Map Gallery and Special Displays

The Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure (AD-SDI) was activated in 2007 in recognition that more accurate and up-to-date information is needed to keep up with the rapid pace of development in Abu Dhabi Emirate. Originally involving eight government organizations, the AD-SDI now comprises over 50 members involving nearly every sector of Abu Dhabi society. Over the past few years, the AD-SDI focused on the development of a solid technical, legal, and institutional foundation for the coordination and sharing of geospatial information, technology, and services across the stakeholder community. This foundation has provided an environment that has allowed many organizations that were previously constrained by the lack of data and other infrastructure to now implement GIS to meet their own special needs. The leadership of Abu Dhabi has recognized the fundamental significance of GIS and SDI and the "human geointelligence" required to effectively respond to today's modern challenges and is now supporting the development of a comprehensive GeoMaturity program that will ensure that every government organization has the direction and resources needed to optimize the use of GIS and the SDI to improve its own operations.

The Alliance for Public Gardens GIS is a consortium of biological collection managers and GIS professionals who are dedicated to making geographic information systems more accessible to arboreta, botanical gardens, zoos, and other managed landscapes for use in asset management, biodiversity conservation, education, and scientific research.

In addition to their transformative local impacts providing wildlife habitat, improving air and water quality, moderating climate, and increasing property values, public gardens also engage in numerous conservation and education activities that make a global impact. This year's display will educate attendees about the important conservation and education activities that public gardens participate in and showcase the innovative geospatial work of Alliance partners at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Chicago Botanical Garden, Desert Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, Montgomery Botanical Center, and UC Davis Arboretum.

The display will also provide tables and seating for collaborating with colleagues or just taking a break. Please stop by during the Monday night Map Gallery Opening and Evening Reception to speak with members of the Alliance for Public Gardens GIS team about their new GIS Training for Museum Professionals program and Esri's exciting new solutions for public gardens. www.apgg.org

Come see the winning maps of the 40th Annual CaGIS Map Competition. Held each year, the CaGIS Map Competition is one of the most prestigious map contests in the world. Copies of the winning maps are sent to the Library of Congress for posterity. This year's award-winning maps include several incredible atlases, such as one of Yellowstone and another of Mormonism, an illustrated map of Savannah, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and white-nose syndrome. For more information about the competition or to enter next year's contest, please visit www.cartogis.org.

The Direct Relief special display showcases some of the recent activities that Direct Relief has undertaken to fulfill its mission of improving the health and lives of people affected by poverty, disease, or emergency situations. Direct Relief uses GIS and spatial analysis to understand specific public health crises, mobilize resources, and distribute essential medical aid to a global network of nonprofit health centers. In order to meet the highest standards of efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency for all of our donors, Direct Relief also uses interactive web maps to communicate the scope, scale, contents, and precise locations of all medical aid shipments. www.directrelief.org

"Gaia Amazonas is a dream that seeks to regain the full recognition of indigenous communities in the Amazon as peoples and cultures in the modern society and safeguard their environment."—Martin von Hildebrand, Director

The Gaia Amazonas special display showcases the Amazonian inhabitants, their governance, culture, rituals, and sacred places. Gaia seeks an effective exercise in the rights of the Amazonian inhabitants by valuing their traditional knowledge and consolidating areas in coordination with the indigenous authorities and the Colombian government. Gaia promotes environmental and economic sustainability in the Amazonian region and contributes to climate change adaptation. www.gaiaamazonas.org

The Guatemalan Tourism Institute (INGUAT), by its Spanish acronym, is the lead agency and facilitator to promote and encourage sustainable tourism development in Guatemala nationally and internationally.

Our project is a geoportal for official use with tourist maps of Guatemala, designed under Esri architecture, where it promotes geolocation of the main tourist attractions as well as routes and places of interest with compatibility on the desktop, touch screens, and mobile technology, like iPads or smartphones. www.geovisitguatemala.com

Recording artist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist will.i.am created the i.am.angel Foundation, focused on transforming lives through education, inspiration, and opportunity. Of special interest are the Boyle Heights neighborhood in Los Angeles, where he grew up; Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights; and particularly the Math, Science, and Technology Magnet Academy (MSTMA) at Roosevelt. In 2012–13, eleventh graders at MSTMA examined social justice in their linked classes of social studies and English. With support from i.am.angel and Esri, the class investigated 12 different elements of environmental justice locally, using GIS to analyze the community. Some of their work is visible at angelroosevelt.maps.arcgis.com.

