The Indiana GIS Community Honors Jill Saligoe-Simmel

The first-ever David C. Ford Special Achievement Award was presented by the Indiana Geographic Information Council (IGIC) to Dr. Jill Saligoe-Simmel at the recent 2009 Indiana GIS Conference.

The Ford Award is presented in honor of Indiana State Senator David C. Ford (1949-2008), a legislative champion of GIS Coordination. It is given:

...to an individual or organization for exemplary service, dedication, and accomplishment in coordinating Indiana GIS through dissemination of data and data products, education and outreach, adoption of standards, building partnerships, and advancing the “Indiana-Map.”

Jill Saligoe-Simmell, a former member of the NSGIC Board of Directors, helped shepherd the IGIC from dream to reality. She is a past winner of the NSGIC Outstanding Service Award (2006).

Another Ford Special Achievement Award was presented to University Information Technology Services (UITS) at Indiana University. They are the first organization to receive this award.

GIS Inventory 2.0 now available

The GIS Inventory received a major update on the night of October 13th. Most noticeable are some nicely-crafted cosmetic changes to the layout and status maps visible when you first visit the site, but the updates go much deeper.

According to an announcement yesterday from the GIS Inventory Team, more subtle changes built into the system will make life easier as you document your systems, policies, and data. Another major addition includes a more powerful search tool located on the "Data Layers" tab.

Some other highlights include:

• Improved system speed and responsiveness
• An improved help system
• Style changes to make data entry easier and more logical
• Information banners that can be inserted by state administrators for newsworthy items
  

The list of updates goes on, but hey, why don't you just check it out for yourself at http://gisinventory.net/!

Formerly known as "Ramona," the GIS Inventory is produced by the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) as a tool for states and their partners. Its primary purpose is to track the status of GIS in state and local government to aid the planning and building of spatial data infrastructures.