Workshops

We will be having half day workshops on Monday April 19th, 2010.
Workshops are from 8-noon & 1-5pm. Box lunches provided Noon - 1pm.

Morning Sessions:

Afternoon Sessions:

Developing with the Silverlight API in ArcGIS Server 9.3.1

Tim Weisenburger - Solutions Engineer, ESRI

The Silverlight API for ArcGIS Server allows web developers to embed maps and spatial functionality into their new and existing web applications. This workshop covers some best practices in creating Silverlight-based web mapping applications that follow the web map 2.0 concepts of fast, easy to use, modern looking, designed for the end user and have specific targeted themes of information. Attendees will explore the programming and configuring aspects of the Silverlight API and learn to implement spatial functionality like Mapping, Geocoding, Networking and Geoprocessing tools. We will also explore samples and online resources that are available for getting up to speed with this latest technology from ESRI.
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Using A Free and Open Source Geospatial Stack

Mike Pumphrey - Outreach Engineer, OpenGeo

Learn how to use a geospatial stack featuring free, open source, and standards-compliant software. Starting with shapefiles, a spatial database will be created using PostGIS, a robust object-relational database system. The data will then be served with GeoServer using OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) protocols. Mention will be given to basic styling, as well as map composition. Map serving will be optimized via GeoWebCache, a tile-caching server, and finally displayed using OpenLayers, a popular JavaScript library for web mapping.

Prior GIS experience is helpful but not required. Enthusiasm for GIS and web mapping is a must (but will be provided regardless).
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Building an Return on investment (ROI)-based Enterprise GIS Strategic Plans & Business Case

Craig Rintoul - PA Consulting Group

Objective: The objective of this workshop is to provide sufficient insight, structure, templates and examples to allow attendees to build their own robust ROI-driven Enterprise GIS Strategy, Business Case & Implementation Roadmap. Relevant for new or mature GIS implementations, it is based upon the methodology described in the book: Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach that was co-authored by ESRI Inc. and PA Consulting Group, the originators of this successful methodology.

This seminar is targeted at GIS advocates who are seeking to:

  • Compete to secure an appropriate share of IT-related budget for geospatial initiatives
  • Prove the real value of a GIS-related investment using quantitative measures
  • Prioritize GIS-related investments based on the value delivered to the business
  • Decompose complex GIS programs into manageable components
  • Deliver a growing portfolio of complex GIS-enabled initiatives
  • Deliver a visible and tangible impact to their organization, not just delivering project milestones.

The workshop also provides the materials, tools and templates that allow attendees to put the insights gained on this workshop into practice at their own organization.

Background: GIS advocates have known for years that geospatial technology in the office and in the field can play a significant role in helping an organization improve its business operations, meet its regulatory obligations, improve the customer experience and support cost containment objectives. However, determining the scale and pace of investment in geospatial technologies to maximize their return on investment (ROI) has not been so easy. In response, PA Consulting Group teamed with ESRI Inc to publish "Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach" (2008) (www.esri.com/roi) to provide the know-how and tools for GIS professionals to build robust quantitative business cases and multi-year strategic plans specific to Enterprise GIS.

Topics: The workshop is comprised of three sessions that build upon each other:

  • Understanding the Framework - In this session we provide an overview of the ROI framework, tools and concepts related to strategy planning, budgeting, benefits modeling and calculating ROI. We outline a ten-step approach which you can use to help prepare for and navigate the entire program: from your budget planning process through to implementation, with supporting tools, templates and models
  • Business Opportunities & Prioritization - During this session, we provide insight on how to determine and prioritize the types of projects and activities that will deliver the most tangible value to your organization. We also review program governance and GIS organizational design issues as these are an important consideration to ensure you can successfully deliver the required value through your GIS program
  • Building a Multi-year Budget, Modeling Benefits Quantitatively & ROI - Building upon the previous two sessions, this session will focus on methods and approaches to modeling capital and operational multi-year budgets. Specifically, we will explore strategies and tools for modeling quantifiable benefits, culminating in the calculation of ROI metrics such as Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Discounted-Payback etc.

Outcomes / Take Aways: To introduce attendees to the accumulated best practice encapsulated in a s GIS ROI Methodology so that they can successfully employ the tools and insights embodied in the methodology to develop successful Enterprise GIS Strategic Plans, Business Cases and Implementation Roadmaps.

