Divisions and Committees
GIS Division Information
Description of Constituency
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Niche Statement
Goals & Tactical Actions
Meeting Announcements
News
The Geographic Information Systems Division (GISD) is one of five Divisions of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). Membership in the Division is chosen at membership initiation and at renewal. The last five years have seen the use of GIS rise and broaden among Society members. The declining cost of GIS technology and the increasing user-friendliness of the available commercial software has created conditions for rapid and extensive change in the preparation and experience of people using the technology. GIS is the current dominant technology of interest with eighty-percent of all ASPRS members very interested in new developments in GIS. However, members in the GIS Division are eclectic in their technology interests and a majority of the GIS Division membership are professionally involved in several other mapping sciences technologies as covered by the other four Divisions.
The widespread adoption and use of GIS equipment, software, and GIS services by the entire membership means that GIS is no longer a differentiating variable. The expansion in the use of GIS technology has spurred the adoption of data collection, data processing, data interpretation, and image processing technologies. GIS has acted as an integrating technology rather than a competing technology in the mapping sciences. The GIS Division represents an integrator of the mapping sciences technologies which creates a framework for division support and spatial analysis which uses data and analyses from the other technologies represented by the Society.
Natural resource, geo-political, and socio-economic spatial and relational data will be freely available through inter-organization communication networks where the originators of the data will be responsible for data maintenance, accuracy, and propagation which competent and accountable decision support and visualization systems will give value and meaning to the data by incorporating the data from many sources and locations for the resolution of complex issues.
The GIS Division is dedicated to being a responsible vehicle for the integration of mapping sciences technologies through the development of "live" and "communicative" Geographic Information Systems and to establish and maintain the professional training and ethics which create a framework for spatial analysis and visualization/decision support which by its very nature must incorporate spatial data and analyses from the other technologies represented in the Society.
The Geographic Information Systems will fill these niches:
Support the Presidential Executive Order to create a national geospatial data framework through the development of relationships with and participation in the Federal Geographic Data Committee, the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, the National Information Infrastructure and by local interagency and interorganizational agreements on data availability, communications and data/applications standards.
Assume a leadership role in the application of GIS in the areas of environmental monitoring, ecosystem management, and land use planning.
Promote and facilitate the integration of core (Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, and GIS) and supporting (include but are not limited to: Cartography, Global Positioning Systems, Image Processing, Photo Interpretation, Spatial Analysis, 3-D Visualization, Decision Support and Database Design) technologies through the encouragement of the development of enhanced spatial analysis, database design, visualization, and decision support applications among the Divisions in the Society.
Advance responsible practice and protect the professional stature of the members engaged in the use of GIS technologies through the thoughtful use, application, and adherence to the ASPRS Code of Ethics.
Maintain an open forum for responsible practice for ASPRS and other professional societies by the promotion, preparation, support, and production of publications, workshops, training and forums regarding the use of GIS with the integration of the core and supporting technologies.
Goal 1: Create enhanced communication network within Division, bridge to other Divisions, and to other professional societies and individuals using spatial data and GIS technology.
Tactical Actions:
Publish in PE&RS the strategic plan of the GISD to encourage involvement by professionals identifying the Division as their primary interest as well as all others in mapping sciences.
Obtain a membership roster from ASPRS for the GIS Division.
Establish an electronic bulletin board via the Internet for Division issues and communications.
Establish a deputy chair position (past Director) to provide support for the incumbent Division Chair and to ensure continuity of GISD activities.
Solicit the identification of issues that are of serious concern to members and non-members alike and provide a mechanism for members to respond to and to participate in the resolution.
Goal 2: Actively support the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)
Tactical Actions:
Create a plan which will identify the role that GIS Division and ASPRS members can play in the enhancement of the NSDI effort.
Establish or contribute to a quarterly PE&RS column on what NSDI means to ASPRS activities.
Establish linkages with the NSDI through membership recruitment for direct participation.
Continue leadership role within ASPRS by coordinating "standing" sessions or workshops at annual GIS/LIS meeting on NSDI.
Identify opportunities and occurrences of interorganization cooperation and highlight such instances as representing nodes of the NSDI.
Goal 3: Assume a leadership role in the applications of GIS in the important areas of environmental monitoring, ecosystem management and land use planning.
Tactical Actions:
Survey and contact other professional societies, universities, government agencies, private organizations, publications, conferences and symposium to identify the larger population of users of GIS technology and their perceived needs, niches and goals and to define the leadership role that can be played by ASPRS.
Formulate a process that will promote a series of journal articles, conference papers, and training workshops in environmental monitoring, ecosystem management, and land use planning.
Establish a mechanism to maintain communications with other interest groups both within and without the ASPRS to better promote a leadership role in the application of GIS in environmental monitoring, ecosystem management and land use planning.
Goal 4: Identify successful operational implementations of GIS technology.
Tactical Actions:
Survey and contact other professional societies, universities, government agencies, and private organizations to identify those who have successfully implemented GIS technology in terms of systems update, maintenance, and use.
Solicit a series of PE&RS articles and conference papers which focus on the problems encountered, failures, and processes used for successfully creating an operational GIS.
Incorporate individual GIS technology operational success stories into a book or training materials, or both, and use to develop a workshop for GIS managers or a classroom education plan for university curriculums.
Goal 5: Redefine and reorganize GIS Division Technical Committees to better achieve the GIS Division Strategic Plan.
Tactical Actions:
Evaluate the need and purpose of the Applications, Education, Programs, Publications, and Awards Technical Committees and identify any new Technical Committees and summarize duties and responsibilities of each. The revised set of committees and their roles are to be coordinated with the committees of the other ASPRS Divisions.
Identify and appoint Technical Committee leads.
Goal 6: Activity support ANSI GIS Standards Committee through the Professional Practice Division.
Tactical Actions:
Establish communication linkages with the GISD and the PPD and the ANSI GIS Standards Committee, possibly through direct participation, while recognizing that ASPRS is represented on the committee by PPD.
Next Division Meeting: TBA
Minutes, Previous Meeting
ASPRS Division Open Forum
The GIS Division invites you to join in an Open Forum that will showcase Division activities and plans. The GIS Division represents the broader interests of the geospatial data and mapping sciences communities and their technologies. Integration of these technologies, data standards, policies, new technological developments, applications, and related issues are topics the Division supports through sessions sponsored at national and regional meetings and networking with related organizations such as FGDC, UCGIS, and Open GIS. Contact the Division Director for more information.