Over one billion of the world's poor lack the simple security of legally recognized land rights. Without a recognized deed, title, or lease, these rightful landholders are unable to use their land to gain access to capital. MEDEEM's mission is to provide equitable access to land tenure security. Unlike traditional top-down land programs that often fail to serve the needs of the poor or vulnerable, MEDEEM utilizes a unique, private-sector-led approach to drive change from the bottom up—one parcel at a time. MEDEEM operates on the premise that in order to achieve a truly equitable solution to land tenure security, it must be made affordable and accessible to all segments of society, without sacrificing the quality of the evidentiary documentation or the accuracy of the parcel survey. To achieve this goal, MEDEEM leverages local knowledge with the process efficiency of Esri technology to provide high-quality land rights documentation at an affordable cost. www.medeem.com

The San Diego Regional showcase is a joint effort of the San Diego Regional GIS Council and the Southern California Chapter of URISA. The showcase is a GIS poster competition open to the region's public and private agencies and educational institutions. The area of interest for the competition covers the San Diego and Imperial counties and northern Baja California region. The competition is open to our regional GIS user community. During the Map Gallery opening reception, local GIS professionals will be available to provide GIS-related information as well as insider tips on what to do and see in San Diego.

Solid Terrain Modeling's special display showcases three-dimensional terrain models of the entire Navajo land area created using aerial imagery captured specifically for the Navajo Housing Authority (NHA). When the NHA wanted a safer and more efficient way to build homes on its 27,000 square mile territory, it looked to the past and the future. Blending traditional Navajo values with state-of-the-art imaging, database, and terrain modeling technologies, the NHA's large-scale project includes construction of a centralized data center as part of an overarching data and land management system. The Solid Terrain Models show NHA and Navajo council members exactly what their land looks like in precise, three-dimensional detail, giving them a visual understanding of where they can safely build houses and use the nation's resources more effectively. For more information about Solid Terrain Modeling and the Navajo Housing Authority project, visit www.solidterrainmodeling.com/navajo_housing_authority.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) helps communities across the country protect the places that matter most to them—historic sites, favorite hikes, and iconic views that preserve communities' character and livability. From green-space planning to fund-raising and park design, TPL brings national expertise to local challenges through services that represent the best in conservation strategy and practices.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) helps communities across the country protect the places that matter most to them—historic sites, favorite hikes, and iconic views that preserve communities' character and livability. From green-space planning to fund-raising and park design, TPL brings national expertise to local challenges through services that represent the best in conservation strategy and practices.

The Trust for Public Land ParkScore® index 2.0 was released on June 5, 2013. ParkScore is the most comprehensive rating system ever developed to measure how well the 50 largest US cities are meeting the need for parks. Using The Trust for Public Land's City Park Facts and an advanced GIS model, ParkScore provides in-depth data to guide local park improvement efforts. Its mapping technology identifies which neighborhoods and demographics are underserved by parks and how many people are able to reach a park within a 10-minute walk.

Come visit the TPL special display in the Map Gallery to meet our staff and learn more about Greenprinting, ParkScore, the Conservation Almanac, and National Conservation Easement Database (NCED) and how we are using ArcGIS Online through hands-on demos www.tpl.org.

Understanding the way we live. Through the unifying language of maps, we examine 10 major cities. We compare how people live—from housing and transportation to public services and quality of life. We find patterns in urban growth as we celebrate what it is to be human. We work toward global understanding so that we may plan, play, and create together, making the human experience better for all. Richard Saul Wurman, @radical.media, and Esri give you the Urban Observatory.

URISA's GISCorps coordinates short-term volunteer GIS services to communities in need worldwide. Since October 2003, the Corps has attracted over 3,000 volunteers from 95 countries. To date, GISCorps has deployed over 440 volunteers to 126 missions around the world. These volunteers have contributed over 14,000 working hours in emergency and nonemergency response missions. The special exhibit demonstrates the work of the volunteers.

Come take a look at the DigitalGlobe satellite scenes located in the Ballroom Foyer. Guess the location of these QuickBird and WorldView satellite scenes and prove your geographic knowledge. Complete the entry form with the location (city or place) of each of the 12 scenes displayed. The winner will be the person with the most correct answers. In the event of a tie, one winner will be randomly selected from the pool of those with the most correct answers.

The second Annual Young Scholar Award recognizes the exemplary GIS work of current undergraduate and graduate students at international universities. There is only one award winner per country. Winning entries are selected by a university panel formed by Esri's distributor in the recipient's respective country.

Youth and students engaged in citizen science and service-learning projects that integrate Esri's ArcGIS technology are making a positive difference in their communities. Young people become participating citizens as they identify and evaluate community needs while working side by side with community professionals to plan, develop, and implement community projects. They in turn are empowered to be involved in community change as they engage GIS technology in their learning; develop leadership skills; and take their places as valuable, decision-making members of their communities. Youth in school and after-school programs are learning to do more than become technology consumers; they are learning to be robust technology creators and developers for contributing to the sustainability and continued growth of technology in the world. Visit the Youth Community GIS display to meet with tomorrow's leaders, learn how they are using Esri's technology in their community today, and see how youth in your community can get started.