within the utility and public works sectors will cover GIT and e-government strategies; business-driven approach to the planning, design and implementation phases; Web-based considerations; organizational and change management implications; enterprise system architecture and systems integration; data management practices; and productivity measures. Case studies will clarify and expand on the major points of the presentation.

Copresenter: Gabriel Bey, City of Phoenix, WSD

PROJECT LIFECYCLE AND IMPLEMENTATION (PRO-IMP)

Ken Brelsford, M.J. Harden Associates Inc.
Sunday, March 2, 2003, 1:30-5:30 p.m.

This seminar will explore the ways in which “beginning with the end in mind” can ensure that your geospatial project proceeds according to plan, provides added value, and ends on schedule. Topics will include needs assessment, requirements and cost-benefits analysis, justifying your project, implementing change, and how to develop a formal workflow to guide and direct the project lifecycle. Our speakers will also examine the impact of legacy systems on implementation and the integration of next-generation technology with existing technology.

Copresenter: Rick Frymyer, Orlando Utilities Commission

CIS INTEGRATION (CIS-INT)

Phil Pedlikin, AMS Inc.
Monday, March 3, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

The integration of customer information systems (CIS) for increased performance and greater efficiencies is a common theme across vertical markets. This seminar is a case study of the integration of CIS with GIS and other critical systems for the purpose of providing information to all necessary personnel. Our presenters will discuss the reasoning for integration of multiple systems, the challenges of sharing data critical for customer service, and the technical ramifications and lessons learned from the integration. You'll learn how the continuous development of systems integration with CIS and other key systems can lead to the creation of a “One Call Center” and provide visual tracking of all your assets.

Copresenters: Kevin Cunningham, Knoxville Utilities Board; Keith Staples, Sam Houston Electric Co-op Inc.

DATABASE TECHNOLOGY FOR GIT (DAT-TEC)

Mark Zangari, SPATIALinfo Inc.
Monday, March 3, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

Successful enterprise applications with a spatial component require an underlying RDBMS-based engine to meet performance expectations. This requirement is expressing itself in the product solutions offered by GIT software vendors. In this seminar, industry experts will address these questions by presenting the various spatial database technologies available today, their capabilities, approaches to managing/mining data in a relational environment, the future of spatial database technology, and the relevance of RDBMS technology in making geospatial information available across an enterprise, regardless of the distribution technology (LAN/WAN/intranet/Internet/wireless).

FIELD FORCE AUTOMATION (FLD-AUT)

Ted Eynon, MapFrame Inc.
Monday, March 3, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

Developing effective mobile-computing applications with real benefits requires a well-developed plan with specific project end goals and objectives in mind. This seminar will explore some of the building blocks for ensuring successful mobile implementations leveraging your GIS investment. Discussions will focus on user acceptance; hardware; software; GPS/bar-coding; wired and wireless communications; integration to back-office systems such as GIS, CIS, dispatch, outage, and work management; and deployment strategies aimed at achieving measurable productivity benefits.

Copresenters: Kevin Eaton, Sokkia Corp.; Michael Fick, WalkAbout Computers; Dick Meyer, Southwest Gas Corp.; Jim Nelson, MDSI Mobile Data Solutions; Bruce Randall, Duke Power Information Systems

OPEN GIS-IMPROVING INTEROPERABILITY (OPN-GIS)

Greg Buehler, Open GIS Consortium
Monday, March 3, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

Until recently, there were two options for multiple departments or organizations that needed their spatial systems and data to work together. They could agree to a mandate, forcing every user to work with the same software and data structure, or they could spend significant time and money to bolt different systems together facilitated by translators for the data. The Open GIS Consortium (OGC) tackles the challenge in a different way. OGC develops interface specifications and transport encodings that make integration easier for GIS implementations, new and existing alike. This seminar will explore the process of creating these specifications and how they improve interoperability in your organization.

