Welcome to the CFGIS blog. If you are wondering what the CFGIS blog is and what type of topics we will be talking about then I have great news, I am going to tell you all about it.
First what is the CFGIS blog and why have we decided to bring it to you in a blog format? As you probably know CFGIS was created to coordinate, integrate and support the Central Florida GIS community. But why a blog?
In today's culture, social media is emerging as a great tool for professionals to come together and discuss issues and as technology continues to change, coordination and support becomes even more critical especially in the GIS community, we are creating this blog to facilitate conversations about technologies, management strategies, and articles that are important to the Central Florida GIS community.
The key piece of this blog is to facilitate conversations, we want your comments and input on the discussions. We want to create an environment for those in the CFGIS community to discuss topics and potentially assist one another, helping all of us improve through collaboration our individual programs and strengthen the overall GIS community. So don't be shy about contributing your experiences, knowledge, or concerns.
The second piece is the type of topics that the CFGIS blog will feature? The answer is simple, the blog will discuss all topics that relate to GIS and the CFGIS community. This blog is meant to be a living breathing creature, the amount of discussion generated around a particular topic will likely drive whether those types of topics continue to be brought forward for discussion or not.
In closing we hope that you find this blog to be meaningful and are very happy to be adding another great resource to our CFGIS community.
I'll start with the first comment. You may recall that a notice went out last September regarding Ocoee's plan to issue an RFP for LiDAR data collection. After the RFP was issued in October, the Florida Surveying & Mapping Society (FSMS) threatened to sue the city for not requiring all the work to be done by a Florida-licensed surveyor. Since two city attorneys had indicated a contrary opinion, I submitted a Petition for Declaratory Statement to the Florida Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers to answer the question. I also posed other related questions, such as who can do what with GIS, GPS, and photogrammetry technologies.
ReplyDeleteThe hearing on this petition will be in Tallahassee on February 3 at 8:30 am. FSMS had filed a notice to intervene and has been joined by MAPPS. They appear to believe that everything involving spatial data requires a Florida surveying license. If the Board agrees with them, then our profession may be officially eliminated in Florida.
To date, no GIS person has shown any interest in this issue. Some professional associations have specifically avoided making any statement since some of their members work for engineering and surveying companies. I submit that this is an important issue for us all to consider, whatever our personal position may be, pro or con. What do you think?
Contact me for more information.
Al Butler, abutler@mpzero.com