Hot Topics

The Rocket City Geospatial Conference will present a wide range of key topics of local and regional interest. The following list is presented as a guideline for proposed topics of discussion and for anyone interested in submitting a presentation:

• Evolving Directions for Discovery and Access to Geospatial Information
• Visualization and Analysis Tools for Geospatial Decision Support
• Homeland Security: Emergency Preparedness & Response
• Metadata, or lack thereof: "The largest crisis in GIS today"
• North Alabama's Niche in the Geospatial World
• Open Source vs. Open Standards: Clearing up the confusion
• Emerging Technologies: Ubiquitous computing; Sensors Web; GeoRSS; Microsatellites
• Integration of GIS and "Virtual Reality" in Battlefield Management
• Interoperability & OGC Specifications
• Lessons Learned from Katrina - GIS in Action
• Mobile Geospatial Solutions and Field Service Management
• State issues: Data sharing, council formation, etc.
• The future of geospatial technologies as they apply to Alabama and especially Huntsville. Are we going to be a center for geospatial technologies in the future? How can we help ensure that?
• The latest technology in remote sensing, aerial orthophoto, satellite & other sensors (LIDAR, radar imaging, thermal imaging, & passive microwave, etc...)
• Transportation & Utility GIS
• Web Services for Geospatial Information
• Applications of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) - various interesting things going on at the Arsenal in this area
• GIS Certification, Job Classification, Workforce development - Have a jobs board set up at the exhibit hall
• GIS Data Integration (i.e. Intergraph, ESRI, Bentley, and others working together
• Sensor Web Enablement and Implementation
• Social and policy issues relating to privacy in regard location tracking
• Technology transfer from DoD to civilian use
• Partnerships with DoD, SMDC, and other federal agencies
• Airborne Digital Camera Technology for Orthophotography and Photogrammetry
• Airborne LiDAR for Mapping and Geospatial Basemaps
• Alabama GIS, a state-wide consortium, let's get together.
• Environmental GIS: Enterprise-wide applications, Environmental Assessments, and the price of ignoring both
• Examples of cooperative enterprise in GIS, successes, problems, solutions - COGS and other cooperative arrangements