University Consortium for Geographic Information Science
319 C Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003
202-544-1419 (phone), 202-544-1348 (fax)
execdir@ucgis.org
www.ucgis.org
Our Mission

Spring 1999 Headlines
Vol. 1, No. 2



Minnesota Meeting: UCGIS Summer Assembly 1999

The UCGIS Summer Assembly begins on June 23rd and runs through the 26th. We are hugely optimistic about its success, following as it does on a truly impressive showing at the Congressional Reception in Washington on June 8th. Expect to enjoy working hard and be fully involved in the development of UCGIS positions on the application topics. Please consult www.ucgis.org for the draft White Papers on the themes for the working sessions. We will consider Transportation, Water Resources, Urban and Regional Planning, Disaster Response, Health, Crime and Public and Community Participation. The UCGIS process depends on the leadership provided by the teams and their chairs and also on your participation. Even if you are not going to be in Minneapolis you can contribute to the development of a serious assessment of the research and educational challenges posed by these applications of geographic information science. I ask all teams to think about engaging your audience not as listeners but as active participants and contributors. Lets keep the presentations to the absolute minimum necessary to stimulate creative debate and constructive outcomes. Anyone with unusual or innovative ways to enlist the participation of the entire group is encouraged to contact the team leaders, or send ideas to Greg Elmes or Richard Wright.

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Committee Reports

Neither the President nor the Executive Director are enthusiasts of marathon business meetings! Your current President believes firmly that the Board and Council Meetings at the Summer and Fall Assemblies are for decision-taking rather than for basic intra-consortium communication. To that end will all committee and working group chairs prepare a report of their activities. This can be distributed electronically and in hard copy and will obviate the need to devote time to reading reports and free more time for discussion and identifying action items.

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Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe

AGILE has 60 members representing 21 European countries. The European Union considers AGILE to be the representative of the geographic information research universities. This has benefits for members applying for funds under the EU 5th Framework, especially under the Directorate General 13, Information Societies Technologies program.

More than 100 participants gathered at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" for the scientific program, annual banquet and business meeting. A variety of session formats were held over three days. Each day featured plenary sessions with demonstrations and papers of work ongoing in the laboratories. Two sessions comprised many, very brief presentations, permitting students and others to showcase their work. A great variety of experience and research was presented reflecting the considerable variation of geographic information development within Europe.

The keynote speaker was Frank Mastroddi who detailed funding opportunities under the 5th Framework IST program. Europe is seeking to advance research in systems and services for the citizen, in fields such as health (telemedicine), for special needs groups such as the elderly and disabled, in public administration, for environmental management, transport and tourism. Great emphasis is placed on electronic commerce, new methods of work, flexible remote tools, new management systems and trading. Multimedia and tools are seen to be critical to education and training. Europe is emphasizing cultural content as its advantageous niche in the information society. (see www.cordis.lu/ist).

The AGILE Business Meeting was held April 17 1999. Greg Elmes was able to detail the working in progress at UCGIS and examine joint actions for the two organizations in future. The opportunities for joint AGILE / UCGIS work include:

  • Parallel, coordinated funding from EU / NSF
  • A new series of international seminars or workshops building on the success of the NCGIA / GISDATA summer schools
  • Development of a student exchange registry
  • Joint session at annual meetings.
AGILE proposes Working Groups on the following topics:
  • Response to the EU Green Paper on "Access to Public Information"
  • Education and training
  • Data usability
  • Interoperability
  • Environmental Modeling
Minutes of the business meeting are posted at the AGILE web site: www.uniroma1.it/DICE/AGILE.htm.

Gregory Elmes
President UCGIS

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Open GIS Consortium, Atlanta, 4/11 to 4/12/99

UCGIS has been invited to be a participant observer in the Open GIS Consortium's Management Committee Meeting. Greg Elmes was able to attend the April meeting to investigate possibilities for a formalization of UCGIS / OGC relationships. OGC is a very active organization with an intensive agenda for setting standards. The completion of a GIS testbed was a principal topic of discussion. A full report on the OGC agenda will be made at the upcoming Council Meeting.

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National Geodata Forum, Washington, D.C., 1999

The 1999 National Geodata Forum, Making Livable Communities a Reality, held at the Marriott at Metro Center, June 7th through June 9th, attracted more than 400 participants, many from the federal agencies. There was also large and geographically-dispersed representation from state and local governments as well as from the private sector and academia. Participants were welcomed by Mark Shaefer, Deputy-Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Department of the Interior, who introduced his boss, Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, Representative Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, Morely Winograd, Senior Policy Advisor and Director of the National Partnership for reinventing Government, Office of the Vice President, and Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus of the Visa corporation. These highly visible and well-respected speakers set the challenges and the tone for the entire meeting. At lunch, a smaller group heard Mr. Lane, Presidential Science Advisor, discuss the vital national role of geographic information, in the US and global economic, in national security and defense and as an element of science policy.

