Urban and Regional Information Systems Association

Last updated
Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)
Headquarters Des Plaines, Illinois

The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) is a non-profit association of professionals using geographic information systems (GIS) and other information technologies to solve challenges at all levels of government. [1] URISA promotes the effective and ethical use of spatial information and technology for the understanding and management of urban and regional systems. [2]

Contents

History

URISA was formed in 1966, evolving from a loosely associated group of professionals with a common interest in urban planning information systems. The organization emanated from annual conferences held from 1963 through 1966, known then as the Annual Conference on Urban Planning Information Systems and Programs. URISA has since evolved into an international organization supporting professionals with interests in a variety of topics related to development and effective management of geographic information systems (GIS). [3] [4] URISA is currently headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois, where professional staff handle the administrative functions of the association.

Activities

URISA is the founding member of the GIS Certification Institute, which administers professional certification for the field. [5] [6] [7] [8] URISA is also a founding member of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO), a coalition of organizations concerned with U.S. national geospatial issues. [9] GISCorps is a URISA program that provides volunteer GIS services for underdeveloped countries worldwide. [10] [11] URISA's proposed GIS Capability Maturity Model (GIS CMM) provides the means for local governments to gauge their progress in achieving GIS operational maturity against a variety of standards and measures. [12] [13]

URISA promotes data sharing by government organizations, and has approved policy to reflect those values. [14] [15]

URISA hosts a number of conferences [16] each year including GIS-Pro: URISA's Annual Conference for GIS Professionals; the GIS/CAMA Technologies Conference, co-sponsored by the International Association of Assessing Officers; [17] the URISA/NENA Addressing Conference, co-sponsored by the National Emergency Number Association; [18] a biennial GIS in Public Health Conference; Caribbean GIS Conference; and the URISA Leadership Academy, a five-day GIS leadership program.

URISA supports more than two-dozen chapters, primarily across the United States and Canada, with recent expansion into the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates. [19]

The URISA Journal [20] is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly publication of the organization. [21] It has a history of open access. URISA additionally maintains a growing publications library. [22] [23] [24] Through an annual competition URISA encourages students to submit a paper for a special section of the URISA Journal. [25]

URISA also recognizes achievements in the industry through a variety of awards, including Exemplary Systems in Government Awards (ESIG) [26] the URISA GIS Hall of Fame, [27] and the Horwood Distinguished Service Award. [28] [29]

Membership

URISA members are professionals in the spatial data industry working in local, regional, state/provincial, tribal and federal government, academia, the private sector, and non-profit organizations.

See also

Related Research Articles

Geographic information system System to capture, manage and present geographic data

A geographic information system (GIS) is a conceptualized framework that provides the ability to capture and analyze spatial and geographic data. GIS applications are computer-based tools that allow the user to create interactive queries, store and edit spatial and non-spatial data, analyze spatial information output, and visually share the results of these operations by presenting them as maps.

Esri Geospatial software & SaaS company

Esri is an international supplier of geographic information system (GIS) software, web GIS and geodatabase management applications. The company is headquartered in Redlands, California.

Geomatics

{{short description|Discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information}(spatial data)}

Geoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, cartography, geosciences and related branches of science and engineering.

Jack Dangermond American billionaire businessman

Jack DangermondOON is an American billionaire businessman and environmental scientist, who co-founded, with Laura Dangermond, in 1969 the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), a privately held geographic information systems (GIS) software company.

Geospatial intelligence

In the United States, geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is intelligence about the human activity on earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information that describes, assesses, and visually depicts physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth. GEOINT, as defined in US Code, consists of imagery, imagery intelligence (IMINT) and geospatial information.

GISCorps

GISCorps, founded in 2003, is a program initiated by the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) that offers volunteer GIS services to under-served developing communities worldwide.

Roger Tomlinson

Roger F. Tomlinson, was an English geographer and the primary originator of modern computerised geographic information systems (GIS), and has been acknowledged as the "father of GIS."

Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA) is Pennsylvania's official public access geospatial information clearinghouse. PASDA serves as Pennsylvania's node on the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). PASDA is a cooperative effort of the Pennsylvania Geospatial Technologies Office of the Office of Information Technology and the Pennsylvania State University Institutes of Energy and the Environment (PSIEE).

The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo), is a non-profit non-governmental organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. The foundation was formed in February 2006 to provide financial, organizational and legal support to the broader Free and open-source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources.

Geospatial metadata is a type of metadata applicable to geographic data and information. Such objects may be stored in a geographic information system (GIS) or may simply be documents, data-sets, images or other objects, services, or related items that exist in some other native environment but whose features may be appropriate to describe in a (geographic) metadata catalog.

Computer Aided Development Corporation Ltd. (Cadcorp) is a British owned and run company established in 1991. Cadcorp has its headquarters in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, U.K.. Cadcorp has a network of distributors and value added resellers (VARs) around the world.

A spatial data infrastructure (SDI) is a data infrastructure implementing a framework of geographic data, metadata, users and tools that are interactively connected in order to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way. Another definition is "the technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data".

