Happy GIS Day; Know about GIS day: 14 th November, 2018
GIS Day is an annual event celebrating the technology of geographic information systems (GIS) that was initiated by spatial analytics world-leader Esri, and which first took place in 1999. Esri president and co-founder Jack Dangermond credits Ralph Nader with being the person who inspired the creation of GIS Day. He considered the event a good initiative for people to learn about geography and the many uses of GIS. He wanted GIS Day to be a grassroots effort and open to everyone to participate.
Every year, people from around the world celebrate GIS Day.
In 2018, it’s scheduled for Wednesday, November 14, 2018.
But what exactly is GIS day? What are some ideas for GIS Day?
The first GIS Day was held on November 19, 1999 (Geography Awareness Week - November 14-20, 1999)
Let’s adventure into the one day of the year dedicated to the emerging technology of Geographic Information Systems.
What is GIS Day?
GIS Day is a worldwide event that celebrates the technology of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Ralph Nader inspired GIS Day as a day for geography awareness.
But it was actually the National Geographic Society, Association of American Geographers (AAG) and Esri, who really put the day into action on November 19, 1999.
More specifically, it was the National Geographic Society who organized Geography Awareness Week each November in 1987. Since then within that week of geo-literacy, GIS Day typically occurs.
Geo-inspiration for GIS Day 2018
In short, GIS is the technology that best understands ‘where’. In other words, GIS can capture, display and analyze location data to help make powerful decisions.
For example, GIS helps understand where best to build a wind farm, predict areas of flooding or plan the most efficient bus route.
There are hundreds of fun activities that you can do on GIS Day in 2018:
GEOCACHING – Pull out your GPS or phone because it’s time to go geocaching. This is a fun activity that you can include anyone where you track down treasures.
OPEN STREET MAP – The Open Street Map movement has the power to move mountains (literally). Join the Open Street Map team, and map out your part of the world. Who knows, you could even learn something new about it.
SATELLITE VIEWING – Silently, satellites orbit our Earth for a range of remote sensing applications & uses. If you don’t have a telescope, then you can use your phone as a satellite augmented reality app. Point it to the sky and discover new satellites.
GOOGLE EARTH – Who doesn’t like to spin the globe in Google Earth? Now, the location-based application built by Google lets you tour the world without physically being there.
ESRI STORY MAP – Whatever it is that you decide to do on GIS Day, tweet it for the world to see. Of course, Esri will add it to their GIS Day story map to see where and how many are involved in the celebration. Alternatively, find the closest GIS Day event from you.
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