Instructor: Craig Rintoul PA Consulting Group
Craig Rintoul is recognized as an industry leader in public and private organizations on technology-enabled business solutions addressing strategic and operational issues. He is an experienced PMP® certified project manager with strong delivery capability. As a leader in the US of PA's IT Strategy and IT business case (ROI) methodology Craig's key strengths lie in quantifying the business benefits, building consensus, designing implementation programs and helping clients optimize their IT program/project delivery. Recently Craig led a number of engagements for a US based electric utility from strategy formulation through to selection and procurement of an ERP (SAP for Utilities). Craig leads PA's IT Strategy & Business Case service in North America and regularly presents both to conferences and training on this topic
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Python Scripting for Map Automation in ArcGIS 10

Jeff Barrette - Software Development Team Product Engineer, ESRI

ArcGIS 10 introduces the ability to automate mapping tasks through a new Python mapping module. This hand-on session will provide an overview of the arcpy.mapping module and will demonstrate how it can be used to process MXD documents, map layers, data frames, and layouts in batch without having to learn the complexities of ArcObjects. Printing and exporting map documents and creation of PDF map books via Python will be covered, as will creation of script tools that can be used in an interactive ArcMap session. Attendees will be introduced to the best resources and fastest ways to start writing their own mapping scripts in ArcGIS 10 as well as understanding how Python development fits within the ArcGIS scripting/customization framework. Limit 40 participants, two per laptop.
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Open Source Tools for Spatial Analysis and Geoprocessing on the Desktop

Karsten Vennemann - Terra GIS Ltd. and the "Cascadia Users of Geospatial Open Source" group

A general introduction and overview about the tools covered in this workshop will be followed by examples illustrating the use of desktop utilities based on the OGR/GDAL libraries, PostGIS ("the" open source spatial database) and gvSIG (a desktop GIS) for spatial analysis and geoprocessing.

The workshop consists of the following three parts (with 15 minute breaks in between sessions):

  1. Introduction to Free and Open Source GIS Tools on the Desktop
    60 minutes, presentation style
    Objective: Participants will get a short introduction to the world of Free and Open Source Geospatial (FOSS4G) and about the specific OS tools used in this workshop and their capabilities: OGR/GDAL, gvSIG, and PostGIS.

  2. Examples for Spatial Analysis and Geoprocessing using OGR/GDAL, gvSIG, and PostGIS.
    90 minutes, presentation style and a lot of live examples, participants can follow some demos "hands-on" using the live CD.
    Objective: Examples of how to use OS tools for Spatial Analysis and Geoprocessing. This session covers 3 parts:

    1. Using the Open GIS Simple Feature Reference Implementation and Geospatial Data Abstraction Libraries (OGR/GDAL) and other desktop utilities to manipulate vector and raster data sources.
    2. Using the desktop GIS gvSIG and the Sextante extension for your geoprocessing and spatial analysis needs. gvSIG is a powerful desktop GIS and together with the Sextante extension cam be used for comprehensive GIS tasks and image analysis. This combined gvSIG/Sextante system includes more than 220 geospatial analysis functions (for raster and vector data), some of which will be explored in this session.
    3. Using the open source spatial database PostGIS (based on PostgreSQL) for geoprocessing is another highly effective and powerful way to do spatial analysis. Because PostGIS exposes it's functionality directly to SQL many tasks can be performed by simply writing spatial SQL queries or functions.
  3. Using OS tools for your everyday Spatial Analysis and Geoprocessing Tasks
    60 minutes, presentation style and a lot of live examples, participants can follow some demos "hands-on" using the live CD.
    Objective: To illustrate the capabilities of the tools and their use in real world situations and for your day to day geospatial processing tasks. In short this session covers more examples of how to put our PS tools to work.
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Installing, Configuring, and Using an SDE SQL Server Express GeoDatabase

Bruce Kessler - Kesler GIS

ESRI provides Microsoft® SQL Server® Express Edition with Advanced Services and enables it to store ArcSDE® GeoDatabases with ArcEditorTM and ArcInfo® licensing. This capability is somewhat hidden from the typical install as it dos not happen automatically. Attendees will be introduced to the topic and shown an installation of SQL Server Express software including installation of ArcSDE for SQL Server Express. A GeoDatabase will be constructed using a sample schema from a small local government. Finally using the GeoDatabase in a versioned environment will be demonstrated.
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