The promises and issues related to that technological advance are the focus of WebGIS/GeoWireless 2001, to be held at Penn State's University Park campus October 22-23, 2001.

Organizers of the conference Wednesday announced a special session on Geospatial Technologies and Civil Preparedness. This session will examine the need for geospatial systems and technologies to support our first line of homeland defense -- our law enforcement agencies and local first responders.

Sponsored in its third year by the University's School of Information Sciences and Technology, the conference will feature keynote remarks by U.S. Congressman John Peterson and Mark Putterman, manager of business development, IBM Location-Based Services.

As innovative as self-locating wireless devices may be, a significant infrastructure must be developed to support them -- meaning at a minimum sophisticated electronic mapping, coordinated emergency dispatch systems, and funding to pay for these improvements.

These issues are currently being debated by Pennsylvania lawmakers in Harrisburg and conference coordinator Todd S. Bacastow, assistant director of the Penn State Environment Center and assistant professor of information sciences and technology, recently was called to testify on the subject before the Senate Committee on Communications and High Technology.

"Better emergency services are a critical, potentially life-saving application of this technology, but there are many more potential benefits," said Bacastow. "Our conference intends to explore business, public service, and commercial applications as well, along with the multiple impacts of each."

"We plan to discuss new WebGIS technologies, automatic crash notification and related topics, new opportunities for the wireless industry and location-based services, and future prospects for the geo-spatial industry," he said.

Working with Bacastow to plan the conference is Guoray Cai, assistant professor of information sciences and technology and assistant professor of geography.

Panelists and presenters currently scheduled to take part include Chris Capelli, ESRI Philadelphia; Mark E. Reichardt, Open GIS Consortium; Ashis Pal, Advanced Technology Solutions, Inc.; Steve Kovach, Arcstream; Robert M. Scaer, GeoDecisions; Don Murrey, Safe Software, Intergraph; Jay Parish, Pennsylvania Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey; Rick Day, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences; Patrick Halley, ComCARE Alliance; Janet Jonson, Penn State Applied Research Laboratory; Eric Conrad, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, West Nile Virus Program; Hassan Karimi, University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences; Col. (Ret.) Andy Mazarra, Center for Emerging Defense Technologies; and Rich Gooden, Plangraphics, Inc, on behalf of the New York City GIS Utility.

For further information, see the conference website.

[Contact: Charles C. DuBois, Carolyn Andersen]

11-Oct-2001