GIS professionals from across northwest and north central Minnesota converged May 5th on the Beltrami County Administration Building in Bemidji for the NW-NC Minnesota GIS User Group. Agencies represented included local governments, private industries, utilities, the forestry service, emergency response, academic, and state offices, with the shared purpose of promoting GIS in the area. Attendees discussed and learned about new technologies, methods and techniques, trends and challenges, and the state of GIS in Minnesota.
Presentation topics included:
- Avenza, ArcGIS Online applications, and QGIS – Darryl Holman, US Forest Service
- Collector and Trimble GPS receivers – Henry Wander, Ottertail Power
- Collector applications – Katie Rossman, Dept. Of Natural Resources
- Survey123 for ArcGIS and workflow assessment – Kyle Wikstrom, Pro-West & Associates, Inc.
- Land management applications – Jesse Adams, North Point Geographic Solutions
- ArcGIS Online applications and conferences – Jane Mueller, Beltrami County
Minnesota Chief Geospatial Information Officer, Dan Ross, gave an update on GIS projects at the state level. These included the Master Contract Program for Aerial Imagery, the Geospatial Commons, Next Generation 9-1-1, drainage records modernization, and statewide parcels, centerline and address point initiatives.
Jane Mueller from Beltrami County demonstrated the County's new one-stop page for GIS maps and apps and how the county is using ArcGIS Online to manage its land information and deploy GIS across the organization. This page and its geospatial apps were developed by Pro-West & Associates, with new applications added regularly. It is available at the Beltrami County Interactive Maps gallery.
The future of the User Group was also addressed, with a needs assessment to identify important topics for future meetings. Users were interested in discussing data standards, public domain data, drones in remote sensing, and user round tables.
Catch Pro-West at a number of other upcoming events, which we're proud to support:
- May 19 – MN GIS/LIS Spring Workshops at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities where Kyle Wikstrom will also be hosting the workshop "Getting Up to Speed with ArcGIS Online". Remote locations include UMN Duluth, MSU Moorhead, and St. Mary's University.
- June 20 – ArcGIS Online Intro Workshop for K12 Teachers in Bemidji. Kyle Wikstrom will also be instructing this workshop. Contact Scott Freburg at 651-582-8789 or scott.freburg@state.mn.us for more information.
- October 26-28 – MN GIS/LIS Conference in Duluth.
- 2017 – October 4-6 – The MN GIS/LIS Conference is coming to Bemidji! Contact Jane Mueller at 218-333-8457 or jane.mueller@co.beltrami.mn.us if you are interested in helping with the conference.
Pro-West is proud to be a part of the NW-NC Minnesota GIS User Group and the MN GIS/LIS Consortium, and looks forward to participating in future events.