Seven "Threads", conferences within a conference characterized Tuesday's program, where the emphasis was on collective work in facilitated sessions. UCGIS sponsored a thread on Geodata Challenges for Research and Education for the 21st Century. One very evident challenge is to better engage the federal and other government agencies in our work and goals. The session was productive but sparsely attended by participants outside academia. UCGIS owes a debt to Steve Ventura (U. Wisconsin at Madison), Jeff Hamerlinck (U. Wyoming), Jeff Bapp and Will Rose (Virginia Commonwealth U.) and David Mark (SUNY at Buffalo) for their discussion of research issues. In the afternoon the presentations turned to education. Richard Wright (San Diego State U.) brought us up to date on the major developments of the UCGIS education program, Duane Marble discussed the Geographic Information Science Curriculum Project and Todd Bacastow (Penn State U.) invited the audience to debate the role of outreach in GIS education and the possible differences between the education of students in intern and the perspective of some in the private sector that universities present unfair, subsidized competition. This topic is an important but convoluted ethical issue that UCGIS should address.

Many other UCGIS members were well in evidence throughout the Forum. Barbara Buttenfield, Mike Goodchild and Harlan Onsrud were deeply involved in the Accessing Data thread. One major outcome of Geodata Forum is that UCGIS has established itself as the primary liaison to the federal sector, and we have great opportunities to replicate that success with states, counties and the private sector if we continue to work cohesively and towards well focused objectives.

The conference concluded with a graphical review of the main message that emerged during the previous 48 hours and a round table, featuring the Governor of Wyoming, Mayor Ann Azari, Congressman Kanjorski, and chief executives from Oracle, Intergraph and ESRI among others. Although not part of the official agenda the real climax of the Forum was held on Capitol Hill, at a hearing of the Subcommittee for Government Management, Information and Technology, chaired by Congressman Stephen Horn. Mr. Horn gave geographic information its first formal hearing and the session was packed with an appreciative audience. Three panels of witnesses gave evidence on the significance and impact of geographic information in effective government; reducing costs and increasing performance in private firms, and as a factor in which the US leads in the global information economy.

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UCGIS CONGRESSIONAL RECEPTION AN OUTSTANDING TRIUMPH!

A Governor, a representative, dozens of congressional staff, hundreds of federal and state officials and other VIPs crowded the National Geographic Society Tuesday evening, June 8th, to participate in the 1999 Congressional Reception. The evenings events and displays were an unmitigated success and represent a high point in the ever more impressive organizational outcomes of UCGIS and its members. I want to recognize the efforts of the 23 member Universities of UCGIS who voluntarily contributed their time and energy to provide the displays and presentations at the 1999 Congressional Reception, and were the backbone of the reception's success. The visual impact was outstanding and the work spoke very loudly about our contribution to livable communities. Let's build on this remarkable achievement as we enter our Summer Assembly and continue to build towards greater participation in the year 2000 Congressional outreach. We can feel extremely proud of our consortium's visibility and accomplishments.

I wish to thank some very special people for the event's success. The 1999 National Geodata Forum provided space for us in the program, and FGDC staff, Kathy Covert and John Moeller accommodated us very well. Senator Collins staff member, Mr. Julian Haines, and Dr. Harlan Onsrud worked very hard on all our behalf. Our Executive Director, Mrs. Suzy Jampoler, put in long hours in her tireless efforts in making the evening a success. Please join me in taking any opportunity you have to thank Senator Collins of Maine, and our other honorary co-hosts, Senator Boxer of California and Representative Gutknect for Minnesota and the other members of government present at the UCGIS Congressional Reception, including Governor Geringer of Wyoming and Representative Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, in taking time out from their busy schedules to show their support for our initiatives. If your legislative representatives sent staff, please find a means to thank them by way of a follow-up. This is a continuing process NOT a single event!

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1999 UCGIS Congressional Reception Transcripts of Talks
Greg Elmes

"Governor Geringer, Representative Kanjorski, Congressional staffers, Agency personnel, GeodataForum participants, guests, colleagues, and friends: Welcome to the 1999 UCGIS Congressional Reception. My name is Gregory Elmes, and I am the President of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science. I am also a Professor of Geography at West Virginia University.

The UCGIS was formed in 1995 through the highly-motivated, volunteer efforts of university faculty. It was created for three primary functions:

  • To serve as an effective, unified voice for the geographic information science research community;
  • To foster multidisciplinary research and education; and
  • To promote the informed and responsible use of geographic information science and geographic analysis for the benefit of society.

