The Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) has issued a Call for Papers for its Annual Conference 31, slated for March 9–12, 2008, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.
The event will be co-located with the annual conference of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM), of Gaithersburg, Md. While the two organizations will only merge parts of their events, the collaboration is a major step for both associations.
“GITA recognizes and values the contributions of other geospatial industry associations. In the spirit of tradition, we perceive this collective effort as a mosaic of knowledge,” 2008 Conference Chair Mike Cerkas, GeoAnalytics, Inc., said. “1998 witnessed the evolution of GIS as AM/FM morphed into GITA. As the pace of change continues to accelerate everywhere, GITA will deliver a reborn geospatial technology event in Seattle next March.”
Soaring Beyond Tradition
GITA’s 2008 conference theme is Soaring Beyond Tradition, and reflects the geospatial industry’s maturation from back-office technology to must-have enabler in today’s business world. GITA’s Annual Conference 31 Committee is seeking a line-up of paper presentation, half-day seminar, and panel discussion submissions that echo the new direction of the industry and GITA’s Annual Conference.
“Ever-increasing computing power, ease-of-use, creativity, and lower cost of entry have collectively empowered and liberated geospatial technology, much like the electronic spreadsheet had catapulted the software industry—geospatial technology is the new Visi-Calc of the business world,” Cerkas said.
The educational content for the conference will focus on two broad topics: Business Perspectives and Strategy & Technology. Business Perspectives presentations will focus on organizational impacts and project management; ROI and business case; public sector issues; data acquisition and maintenance; planning, design, and engineering; operations management and damage prevention; CIP and emergency response; and work and asset management.
The Strategy & Technology track will feature presentations on new technology and market directions, business intelligence and data warehousing, Internet and Web services, mobile applications, and enterprise architecture and system integration.
Individuals who are interested in submitting paper abstracts are asked to submit a title, three learning objectives, the vertical market segment(s) for which the presentation is most appropriate, a 75-word abstract, and a 200-word abstract.
The abstract submission deadline is July 6, 2007. Complete information on the abstract submission process and an online submission form is available at www.gita.org/seattle