Geography Matters

A transformation is taking place. Businesses and government, schools and hospitals, nonprofit organizations, and others are taking advantage of it. All around the world, people are working more efficiently because of it. Information that was limited to spreadsheets and databases is being unleashed in a new, exciting way—all using geography.

Linking location to information is a process that applies to many aspects of decision making in business and the community. Choosing a site, targeting a market segment, planning a distribution network, zoning a neighborhood, allocating resources, and responding to emergencies—all these problems involve questions of geography. Where are my customers and potential customers? In which neighborhoods or ZIP Code areas do consumers with particular profiles live? Which areas of a city are most vulnerable to seasonal flooding or other natural disasters? Where are power poles located, and when did they last receive maintenance?

Geography is helping people make better decisions in many disciplines. Geographic data can be gathered and organized to support the generation of information products that are integrated in the business strategy of any organization. A geographic information system is not an end in itself. It is used to create useful information products that help organizations run better. It has saved hundreds of millions of dollars through increased productivity and efficiencies. And that's just the beginning.

Credit www.gisday.com

Houston Area GIS Day history of Keynote Speakers

Dr. David Retchless, Marine and Coastal Environmental Science Department at Texas A&M University at Galveston - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2023
Dr. David R. Maidment, Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2023
Lacey Loftin, Data Dissemination Specialist | United States Census Bureau – Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2022
Lisa Berry, Senior Product Engineer on the Living Atlas team at Esri – Keynote Speaker for TxGIS Day 2, 2021
Tye Payne, Lone Star Unmanned Aerial Systems Center – Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2019
Dr. Stacey Lyle, Texas A&M University - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2018
Vincent Hamilton, HAS and other agencies - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2017
Katherine Smyth, ESRI - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2016
Jeff Lash, Geography Program Director with UH - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2015
Jim Scott, TNRIS/TWDB - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2014
Gary Scoffield & David Martinez, ESRI - Keynote Speakers for GIS Day 2013
Sean Maday, Geospatial Engineer at Google - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2012
Jeff Saunders, Operations Chief, Texas Task Force 1 - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2011
Drew Stephens, Executive Director of GIS Institute - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2010
Mary E. Gainer, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2009
Col. James R. Marrs, US Air Force-480 Intelligence Wing - Keynote Speaker for GIS Day 2008