The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. has a limited number of registrations available for the Spatial Lawand Policy Summit that will be held at The Westin Washington, D.C. City Center on October 7, 2009. Professionals from government and the private sector whose work involves laws and policies related to geospatial technology are invited to register and attend.

This event, the fifth in OGC’s series of Emerging Technology Summits, provides an unprecedented opportunity to examine law and policy related to technologies such as GPS, GIS, camera surveillance and sensor networks, and location services. Innovation and growth in consumer and business applications of geospatial systems, software and services raise serious questions of privacy, security, geospatial rights management, procurement regulations and charging for government data. As the speakers will explain, in many cases, the existing legal and policy framework is inadequate to provide governments, businesses and consumers clear guidance on these issues.

The Summit will feature a keynote talk by Robert W. Corell, Vice President of Programs at The Heinz Center. Noted for his role in climate science research, Dr. Corell has served as a Senior Policy Fellow at the Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society and as a Senior Research Fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Speakers and panelists will include:

 – Gordon Chinander, GIS Coordinator for the Metropolitan Emergency Services Board, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn
 – Hugh N. Archer, former Director Kentucky Department of Natural Resources
 – Steve Wallach, NGA and member of the U.S. National Geospatial Advisory Council
 – Kara John, Vice President – Intellectual Property & Privacy at DMTI Spatial Inc.
 – Jim Simon, Founding Director of the Microsoft Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments
 – John Moeller, former Staff Director at the Federal Geographic Data Committee

The Summit will be chaired by OGC director and Executive Committee member Kevin Pomfret, a Richmond, Virginia based attorney who has written and spoken extensively on spatial law and technology.

For more information please visit www.gita.org/ets