Luncheon Keynote Address

Keynote Address
Cy Smith, GISP - State of Oregon Geographic Information Officer

Chair, Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO)
President-elect, URISA
Past President, National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC)

After lunch, attendees will hear from this year's keynote speaker, Cy Smith. Following Mr. Smith's address, ULA graduates will be recognized for their accomplishment.

Cy will speak about the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO ) and the effort to align all the geospatial organizations around policy issues, with the implication that there is a need for all members of each organization to get involved in setting direction for the organization and the sometimes not so obvious benefits to the individual and their employer of doing so.

Biographical Sketch

Cy Smith, GISP, is the Oregon Geographic Information Officer and member of the Oregon Geographic Information Council. 

He is Immediate Past-President of the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) until September 2009.  He is the Chair of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations until September 2009.  He served on the URISA Board of Directors, 2006-2008.  He served as NSGIC Treasurer, 2001-2003.  He served three years as a NSGIC representative on the GIS Certification Institute Board of Directors. 

He has worked in the geographic information field for 25 years.  Cy was hired as the Oregon GIO in June 2000.  The primary focus of the GIS effort in Oregon under his direction has been to enable and enhance the Oregon Enterprise Information Technology Strategy.  As State GIO, he is responsible for coordinating the geographic information activities of all three branches of state government, regional and local government, and the academic community. 

Cy was GIS Manager for the City of Olathe, KS, 1995-2000; Kansas State GIS Coordinator, 1992-1995; a GIS consultant for PlanGraphics, Inc., 1988-1992; a Regional Cartographer for the Kansas Department of Revenue, 1986-1988; and Chief Cartographer for Clay County, MO, 1983-1986. 

He co-authored the IAAO/URISA GIS Guidelines for Assessors in 1992.  He represented URISA in the original Federal Geographic Data Committee Framework Working Group in 1994.  He co-founded the Kansas Association of Mappers, a professional land information association that held their 23rd annual conference last year.  He served as the Program Chair in 1998 and Symposium Chair in 2000 for the MidAmerica GIS Symposium.  He was the President of the Oregon/Southwest Washington Chapter of URISA in 2002.

Cy joined the URISA Board of Directors as President-elect in October.

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