Copresenters: Ignacio Guerrero, Intergraph Mapping & GIS Solutions, Cliff Kottman, Open GIS Consortium Inc.; Milo Robinson, U.S. Geological Survey; Christopher Tucker, IONIC Enterprise

PROJECT MANAGEMENT (MAN-PRO)

Eric Hughes, Byers Engineering
Monday, March 3, 2003, 8:00 a.m.-noon

Effective project managers are required to be experts in planning, prioritizing, scheduling, budgeting, negotiating, organizing, controlling costs, and handling change…not to mention recruiting, motivating, coaching and refereeing the project team! This seminar will give you a broad overview of generally accepted project management knowledge and practices needed to successfully complete your geospatial IT project. Each seminar speaker will provide his unique perspective on project management and related topics, including tools needed to make your project team more effective, and the trials and tribulations of their various projects.

Copresenters: James Fass, ASI; Joseph Hobbs, J. Hobbs Executive Consulting; Andy Little, Power Engineers Inc.; Bruce Taylor, Clayton County Water Authority

Conference 26 Exhibitors

4Datalink Inc.
Advantica Stoner
AGRA Baymont Inc.
American City & County magazine
Amrel Systems, LLC
Apex Geospatial Data Services, LLC
Armilian Technologies Inc.
ASI
Autodesk Inc.
Avineon Inc.
Ayres Associates
BAE SYSTEMS ADR
Byers Engineering Co. SpatialAge Stlns.
Cable Constructors Inc.
The COGNET Group Inc.
Condor Earth Technologies Inc.
Cook-Hurlbert Inc.
Dawn Corp.
DigitalGlobe
Electric Energy Publications
EMA Inc.
Emery Data Graphic Inc.
ESEA
ESRI
Federal Geographic Data Committee
Field Data Services Inc.
FieldSoft Technologies
Flores Technical Services
Gamber-Johnson
GE Power Systems
Geoforce, a division of Lost Time Control
Geographic Data Technology
Geonetics Inc.
Geospatial Innovations Inc.
Geospatial Solutions
GeoTec Media
Graphic Technologies Inc.
Great Arc Technologies Inc.
Hansen Information Technologies
Hitachi Software Global Technology
IDEAL.com
Imaging Technologies Software Solutions
Intec Telecom Systems
Integrated Mapping Services Inc.
Intergraph Utilities & Communications
Ionic Enterprise
Itron
Itronix Corp.
James W. Sewall Co.
JCMB Technology Inc.
KEMA Consulting
Korea geoSpatial Info. & Comm. Co., Ltd.
Laser Atlanta Optics Inc.
LaserCraft Inc.
Laser-Scan Inc.
Laser Technology Inc.
Layton Graphics Inc.
Leica Geosystems
Lind Electronics Inc.
Linnet, The Land Systems Co.
Lizardtech Inc.
Logica
M.J. Harden Associates Inc.
MapFrame Corp.
MapInfo Corp.
MapSearch
Maptech Inc.
MDSI Mobile Data Solutions
MESA Solutions Inc.
Michael Baker Jr. Inc.
MicroSlate Inc.
Millennium International Technologies Inc.
Miner & Miner
Moore Resource Systems
NMT Corp.
Osmose
Panasonic Computer Solutions Co.
PennWell
PlanGraphics Inc.
Platts
Power Engineers Inc.
Power Technologies Inc.
RAMTeCH Software Solutions Inc.
Red Planet Consulting Inc.
Rolta International Inc.
Safe Software
Sanborn
The Schneider Corp.
Severn Trent Systems
SHH GmbH - SystemHaus Hemminger
SophSys Inc.
Spatial Business Systems Inc.
SPATIALinfo
Spatial NetWorks Inc.
Spirit Business Solutions, LLC
Stewart Geo Technologies
Surdex Corp.
Sykes Enterprises Inc.
Tadpole Cartesia Inc.
Tensing-SKS
TerraPrise
Tobin International Ltd.
Transmission & Distribution World magazine
Trimble
Utility Business Services Inc.
VARGIS, LLC
WalkAbout Computers
Westech Information Systems Inc.