URISA's 4th Caribbean GIS Conference - Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
9:00 – 11:00 AM
Opening Session & Keynote Address
Alan Jones, Chairman of this year’s conference will welcome attendees to the conference and introduce some distinguished guests. Peter Croswell, GISP, will greet attendees in his capacity of URISA Past President, and Valrie Grant-Harry, GISP will address the conference as President of URISA’s Caribbean Chapter.
Mr. Jones will then have the pleasure of introducing the Honourable Kurt Tibbetts, Cayman Government Business Leader, who is a great advocate of GIS for the Cayman Islands.
Cayman Land Info, Diamond Sponsor of the conference this year, will provide opening remarks to welcome conference attendees.
Garry Green, Co-Chair of the 2008 conference will then interview a number of key GIS professionals in the region to determine the “Status of Caribbean GIS” and explore where the technology is heading.
We will then have the pleasure of meeting Dr. David Maguire, Chief Scientist and a corporate director for ESRI in Redlands, California. Dr. Maguire will deliver the keynote address:
Keynote Address
Spatial Analysis and Modeling in a GIS World
David Maguire - Chief Scientist, ESRI
GIS software systems contain many tools for spatial analysis and modeling. Many of them have easy-to-use graphic user interfaces and it has become relatively simple to analyze and model spatial data. However, without a clear understanding of the scientific context for using GIS, it is possible that any results obtained will be incorrect, misunderstood, or misused. This keynote presentation will provide an overview of the main toolsets available in contemporary GIS software for spatial analysis and modeling. It will also highlight the importance of understanding the science behind the tools. Finally, a number of demonstrations will illustrate how spatial analysis and modeling methods are being used in geographic information science applications.
Dr. Maguire is the Chief Scientist and a corporate director for Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). He joined the ESRI family in 1990 as the technical director, later becoming the managing director for ESRI's international office in the United Kingdom. Dr. Maguire has authored or co-authored over 100 books and publications on GIS, including the industry recognized Geographical Information Systems and Geographic Information Systems and Science. He received his doctorate degree in Geography from the University of Bristol in 1983.
12:00 Noon – 1:00 PM
Roundtable Discussion Luncheon
Networking at its finest! Discuss your interests over lunch, with your peers. Choose the topic of most interest to you — from management issues to database design, privacy, and data sharing — and join in the conversation. You’ll be amazed at the wealth of ideas that your colleagues have!
Educational Sessions
1:00 – 2:30 PM
Land, Environment, Planning and Natural Resources
Land Registry and Cadastral Databases
The basemap of land parcels and cadastral management for a range of countries will be discussed in this session.
- MultiCadastre - Towards Coherent Parcel Information for The Bahamas
Tex Turnquest, Department of Lands and Surveys, Nassau, Bahamas
Daniel Heiner, Nickolay Gnidenko, and Peter Rabley, International Land Systems (ILS) Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland, USA - Integrating LRS and GIS at the NLA, Challenges and Successes
Mark Samuels, International Land Systems Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland, USA - Creating a Cadastral Dataset for the British Virgin Islands
Norval Young and Michael Potter, Land & Survey Department, Road Town, British Virgin Islands
Disaster Management, Law Enforcement, Public Health and Safety
National and Regional Case Studies in Disaster Management
This session will look at examples of Disaster Management Applications using GIS around the region.
Session Moderator: Valrie Grant-Harry, GISP, GIS Consultant, Kingston, Jamaica
- The Caribbean GIS Community and its Response to Disasters: Lessons Learnt from MapAction LAC
Vijay Datadin, Caribbean GIS, Georgetown NIL, Guyana - A Case Study: Tropical Storm Noel, The Bahamas
Sharon Griffith and Howard Barrett, Ministry of Works & Transport, Nassau, Bahamas - Geographic Information Systems and Their Employment In The Management for Risks Reduction of Disasters in Cuba
Silvio V Rodríguez Hernández, GEOCUBA Investigation and Consultancy, Playa, Havana, Cuba
Standards, Policy and Management
Building Street Addressing
The Caribbean, as is true of many emerging markets, lacks a consistent and complete street address database. This database is essential for efficient use of GIS and the sharing of information. This session highlights several examples of implementations in the Caribbean as well as a best practice example.
Session Moderator: Edsel Daniel, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
-
Street Addressing in the British Virgin Islands
Lisa Kay S. Lewis, GISP, National GIS Coordinator, Office of the Premier, Tortola, British Virgin Islands -
Global Address Standard
Sara Yurman, GISP, Spatial Focus, Decatur, Georgia, USA -
Street Addressing in the Cayman Islands
Garry Green and Michael Ponder, Cayman Land Info, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Hot Topics
View From Above
Aerial photography, satellite imagery and LiDAR are all fundamental components of a quality GIS. This session examines some technical issues and new developments in the field.
