2024 GIS Forum Inspires and Connects GIS Professionals

Transcript

Chris Bardash - Mapping Branch Manager, Texas Department of Transportation

This is a very well-run conference. The keynote speakers are very inspirational and, you know, this is the biggest GIS conference in the state of Texas.

Gayla Mullins - Geographic Information Services Director, Texas Geographic Information Office

The Texas GIS Forum is the premier conference for people that work in GIS to come from all over the state of Texas-sometimes we have folks that come from outside of the state of Texas-to connect with each other, to learn about the technology, to be able to understand the latest trends in the industry, to simply sit down together and have a nice lunch and meet someone new, meet a new friend in the industry. We have all kinds of learning opportunities, from workshops to presentations to interesting and inspiring keynote presentations.

Chris Bardash - Mapping Branch Manager, Texas Department of Transportation

For us at TXDOT, we have to digitize all those roads, and our state is growing like crazy. Well, all of that growth means new roads. And for us, that's new lines that have to go on the map. Artificial intelligence, that's a hot topic. I think we're all trying to grapple with how we're going to use it or how it's going to affect our jobs.

Marna McClain - IT Corporate Manager, City of Austin

The GIS community in Texas is kind of small. So, it is kind of like a family reunion. But, you know, being able to meet with people, kind of talk about the issues that we all might face, being able to talk to other GIS professionals to, kind of, see what their experiences are and their challenges and successes. You know, and it's great to see the presentations, also inspires a lot of ideas.

Shawn Strange - Director Regulatory, Policy and Mapping, Texas General Land Office

We have a newly-formed mapping group or mapping team that utilizes geographic information systems and data and information and reporting to assess and report out on recovery efforts across Texas. One of the biggest benefits of coming to the Texas GIS Forum is the getting to network and meet other people who are in this field of geographic information systems, data management and just, sort of, providing the opportunity to mingle with other state agencies, other communities across the states who are doing a variety of work in the GIS environments.

Gayla Mullins - Geographic Information Services Director, Texas Geographic Information Office

We're definitely seeing a growth in the GIS industry, and that is reflected in the attendance of the Texas GIS Forum. We typically have over 400 attendees, and this year is no exception to that. And it was really amazing, on the first day in our opening remarks, we asked everyone to raise their hand if it was their first time attending the Texas GIS Forum, and many hands went up. And that is just really heartening to hear about so many people that are finding this industry, coming to the GIS industry, and coming to the Forum to be able to see what it's all about.

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