Esri Italia hosted the Sixth Annual Esri Italian User Conference, April 10-11, 2003, in Rome, Italy. The event was attended by approximately 1,500 users. The theme this year was "e.geography: GIS and Society."

Many GIS users are now evaluating how information and communication technologies affect values and improve the quality of life. In this vein, the conference addressed how societal traditions are affected by e.geography and whether territorial processes are enriched or made worse by the progress of information and communication technology.

The plenary session featured a videoconference with Jack Dangermond, Esri president, who talked about his vision for Esri technology and recent software innovations. Users could then choose between sessions focused on industries or technology. The industry sessions included subjects such as environmental protection, agriculture and natural resources, cultural heritage, geostatistics, info mobility, geomarketing, public services, and utilities.

The conference included a workshop on GIS as an instrument for solving problems; one track was dedicated to Esri technology news, and the other showed how GIS technology is used effectively in various segments of industry such as utilities, transportation, and location-based services.

To emphasize the importance of GIS training, Esri Italia organized two free courses: Publishing Geographic Data on the Internet with ArcIMS and Mobile Geographic Information with ArcPad.

Approximately 25 sponsors contributed to the event this year including five gold sponsors: HP, IBM, NAVTECH, Tele Atlas/TomTom, and Telespazio. All of these companies interacted with users in the exhibition area, showing how GIS technology could enrich their offerings.

For more information, contact Esri Italia (e-mail: info@esriitalia.it, Web: www. esriitalia.com).