UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Rural communities and smaller municipalities looking to manage their affairs like the larger cities will get a helping hand when Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Geospatial Innovations in America and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania cosponsor the second annual Geographic Information Systems for Local Government Conference, Oct. 27-29 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel at University Park.

The conference, presented by the Geospatial Technology Program of Penn State Cooperative Extension, will address the growing capabilities of geographic information systems (GIS), which use satellite data and computers to support such services as parcel mapping, enhanced 9-1-1 systems, planning, economic development and growth management. More accessible computers and software are giving smaller municipalities capabilities once available only to larger cities, says Leah Wasser, extension assistant in the Geospatial Technology Program. But, after 30 years of GIS technology, she explains, some rural communities still are having trouble getting started.

"Some counties have dedicated staff constantly updating their databases, where others don't have any at all," she says. "In a lot of cases, the reason they haven't begun implementing 9-1-1 or compiling data is that they simply don't have adequate funding, staff or technical expertise. This conference will help them devise strategies for getting funding and to make connections with cooperative extension to gain support for beginning this process.

"For the counties and municipalities that have a strong GIS program already implemented, there are new and emerging technologies, such as new ways of using GIS and new software packages that even allow townships to take a development proposal, digitize it and simulate a 'photo-realistic' view of the development even though it hasn't been built yet -- how it will impact water and sewage use and infrastructure that might need to be in place to support that development."

The conference will expose township supervisors, county commissioners, planners and others to the new ideas and uses that the technologies generate, and provide a forum to exchange ideas and knowledge to address common issues. This year's partnership with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania will broaden the scope of the conference to address urban sprawl and land development, and GIS management and implementation issues. The event also will provide a number of technical workshops on emerging technologies.

Wednesday will be devoted to technical-training workshops tailored to beginning and intermediate GIS users. On Thursday and Friday, conference sessions will include:

--GIS implementation and management issues --Using GIS for county and municipal comprehensive planning --Funding, grants and return-on-investment issues

--9-1-1 readdressing and emergency management --parcel mapping and land information systems

Registrations will be accepted until Oct. 13. For registration fees and other information, contact Penn State's Office of Conferences and Short Courses by phone at 814-865-8301 or toll-free at 877-778-2937 or by e-mail at http://conferences.cas.psu.edu.

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Writer/Editor: Gary Abdullah Office 814-863-2708 FAX 814-863-9877