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SpatialNews Press Release
More than 1.5 Million Children and Adults Are
Introduced to GIS
GIS Day 2000 Celebrated in 81 Countries Around the World
Redlands, California-The second annual GIS Day, held November 15, 2000, was once
again a tremendous success with millions of participants worldwide. More than 1.5
million children and adults were introduced to geographic information system (GIS) as
organizations around the globe held events to educate people about GIS and the impact it
has on their everyday lives.
Examples of GIS Day events included open houses, map galleries, software
demonstrations, tours, and hands-on activities. Many of these events expanded on
successful activities held in 1999. Success stories have been pouring in from around the
globe demonstrating that GIS Day 2000 activities had a huge impact on students and the
public worldwide. Here are some examples.
“Everybody can use geographic information systems” was the theme at the Open
House Event at the Department of Geography in Bonn, Germany, on GIS Day. About
100 experts and interested people received an overview of the current status of GIS and
mapping-supported information systems through several presentations, discussions, and
booths of agencies, companies, and consultants throughout the Bonn area.
Sixteen organizations assembled to present GIS-related demonstrations at the historic
Minnesota State Capitol. Lt. Governor Mae Schunk attended along with legislative
representatives, middle school students, and others. More than 100 people visited the
high-tech displays. The past two GIS Day events have been the largest technology
displays ever held at the State Capitol.
In the mid-Atlantic States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, K-12 students
were invited to participate in the GIS Day Conservation Challenge 2000. Sponsors in
each state created a Web site that went live on GIS Day to provide students with a
conservation project description, an Internet map server application that could be used to
help complete the project, and state-specific data sets. Students will work on the project
and submit their completed project via the Internet for judging by the sponsors. Each
school that submits a completed project will get GIS software and data specifically
designed for K-12 students.
More than 1,000 people attended the Canadian Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
(MNR) Peterborough offices' second annual GIS Day on November 14 and 15. Students
from grades 6 to 12 and members of the public came to listen to presentations, view
demonstrations, and interact with staff. Participants were able to digitize maps, test their
geographic knowledge with an online quiz, and create their own flybys and maps. Other
displays included surveying, animal tracking using global positioning system collars,
cartography, remote sensing, and watershed analysis. This was the second year that the
MNR has hosted GIS Day. Last year's event was such a success that school groups had to
be turned away because of lack of space. As a result, this year's event was extended to
two days.
The National Geographic Society, the American Association of Geographers, the U.S.
Geological Survey, the Library of Congress, the University Consortium for Geographic
Information Science, and ESRI commend the thousands of people who worked very hard
to make the second annual GIS Day a success. As the examples listed above are just a
few of the many great events held to celebrate GIS Day 2000, more information is
available from the GIS Day Web site. Visit www.gisday.com and click on Success
Stories. Photos are also available. Next year, GIS Day will be held on Wednesday,
November 14, 2001, during “Geography Awareness Week.”
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