The UCGIS currently has over 50 member institutions, including a high proportion of the leading U.S. research universities that specialize in Geographic Information Science, as well as a number of professional organizations, national laboratories, and private firms. What are the main points that we want to convey to you this evening? Let me refer you to the left pocket of the folder handed out at the door. First, uses of geographic information and associated technologies pervade all sectors of U.S. society. Right now, geographic information systems are being used:

  • by thousands of businesses in a variety of commercial, industrial, and service activities
  • by government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels
  • by scientific researchers in a variety of disciplines
  • and by individual citizens in the workplace, in the schools, and at home.
Many billions of dollars are being spent on this technology and affiliated databases each and every year in this nation. Mr Lane, the President's Science advisor, reported to us yesterday that, directly or indirectly, it is estimated that geodata are involved in 50% of the United States's GNP. Second, recent events have shown that national security, emergency response, and hazard mitigation depend increasingly on rapid access to accurate geographic information. Third, advances in geographic information science are critical for meeting the nation's social, economic, and strategic objectives. Accurate spatial and temporal qualities of geographic information are an essential element in their use. Fourth, impediments to the advancement of geographic information science are impediments to the advancement of the Nation, and Fifth, all sectors of U.S. society and all citizens will benefit from focused programs of funded research in geographic information science and engineering at U.S. universities. The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science was formed by organizations dedicated to addressing precisely these pressing issues
  • by conducting research in geographic information science
  • by educating the next generation of researchers and practitioners, and
  • by disseminating results through publication and through practice."

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1999 UCGIS Congressional Reception Transcripts of Talks
Harlan Onsrud

"As we have been hearing over the past several days and again this evening, business, government, industry, citizens and scientists all make daily heavy use of geographic information technologies. The social and economic ramifications of the technology are critically important. The market in geographic information technologies has become so large and the ramifications of the technologies so important to the nation, that geographic information science should no longer be funded solely from the margins of other sciences. It makes sense to fund explicit programs that will allow this field to advance in order to benefit our nation.

What are some actions you and I might support this year in furtherance of the advancement of geographic information science?

  1. In terms of "Basic Research in Support of Long-term Scientific Needs," UCGIS believes we should continue to support ongoing initiatives at the National Science Foundation to thoroughly investigate the value of geographic information science to the nations long terms scientific needs. In the back pocket of the folder you received this evening you will find a report from a workshop held at NSF which recommends an explicit cross disciplinary funding program for geographic information science on the order of $40 million dollars per year.

  2. In terms of "Mission Focused Research in Support of Critical Industry and Government Needs," UCGIS believes we should support current and future collaborative efforts to expand the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. One such effort is the Community/Federal Information Partnership budget initiative (CFIPS) being proposed by the 17 federal agencies that make up the Federal Geographic Data Committee in cooperation with organizations from state, local and tribal governments, the academic community and the private and non-profit sectors. Again, you will find in the back pocket a page describing the CFIPS initiative.

  3. Finally, UCGIS supports substantial research efforts not only in our universities and national laboratories but also in those agencies responsible for the creation, maintenance, and use of geographic information - whether at the federal, state or local levels."

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Articles Needed
by Dawn Wright

UCGIS continues to enjoy a fruitful partnership with Geo Info Systems, currently the #1 trade journal devoted specifically to applications in GIS and related spatial technologies, as well as market trends. Molly Trudeau, editor of Geo Info Systems, has once again issued a strong invitation to UCGIS researchers to use the journal as an outlet for short articles about our work. Specifically she is looking for authors for the column "Academic Pursuits". Recent contributors to "Academic Pursuits" include Barbara Buttenfield ("Delivering Geospatial Data: The Future of the Spatial Information Infrastructure", June 1997), Karen Kemp and Richard Wright ("UCGIS Identifies GIScience Education Priorities", September 1997 and Mike Goodchild ("Uncertainty: The Achilles Heel of GIS?", November 1998). The March 1999 issue focused on education, training, research and GIS on the Internet, and featured an article by Dawn Wright on the recent UCGIS Virtual Seminar. Slots past March 1999 are completely open. Please contact Molly for more information:

Molly Trudeau
Editor, Geo Info Systems
859 Williamette Street
Eugene, OR 97401-6806
Tel: 541/984-5259 Fax: 541/344-3514
mtrudeau@advanstar.com or editorial-gis@geoinfosystems.com

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The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) is a non-profit association of universities and other research institutions. The mission of UCGIS is: Last updated: June 13, 1999.

Challenges is an occasional publication of the UCGIS.
For submissions, corrections, comments or questions, please contact Dawn Wright, dawn@dusk.geo.orst.edu.