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GIS Day

Fairfax County Celebrates GIS Day!

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What is GIS Day?
GIS Day 2012 Wrap Up
Past GIS Day Photos & Award Winners

What is GIS Day?

GIS Day is a global event during which GIS (Geographic Information Systems) users work to expand the understanding of how GIS technology and geography make a difference in our lives. GIS, a computer-based tool used to map and analyze features and events, combines the power of a database with the visualization capabilities offered by maps. Hundreds of thousands of people in the world use GIS to solve problems in areas such as environmental protection, pollution, health care, land use, asset deployment and routing, natural resources, conservation, business efficiency, education and social inequities.

Fairfax County has been hosting GIS Day events since 1999. You can see a photos and GIS Award winners for the 2012, as well as that of the previous GIS Days at the County.

To learn more about other GIS Day events, visit the official national GIS Day web site.

GIS Day 2012 in Fairfax County

During the week of November 12-16^th, the Department of Information Technology’s GIS & Mapping Services Branch hosted the County’s 14^th annual GIS Day Celebrations.

See photos, award-winning projects, and the awards ceremony program.

GIS Excellence Awards

Sharing a common geography yet diverse business practices, Fairfax County’s GIS professionals provide the skills and efforts that result in unique spatial perspectives, and analyses that assist their business areas, decision makers and the public.

GIS Day provides an opportunity to recognize effective and creative use of spatial tools to better serve agencies and constituents. This culminates in the presentation of the GIS Excellence awards.

For GIS Day 2012, Vice Chairman Penny Gross, Department of Information Technology Director Wanda Gibson, Enterprise Systems Division Director Gordon Jarratt and GIS Manager Tom Conry addressed the audience and presented awards in 8 categories. Congratulations to all the winners!

Award Category Project/Map Recipient(s) Name(s) Department

Best GIS Cartographic Product/Presentation First Place Use of ArcMap Transparency versus Adobe Layers Katherine Good Fire and Rescue Department

Second Place Branch Chief Responsibility Areas Daniel White Department of Planning and Zoning

Third Place The National Capital Region – Incident Management Team’s Assistance to the City of Alexandria’s Fire Department Line of Duty Death Eric K. Fisher, National Capital Region - Incident ManagementAdrian Joye Fire and Rescue Department

Best Use of GIS for Analysis First Place
Reston-Dulles Corridor Study

Katherine Good

Fire and Rescue Department

Second Place
Riverbend Master Plan Revision

Andy Galusha, Sandy Stallman, Jay Rauschenbach, Todd Brown, Marty Smith, John Callow, Karen Sheffield, Wayne Brissey, Kristen Sinclair, Aimee Wells

Fairfax County Park Authority

Third Place
Governor's Exceptional Medically Underserved PopulationMedically Underserved Population Assessment

Adrian Joye, Sherryn Craig, Chris Stevens, Rosalyn Foroobar

Health Department, Environmental Health Division

Best Use of GIS on the Web The Department of Planning and Zoning Map Portal/DPZ Public Website
Greg Chase, Allison Clark, Harry Rado, Daniel White

Department of Planning and Zoning

Best Use of GIS for Public Outreach
Planning & Zoning JavaScript Viewer

Daniel White, Greg Chase, Allison Clark

Department of Planning and Zoning

Most Significant Data Contributor
FCPD Generator Deployments, July 29 derecho

Brandi Horita

Fairfax County Police Department, Operation Services Branch

Best GIS Integration or Application Development
GIS Verizon Buildout Tool

Rick Ellrod, Praveen Tewari, Allan Hide, Scotty Scott

Department of Cable and Communication Services

Most Significant Progress
Daily Integration of GIS in Land Survey Branch

Yilia Vega-Claudio, Susan Sheviak, Vickie McEntire, Chris Jensen

Department of Public Works and Environmental Services - Land Survey Branch

People’s Choice Award for Best Map
Fairfax County Comprehensive Land Use Plan Map

Harry Rado, Meghan Van Dam, Sandi Beaulieu, Linda Blank, Lilian Cerdeira, Greg Chase, Chris Havlicek, Noel Kaplan, Aaron Klibaner, Kim Rybold, Laurie Turkawski

Department of Planning and Zoning

Winning entries are described in the awards program and can be viewed in a slide show.

Gallery of Maps

Project submissions for the GIS Excellence Awards competition were on display all week. Additionally, the GIS and Mapping Services Branch hosted a reception in front of the Map Gallery before the GIS Excellence Awards ceremony.

Representatives from many of the county agencies that utilize GIS stopped by to interact with their colleagues, peruse the Map Gallery, and cast a vote for the Peoples' Choice Award for Best Map.

Past GIS Days in Fairfax County

GIS Day 1999	GIS Day 2002	GIS Day 2005	GIS Day 2008	GIS Day 2011
Photos Awards	Photos Awards	Photos Awards	Photos Awards	Photos Awards Winners
GIS Day 2000	GIS Day 2003	GIS Day 2006	GIS Day 2009	GIS Day 2012
Photos Awards	Photos Awards	Photos Awards	Photos Awards Winners	Photos Awards Winners
GIS Day 2001	GIS Day 2004	GIS Day 2007	GIS Day 2010
Photos Awards	Photos Awards	Photos Awards	Photos Awards Winners

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