Des Plaines, Ill., Sept. 30, 2014”URISA is pleased to announce the presentation of two of its most popular Certified Workshops via instructor-led web-based training. Normally full-day classroom sessions, each workshop has been re-packaged into three sections for presentation virtually without the travel expense and time away from work. The workshop content is thoroughly peer-reviewed and updated each year and is eligible for GISP Education credit (8 hours of EDU-2). The cost to attend each virtual workshop is $195 for URISA members and $245 for non-members.
URISA’s virtual classrooms are limited according to the number of participants in order to facilitate online discussions and Q&A with the presenters. Individuals are encouraged to register early to reserve a spot. (Note that the workshops are recorded, so if for some reason you cannot attend all three sections of a workshop, you will have complete access to the recorded archive.) A registration form and more details are available online.
Introduction to Open Source GIS Software
This 8-hour workshop will be presented virtually over three days:
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 – 1:00“ 4:00 pm EDT
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 – 1:00“ 4:00 pm EDT
Thursday, October 23, 2014 – 1:00“ 3:00 pm EDT
Course Description: Free and open source software (FOSS) has been offering choices to computer users for a number of years. Over the past few years the open source choices in GIS have been broader and more capable than ever before. This workshop will focus on GIS open source software. It will give an overview of current developments from technical and management perspectives. Selected packages and their applications in various projects will be demonstrated and discussed.
Specific topics include:
ï Open Source GIS background and development
ï Overview of Open Source GIS spatial functionalities
ï Live demonstration
ï Interoperability: The Open Source GIS spectrum
ï Planning and implementation issues
Intended Audience: Anyone interested in free and open source geographic information system software. The workshop will suit both managerial and technical needs and it does not require any prerequisites.
Instructor Profile: Sara Yurman, GISP is a URISA Certified Workshop Instructor. She is an experienced GIS Manager and a founder of Spatial Focus, LLC with over 25 years of experience in both organizational and technical aspects of geographic information, encompassing government at the local, regional, and state levels. Her activities have included team-building and change management as well as implementations of raster and vector GIS, GPS data integration, system development, and database design. She is a member of URISA’s Address Standard Working Group and URISA’s Leadership Academy faculty.
Asset Management: Planning, Strategy, and Implementation
This 8-hour workshop will be presented over three days:
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 – 1:00“ 4:00 pm EDT
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 – 1:00“ 4:00 pm EDT
Thursday, November 20, 2014 – 1:00“ 3:00 pm EDT
Course Description: Public and private agencies face continuous challenges to accomplish more with less as increases in demand, regulatory requirements, infrastructure deterioration, and political and economic forces have significantly outpaced increases in capital and operating budgets. Many of these agencies are turning to Asset Management to cope with these challenges and improve business performance and effectiveness. This workshop will focus on several aspects of developing an asset management system that could help improve performance, reduce long-term costs, and maximize return on investment in infrastructure assets.
Specific topics include:
ï Strategy and Planning
ï Data Collection Methods
ï Software Solutions
ï Information Management and Decision Support Tools
ï Evaluation and Performance Measures
ï GASB34 Reporting
ï Life Cycle Costs
Intended Audience: This workshop is intended for utility, transportation, engineering, planning, and environmental managers and analysts of the public and private sectors.
Instructor Profile: Allen Ibaugh, AICP, GISP is the Immediate Past-President of URISA and Certified Workshop Instructor for this and a few other URISA workshops. Allen, co-owner of DTS, has years of Program Management experience working on various GIS, database, and multimedia projects for the departments of transportation, forest management companies, metropolitan planning organizations, and city/county governments. He has extensive knowledge of web development, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), IT, and relational database integration. Allen holds an M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning and an M.A. in Geography.
Registration and more details about each workshop are available online.
