|
back
First Panel: Using GIS to Achieve a Sustainable Society
Keynote Speaker:
Jack Dangermond, ESRI, Inc., Harvard MLA '69.
This presentation is a homecoming for Jack Dangermond, founder
and president of ESRI, Inc. He attended the Harvard School of
Design and graduated with a Masters of Landscape Architecture
in 1969. That year, he founded ESRI, which has become the largest
GIS-focused research and development organization worldwide, with
2,600 staff members and 2001 revenues of $427 million. ESRI's
GIS software products, such as ArcInfo and ArcGIS, are used by
more than 300,000 organizations around the world.
The Harvard GIS User Group is extremely honored that Jack Dangermond
will deliver the keynote speach at the first GIS Day Symposium
at Harvard University. Students and reseachers will have the opportunity
to hear the vision of one of GIS's pioneers and become inspired
by his actions and thoughts.
In September 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa, world leaders
at the World Summit on Sustainable Development declared the following
in their "Plan of Implementation":
". . . Promote the development and wider use of earth
observation technologies, including satellite remote sensing,
global mapping, and geographic information systems, to collect
quality data on environmental impacts, land use, and land-use
changes, including through urgent actions at all levels to: strengthen
cooperation and coordination among global observing systems and
research programmes . . . , develop information systems that make
the sharing of valuable data possible . . . , encourage initiatives
and partnerships for global mapping . . . , collect data that
are accurate, long-term, consistent, and reliable . . . , use
satellite and remote-sensing technologies for data collection
and further improvement of ground-based observations . . . , access,
explore, and use geographic information by utilizing technologies
of satellite remote sensing, satellite global positioning, mapping,
and geographic information systems."
A panel of Harvard professors will explore whether GIS technology
(broadly considered GPS, Geographic Information Systems, aerial
photography and remote sensing) is one of our best "Weapons
of Mass Salvation," or whether it is another technology that
will become obsolete in a five-year life cycle. The panelists
will use the statement from the Plan of Implementation as a starting
point for a discussion of the potential for GIS in achieving a
sustainable society. The panelists will describe the activities
at Harvard University in applying GIS technology to different
disciplines and to its own operations. They will also explore
what role an academic institution such as Harvard may play in
developing GIS technology to achieve a sustainable society. In
partuclar, Professor Calestous Juma will discuss the report from
the National Research Council of the National Academies, titled
"Down To Earth -- Geographic Information for Sustainable
Development in Africa." The report, just published, summarizes
the importance and applicability of geographic data for sustainable
dvelopment. Geographic data are described as data that "describes
spatial variation across the landscape at a variety of scales
(local, national, global) and include such element as climate,
elevation, soil, vegetation, population land use, and economic
activitiy." Few copies of the report will be available
to interested attendees.
|