2020

• March 26:  Learn What I Learned, Eastern Ontario Regional event:  Donald Gordon Conference Centre, Queen;s University

• March: Cloud Webinar
  

• April 8: Northern Section event, Valhalla Inn, Thunder Bay

• TBA: Western Section Municipal Roundup

• BeSpatial'20 Annual Program event, Executive Forum and EXPO
• May 5-6, 2020:  BeSpatial’20 at the Americana, 8444 Lundy's Lane, Niagara Falls, ON
  

Details coming soon!

BeSpatial poll results on program topic areas of interest

We've heard back and the results are below;

BeSpatial / urisa ontario will be reviewing these topics of interest throughout the year. Your feedback on these program topics and suggestions for new topics is much appreciated! Contact: John

Below are geospatial and Information focused topics identified from our BeSpatial'19 post-event survey:

• Archiving information and digitizing things for future generations. Fun themes like ways of convincing higher ups to buy into a new GIS system or feature.
• ArcGIS Online and ArcPro demos, other municipalities with their mapping process.
• AR, leveraging open source software/ GitHub, municipal uses for LiDAR.
• Banking industry.
• BIM/CIM sessions or workshop.
• Broad swath of speakers that will be working with GIS data (multi-agency dispatchers & responders - OPP, municipal police/fire/paramedics; Bell 9-1-1; CRTC TIF committee; NENA; Esri Canada; dispatch software providers).
• Commercial business as a theme.
• Data and application of GIS with data.
• Education industry.
• Employee Focused Forum.
• Environmental topics, include sessions on emerging industries that will affect and/or collaborate with GIS, such as AI.
• Field Data Collection, Internet Mapping, Methodology/SOP.
• GIS Management sessions or balancing the advanced technology with departmental stability.
• Lessons Learned - more content about mistakes we have made in the past / what are our concerns with the directions we are headed into the future / more information on how to educate public better / more information on how to get council and government on board with implementing new ideas.
• Lidar and drones acquisition.
• Lightning presentations... an hr session with ~5-10 minute presentations showcasing successful GIS projects.
• Open Government Open Data AI/Machine Learning in the spatial world.
• Privacy and data, Future of GIS, Transit / transportation planning, new or soon to release data science tools time saving methods community engagement / partnerships.
• Smart Cities - How/who should be involved in smart cities
• Unconventional/expanded uses of GIS software beyond mapping.
• Utility focused presentations would add interest.
• What’s trending? - impacts on business decisions Artificial Intelligence and Internet of things, for example and from a Geospatial perspective. Also, intelligence driven by information through analytics / Geospatial solutions.
• Webinar or 1/2 Full day session opportunities - Sessions were very high-level due to their short time. Would like to see some longer sessions with more detail offered.

• The themes that all of the survey responders are interested in are as follows:

    *   Integration of linear assets (water/san) with enterprise maintenance management systems

    *   Human resource development to improve data literacy, geomatics and GIS – John Houweling from York Region may have a suggestion on this.  They do this at York Region.

    *   Apps in the Utility Industry – David Brusutti from esri may be able to help

    *   Northern Ontario Mapping, Surveying!  -

    *   Methods around putting GIS in the hands of the users

    *   LiDAR 

    *   Supporting innovation in large organizations.

    *   Managing data in the cloud

    *   NG 911, GIS in the field

    *   Best practices, what others are working on...

    *   Open Data, Web Applications, NG 911

    *   Setting up Enterprise Portal and Sites environment

    *   Open forum on Silos to integration through GIS or EMS and GIS, Agsol, transition to ArcPro