GIS in the Cloud

From the private to the public sector, organizations are quickly making the transition to the cloud to streamline processes and reduce costs. The cloud is also becoming increasingly more important for GIS professionals. This is because cloud computing offers an alternative to traditional methods of consuming GIS services, allowing consumers to access GIS maps and tools anywhere, and at anytime. Moreover, it’s a win-win for reducing costs and IT resources because cloud infrastructure allows GIS users to increase their computing power without increasing their local IT infrastructures.

While this space is still rather new, some agencies are already seeing the benefits of using GIS in the cloud. To share their lessons learned and discuss the newest functionality of GIS in the cloud, Esri is bringing together two organizations at their annual Federal GIS Conference for a session, “Creating GIS Functionality in a Cloud Environment.” The organizations include:

Department of Education: In early 2012, DoE migrated its School District Demographic Data System from ArcGIS Servers to Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud. Now, the data system is publicly available and allows access to information about demographics, social characteristics, and economics of children and school districts. Around the same time, DoE created a new data model for publishing school boundaries using Esri ArcGIS 10.1. Speakers will share best practices for planning, dealing with security requirements, and their future plans for DoE in the cloud.

Coast Guard: Coast Guard One View is an effort to converge functionality from a number of disparate systems to a common Interactive Environment. The hope is to improve the user experience by standardizing functionality and user interface so the public is opening one map or data set instead of five.

The Esri Federal GIS Conference is the place to gain the expertise you need to leverage GIS technology. With more than 100 sessions, you will learn valuable technical skills and management insights to help you succeed in the years to come. The best part? Federal employees attend for free. Below is a bit more about the event taking place February 25-27 in Washington, D.C.

• Sessions include: technical sessions led by experts, user sessions focused on case studies and best practices, and Federal DevGeo sessions just for developers
• New ArcGIS for National Government sessions showcasing Esri’s comprehensive government solutions
• The Federal GIS Solutions EXPO featuring products and services from over 70 government solution providers
• Social events where you can collaborate with federal leaders, GIS professionals, and Esri staff

You can learn more and register here.