On June 6, 2005, the British Columbia Chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA BC) hosted a one day seminar entitled:

Taking GIS to the Public

Date: June 6, 2005
Time: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: Hilton Vancouver Metrotown 6083 MacKay Avenue, Burnaby, BC

The purpose of the one-day seminar was to showcase how GIS and other technologies are being used for public participation and in emergency situations. The seminar was made up of two tracks: GIS for Public and Emergency Response.

GIS for Public: GIS for the Public was the topic of the first five presentations of the day. Two municipal presentations focused on how GIS is used to enhance other municipal web-based applications. These were followed by two provincial and one NGO presentations on publicly-accessible land and map repositories. Attendees were able to gather a number of ideas about how GIS can play a role in disseminating a variety of forms of information. The underlying data and technology used were highlighted.

GIS and Emergency Response: GIS and Emergency Response was the topic for the final three presentations of the day. The presenters brought several different perspectives from provincial, municipal, and private sectors. Again, participants were exposed to a variety of uses of GIS and mapping technologies, all focused on improving our ability to respond to emergency situations of different types.