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HOT NEWS ITEMS:
JANUARY 2008 FEATURE NEWS

Awards Program: CGIA Award Program Nominations
The CGIA Awards nominations deadline is approaching. The deadline for nomination submission is January 31, 2008! Categories for nominations include:

• Chair's Award
  
• Exemplary Systems Award
  
• Advancement of Collaboration Award
  
• Outstanding Internet Presentation Award
  
• Excellence in Education Award

Remember, nominators, nominees, and winners need not be CGIA members. Nomination forms may be submitted electronically via http://arcims.gis.uckac.edu/cgia/. For additional details about the 2008 CGIA Awards, click here (PDF).

CGIA & BAAMA Education Forum:
"Best Practices for Financing GIS Program Sustainability"

CGIA & BAAMA Joint Education Session
January 24, 2008, 9: 00 am to 12:00 Noon
Location: City Hall, Hayward CA

Best Practices for Financing GIS Program Sustainability
Achieving financial sustainability for GIS programs has been a major challenge for most public agencies that use geospatial technologies. In response to this strategic challenge, CGIA and BAAMA are co-hosting a policy forum to encourage a dialogue among GIS professionals and interested program managers and executives regarding best practices for achieving GIS program financial sustainability.

The education session will have panel speakers representing best practice models from state government, county government, and regional consortium. A dialogue between the panel and education session participants will be held following the presentations. Presentation themes include the inter-relationship of the following facets of financial sustainability: political climate, governance approach, financial model, staffing, technology implementation, stakeholder participation, program outcomes, and lessons learned.

Come join us as we tackle how political, policy, and organizational acumen impacts the financial sustainability of GIS programs. This is where "the nexus of GIS technology and organizational structure" meet.

Online Survey for Imagery Business Planning and Best Practices Project

CGIA has a contract with GeoSpatial Consulting Services to develop and publish an Imagery Business Planning and Best Practices report. As part of the process of completing this project, Bill Zeman and Paul Van Zule, have developed an online survey for the California Geographic Information Association (CGIA). This 15-minute survey will be sent directly to key stakeholders of 20organizations that have participated in collaborative acquisition of digital aerial imagery, because these individuals have direct knowledge about the process concerning these past acquisitions of regional digital imagery.

The survey is part of a process that includes inventories of selected imagery acquired around the state, focused interviews, and workshops that are intended to reveal best practices for executing successful regional imagery projects. You can read more about it here (PDF).

If you have any questions about the survey or wish to discuss any points in more depth than we have provided for in the survey, please feel free to call Bill Zeman at 650-208-2661 or email him at zeman@speakeasy.net or Paul Van Zuyle at 805-558-0105 or email him at paul@westlakegis.com.

The Phase 2 California GIS Strategic Plan Progress Report

The month of January 2008 offers another opportunity to respond to the final phase of the phase 2 strategic planning process, by participating in an online survey regarding a series of issues that came out of the workshops.

• An Online Forum for Phase 2 Strategic Planning has been developed to obtain your feedback. Please respond as obtaining your feedback is a critical final phase of our project. We invite stakeholders and interested parties to take a look at the questions and respond to those where you have a strong opinion and important evidence to supplement the information collected during the online survey and workshops.
• The Phase 2 Strategic Planning Data Availability Snapshot can now be viewed, both to provide a summary of the Workshop results and to assist you in responding to the Online Forum.
• An overview presentation of the Strategic Planning presentation workshop is now available, for review by both those that could attend one or more workshops and those that could not attend a workshop but not wish to be involved in the Phase 2 Strategic Planning Online Forum.
• Over 100 people participated in seven Workshops. Download summary results here.
  
• The December 2007 Monthly Status Report highlights completed tasks, while summarizing tasks to be completed within the next several months.

Geographic Information Systems: Technology for a Changing Climate
CED (California Environmental Dialogue) releases report on planning for a changing climate. CED, a collaborative effort of California businesses, environmental groups and government agencies, believes that an improved Geographic Information Systems (GIS) toolbox would allow the State to more accurately assess the long-term spatial impacts of climate change on existing infrastructure systems and various infrastructure alternatives. For more information, download the report (PDF).

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CGIA extends a special "Thank You" to the California Resources Agency for their hosting of our web site. This special arrangement reflects the close working relationship that exists between our two organizations and our mutual interests in using geospatial technologies to improve government services.