GITA and NAPSG Announce Partnership

Effective September 2, 2011, the Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITA) and the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) have agreed to, "a partnership to design, develop and conduct educational events to raise awareness of the use of geospatial technologies in the public safety/emergency response sectors and to provide first responders and others with enhanced capabilities for applying geospatial information technologies to emergency/disaster planning, mitigation, response, and recovery."  The first co-sponored event will have GITA contributing to NAPSG’s 2011 East Coast Public Safety GIS Summit, scheduled for November 3-4 in Washington, DC.  Read more.

Comment: This appears to be a truly great development when it comes to the delivery of geospatial technology education and the emergency services sector.

NAPSG got its start in the early 2000's through an ESRI sponsored corporate effort that changed into a nonprofit entity in the recent past.  With that change, an influx of public service connections lead to NASPG becoming an entity primarily focused on delivery of geospatial awareness to the emergency services sector.  GITA on the other hand, was stood up over 25 years ago as a nonprofit educational entity supporting use of geospatial technology in the utility sector.  Based on need in that sector post 9/11, came their efforts to deliver emergency services sector awareness to the geospatial community.  Consequently, the synergy of a combined effort going forward would appear to be significant. 

Disclaimer: Members of the EPC have worked closely with GITA on the delivery of their efforts:

• EPC Chair Steve Swazee, is on the GITA Board of Directors,
• NG 9-1-1 Work Group Chair, Gordon Chinander was a featured panelist at GITA's and OGC's Emerging Technology Summit V: Spatial Law in 2009,
• Members of the EPC have presented on the use of geospatial technology in the emergency services sector at GITA national and regional conferences for the past three years, and
• GITA is actively engaged in promoting the EPC developed Geospatial Emergency Management Specialist (GEMS) training program as a potential national education/certification model.