Session Moderator: Edwin Joseph, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, USA
- The Impact of Mapping Operation Using LiDAR to Enhance a Fiscal and Legal Cadastre: A Grenada Case Study
Raphael Stephen, Grenada - Automatic Utility Feature Extraction from High Resolution Imagery
Anthony P. Sani, SANI-International Technology Advisors, Inc. - Capacity Assessment of Geographic Information Systems Capabilities of the Caribbean
Jacob Opadeyi, University of the West Indies, Centre for Geospatial Studies, St Augustine, Trinidad And Tobago
3:00-4:30 PM
Educational Sessions
Land, Environment, Planning and Natural Resources
Land Use Planning Techniques
In this session, strategic planning applications will be demonstrated and how GIS data and techniques can assist the process.
Session Moderator: Lisa Kay S. Lewis, GISP, National GIS Coordinator, Office of the Premier, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
- Grand Cayman: A Land Use Analysis in Support of the Development Plan
Darren Enns, Cayman Islands Planning Department, George Town, Cayman Islands
Haroon Pandohie, Cayman Island Government, George Town, Cayman Islands - Manchester Long Term Sustainable Development Plan
Ryan Wallace, Manchester Parish Council, Mandeville, Jamaica
Phil Rodriques, Manchester Parish Development Committee, Mandeville, Jamaica - Grand Cayman: Lands for Public Purposes (LPP)
Darren Enns, Cayman Islands Planning Department, George Town, Cayman Islands
Standards, Policy and Management
Metadata
An important but overlooked element of constructing and maintaining a successful GIS is the need to describe information about the GIS data being used. This session will explore the ways in which metadata can be easily stored and used to maintain an efficient GIS.
Session Moderator: Alan Mills, Alan Mills Consulting, UK
- Metadata Development – The Big Picture
Valrie Grant-Harry, GISP, GIS Consultant, Jamaica - Metadata Profile Implementation in the Cuban Spatial Data Infrastructure
Dalia Carrillo, Institute of Geology & Paleontology, Havana, Cuba - Metadata for Managers
Lynda Wayne, GISP, Federal Geographic Data Committee-GeoMaxim, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Hot Topics
Establishing a Successful GIS
This session discusses the fundamentals and the possible pitfalls. It further outlines options for data sharing and collaboration.
Session Moderator: Quinell Francis, Compu-CAD Training & Services Limited, Hamilton, Bermuda
- A Guide to Beginning a GIS
Douglas Culbert, Barkley Caribbean, Teeswater, Ontario, Canada - Geospatial Open Source: An Alternative Business Model
Neal Niemiec, Autodesk, Westminster, Massachusetts USA - Sharing Geospatial Data across the Enterprise
Jason Briley, TerraGo Technologies, Atlanta, Georgia USA
Sponsor Session
International Land Systems (ILS) - Platinum Sponsor
ILS will present its low cost integrated land information solutions which combines proven document management technology for land offices along with ILS’s new ESRI based cadastral management tools. ILS staff will present live processing of data and show working examples from the Bahamas and elsewhere in the Caribbean to demonstrate its applicability to land offices throughout the Caribbean. 30-day licenses of all products will be provided to all attendees.
Sponsor Session
Cayman Land Info- Diamond Sponsor
Cayman Land Info will present several current projects that demonstrate a range of the key services and technologies that are available. The EMMA and ELRA applications will be demonstrated along with the Cayman Land Info website. Central to these presentations will be the ability to demonstrate the ability to deliver bespoke real world solutions to a variety of customers with a variety of needs and budgets. Regional collaboration with associated consultancy, training and general assistance right through to a formal Government to Government agreement will all be discussed. GIS, mapping, database and systems specialists will be available for technical questions.
6:30 - 10:00 PM
A Black & White Evening at the Zebra Lounge
North Sound Pool - Ritz Carlton
• Full Dinner Buffet •Cocktails • DJ • Prizes•
• Smart Casual Black & White Attire Preferred •
Join your fellow attendees for a 'cool' night at the Zebra Lounge. Get into the spirit and wear black and white to the party!
The social events at the URISA Caribbean Conference are always the best opportunity for networking and strengthening your professional connections. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Sponsored by Cayman Land Info, HP/Kirkiss, and Blom!