Hexagon Geospatial's GeoMedia Professional is a geographic information system (GIS) management solution for map generation and the analysis of geographic information with smart tools that capture and edit spatial data. GeoMedia is used for: creating geographic data; managing geospatial databases; joining business data, location intelligence and geographic data together; creating hard and soft-copy maps; conduct analysis in 'real-time'; base platform for multiple applications, geographic data validation, publishing geospatial information and analyzing mapped information.

Geographic information systems (GIS) play a constantly evolving role in geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) and United States national security. These technologies allow a user to efficiently manage, analyze, and produce geospatial data, to combine GEOINT with other forms of intelligence collection, and to perform highly developed analysis and visual production of geospatial data. Therefore, GIS produces up-to-date and more reliable GEOINT to reduce uncertainty for a decisionmaker. Since GIS programs are Web-enabled, a user can constantly work with a decision maker to solve their GEOINT and national security related problems from anywhere in the world. There are many types of GIS software used in GEOINT and national security, such as Google Earth, ERDAS IMAGINE, GeoNetwork opensource, and Esri ArcGIS.

Esri Canada is the Canadian provider of enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions from Esri. GIS allows multiple layers of information to be displayed on a single map. Esri Canada’s solutions are based on ArcGIS technology. The company also distributes vertical-focused solutions. from technology partners such as Schneider Electric. A third of its offerings are professional services.

Stu Shea

K. Stuart "Stu" Shea is an American business executive and leader and intelligence professional serving in a leadership capacity to public and private companies, as well as an advisor to government agencies, private equity investors, and academic institutions. Shea is Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of Peraton, a national security technology company. He is the former President & Chief Operating Officer of Leidos, Chief Operating Officer of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and founder and emeritus chairman of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.

GeoSUR is a regional initiative led by spatial data producers in Latin America and the Caribbean to implement a regional geospatial network and to help establish the basis of a spatial data infrastructure in the region. GeoSUR supports the development of free access geographic services useful to find, view and analyze spatial information through maps, satellite images, and geographic data.

Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute

The Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) is the professional association for surveyors and spatial science workers, including cartography, hydrography, remote sensing, engineering and mining surveying, photogrammetry and spatial information in Australia. The Institute's members are involved in communities of practice such as land administration, land development, natural resource management, forestry, agriculture, defence, marine environment, local government, health, education, transport, tourism, and many more. The institute deals with policy, administration, collection, measurement, analysis, interpretation, portrayal and dissemination of spatially- related land and sea information, together with associated planning, design and management.

References

  1. ↑ Geospatial Refarata Wiki Urban and Regional Information Systems (URISA)
  2. ↑ Morrison, J. L. The Organizational Home for GIS in the Scientific Professional Community
  3. ↑ Mark, Chrisman, Frank, McHaffie, Pickles The GIS History Project Archived 2015-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "URISA History".
  5. ↑ Directions Magazine, Dec. 12, 2001 The State of Certification - An Open Letter from William Huxhold, Chair, URISA Certification Committee
  6. ↑ Professional Surveyor Magazine, July 2007 GIS - The Greater Extent: GIS Professional Certification
  7. ↑ Obermeyer, Nancy J. Certification and Accreditation: An idea whose time has come
  8. ↑ USGS Digital Mapping Techniques 2001 - Workshop Proceedings The Growing Issue of GIS Certification and Its Possible Ramificationjournals to Geological Mapping Science
  9. ↑ "Organizations". cogo.
  10. ↑ GISCafe.com, March 21, 2012 “URISA's GISCorps Recognized by White House for Volunteer Service”
  11. ↑ GISProfessional Ethics Project, November 9, 2009 Case study: Proprietary Software in an Emergency
  12. ↑ "URISA Local Agency GIS Capability Maturity Model" (PDF).
  13. ↑ ArcNews, Winter 2010 URISA Proposes a Local Government GIS Capability Maturity Model
  14. ↑ "URISA Data Policy and Amicus Brief" SDI Magazine, March 16, 2012
  15. ↑ A Letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell The Census Project
  16. ↑ "URISA Conferences".
  17. ↑ "IAAO Home Page". www.iaao.org.
  18. ↑ "National Emergency Number Association". www.nena.org.
  19. ↑ "URISA Chapters".
  20. ↑ "URISA Journal".
  21. ↑ Coppock, J.T.. and Rhind, D.W. The History of GIS, p. 33
  22. ↑ "URISA Publications".
  23. ↑ "Read the eBook Bibliography on urban and regional information systems: focus on geographic perspectives (Volume Council of Planning Librarians. Exchange bibliography, no. 316-317) by Barry Sheldon Wellar online for free (page 6 of 7)". www.ebooksread.com.
  24. ↑ "College of Education - NC State University". ced.ncsu.edu.
  25. ↑ University of Southern California Spatial Sciences Institute, April 21, 2011 "URISA announces student competition"
  26. ↑ ESIG Award,
  27. ↑ University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, September 15, 2009 "Will Craig to be Inducted into URISA’s GIS Hall of Fame"
  28. ↑ BusinessWire, December 16, 2004 URISA Awards Tele Atlas' Don Cooke the Horwood Distinguished Service Award; Award Recognizes Excellence in GIS & Digital Mapping
  29. ↑ Directions Magazine, October 27, 2005 Lyna Wiggins Receives URISA Horwood Distinguished Service Award
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.