Wisconsin Chapter
Past Events
Wisconsin
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Geospatial Technology Horizons Seminar
On Thursday, December 8, 2005, in Waukesha, the Wisconsin Chapter hosted a seminar on new and upcoming techniques, trends, and tools.
Click here for more information.
Geospatial Success Stories
The Wisconsin Chapter hosted a seminar on Thursday, September 8, titled, "What Works: Geospatial Success Stories." The seminar was held at the Western Lakes Golf Course in Penwaukee, WI. Attendees learned how regional practitioners are using geospatial technology solutions to meet dynamic business challenges. Registration was $30 for GITA members, $35 for nonmembers, and $10 for students. Get more information here. They finished the day with an additonal networking opportunity by enjoying a round of golf with colleagues.
Implementing Wireless 911 Seminar
On March 17, 2005, the Wisconsin GITA Chapter hosted an educational seminar on “Implementing Wireless 911.” The widespread use of wireless communication devices has created a tremendous challenge for public safety officials to locate and track wireless 911 calls. The presentation featured the experience of Waukesha County, the first county in Wisconsin to implement Phase II Wireless 911 capability and to establish a county-wide consolidated 911 center. The seminar was lead by Donald Dittmar, Waukesha County LIS Division Manager, Richard Tuma, Director of Waukesha County Communication Center (WCCC), and Daniel Finley, Waukesha County Executive.
After a welcome and introduction by Wisconsin Chapter President Randy Sincoular (Alliant Energy), Mr. Donald Dittmar kicked off the presentation with a brief audio/slide show presenting the new Waukesha County consolidated dispatch center. He shared lessons learned in developing the maps required to support the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) center. Mr. Dittmar’s presentation focused on the base map data that was developed which includes a complete address inventory, an address attributed centerline file, response plan area mapping, and the specifications that were required to enable and support the Phase II Wireless system. He described in detail the seven step process used by the County to build and maintain the maps for CAD.
Mr. Richard Tuma followed with a presentation on the technical requirements–the building, equipment and technologies–of a modern communications system. He discussed the State of Wisconsin Statute 146.70(3)(m) and FCC Docket No. 94-102 which specify a PSAP (public safety answering point) in order to receive and use the data associated with wireless 911 calls for both Phase I and II. Phase I is the routing of the call and transmission of the phone number and tower location that the call comes through. Phase II provides the longitude and latitude coordinates of the caller. In 2003, the State of Wisconsin passed legislation enabling cost recovery for both PSAPs and the Wireless Carriers.
The final speaker was County Executive Daniel Finley who discussed the significant amount of coordination and cooperation that went into the success of the consolidated communications center in Waukesha. This county effort required the consolidation of 37 distinct centers to one center. When first established, only 29 of the 37 centers joined in on the consolidation. The county recognized that they needed to do four things to be successful.
- First, locate property and build a building to house the communications center.
- Second, address the labor issues associated with this massive consolidation
- Third, identify and procure the technology required to support the effort.
- Fourth, establish the protocols with police, fire, and emergency personnel across multiple jurisdictions.
“This was no small effort , commented Mr. Finley, ‘to provide exceptional services while not interfering with a local jurisdiction’s business”.
The seminar, which was attended by 25 area GIS professionals, concluded with an open discussion with vendors about technology and equipment available to support the wireless 911 needs.
Wisconsin Chapter Holds Final 2004 Seminar
November 2, 2004
Wisconsin Chapter GITA celebrated Election Day 2004 by holding its final seminar for the year at the headquarters of Ayres Associates in Madison. Jeff Meyers, President of Miner and Miner Consulting Engineers, received rave reviews for his presentation on Enterprise Application Integration (EAI). Twenty-three people were in attendance.
Meyers began the day with an introduction to EAI basic concepts and terminology, defining EAI as the “methodologies and technologies that make it possible to integrate systems and components in a standard way.” He went on to define XML, GML, SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL within this context. Individual business applications typically use these and other technologies to send messages to one another via software “adapters” that connect each application to the common “middleware” backbone.
Why EAI? The business case for EAI provides the answer to this question. Many types of systems are not standalone data stores, but gain in real value when integrated with enterprise architecture. Meyers explained this and other aspects of the EAI business case, and provided advice on how best to tackle the plan components. For example, standardization and consolidation of data and software can be expected to produce operating efficiencies within the organization.
After a review of available resources for performing Enterprise Application Integration, Meyers described EAI approach from the perspectives of “desktop” and “webtop.” He concluded that most implementations will be a composite of both architectures, and that many variables internal and external to the enterprise will impact implementation decisions.
The presentation concluded with several EAI examples, notably the on-line Dominion Power Electric Outage Map. Outage locations computed by a mainframe application are integrated with a GIS and displayed for public viewing via a web application. This map can be accessed by the public at www.dom.com/news/outage_map.jsp.
The next chapter event will be GIS Day at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on November 17th. The chapter will award two scholarships to UW-Milwaukee at the event, which will enable students to attend the 2005 GITA national conference in Denver, Colorado.
GITA, the Geospatial Information & Technology Association is a non-profit association dedicated to providing excellence in education and information exchange on the use and benefits of GIS and AM/FM, SCADA and other related information technologies for communication, infrastructure management, and utility applications world-wide.
The Wisconsin Chapter, which has been in existence since 1989, is one of 19 regional chapters in North America. The MISSION of our chapter is to create opportunities for professionals in Wisconsin to advance their knowledge and experience in the field of geospatial information technologies. Everyone is welcome to attend our meetings.
Spatial
Data Versioning for Public Works and Utilities
Thursday, March 18, 2004
| Timothy
Marquardt, Chapter President |
|
A
team of nationally-based software vendors and locally-based
consultants showcased current thinking on GIS data versioning
at the spring meeting of GITA's Wisconsin Chapter. The event,
which attracted forty-two area professionals, was held March
18, 2004, at the Waukesha office of engineering firm Ruekert/Mielke.
Following
opening remarks from chapter President Timothy Marquardt,
Ken Lenser and Dean Peterson from VELOCITIE Integration presented
a general overview of data versioning as it has evolved from
initial proprietary implementations of software and storage
to today's more open solutions. They introduced the concepts
of long term transactions, master data versions, isolated
edits, optimistic and pessimistic locking, database states,
lifecycle versioning, workflows, and commit points. |
| ESRI's
Jeff Rashid and Mark Midas teamed with Ed Blair of Miner &
Miner to demonstrate their specific data versioning solutions
using examples of real-world data and workflows. Geoff Zeiss
from Autodesk reiterated a key point -- organizations need to
plan for the implementation of data versioning, and to extend
their plan to encompass the requirements of organizational groups
and work flows. Scott Hand from Wisconsin Public Service outlined
the Smallworld data versioning solution as it is currently implemented
at the company. |
| From
L to R: Timothy Marquardt, Gregory Giebel, Matthew Goodchild,
Hardy Meihsner |
|
Each year
the Wisconsin GITA Chapter provides two $1000 scholarships
to send Geography/GIS students to the national GITA conference.
In addition to providing unparalleled exposure to spatial
technologies, user experiences, and industry experts, the
experience also demonstrates to the students the value of
GITA membership and on-going professional development.
Former
national GITA president Hardy Meihsner introduced the 2004
winners, Gregory Giebel and Matthew Goodchild, from the University
of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. With former national GITA presidents
Dave Baraniak and Bill Nantell in the audience, Hardy promised
the students an informative and fun-filled experience in Seattle. |
| The
afternoon concluded with a giveaway of GITA shirts and items
donated by the vendors. |
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