Guest Blogger: An Intern’s perspective: Learning web GIS through open source technologies.

April 12, 2012

Guest Blogger: Alex Stapleton

Working as an intern with CGIS has shown me first hand just how significant of a role web GIS plays in our business. Specifically, MD iMap comes to mind. Throughout my internship, I have been tasked with updating and creating metadata files for MD iMap; a job that sounds boring, but sparked an interest in me for wanting to learn more about how exactly our maps are put on the web. The problem was that I didn’t know where to begin.

The purpose of writing this blog is to share some insight and resources I recently came across with those who want to become a little more familiar with increasingly popular field of web GIS and web mapping.

With a little guidance and insight from fellow co-workers and TU professors, I was able to get my hands on a few valuable resources for learning the basics of web GIS. These resources include:

The book Web GIS: Principles and Applications is an excellent place to start for learning the essentials of web GIS. This book covers everything from technical basics, to web services, to mashups, to mobile GIS. Additionally, the book covers applications of web GIS in E-government and E-business. In fact, Maryland is even mentioned in a couple chapters in regards to Governor Martin O’Malley’s Maryland StateStat site. This book is a great introduction for those new to web GIS world, and even for those with working experience in GIS. Personally, I found it very useful for understanding the processes of creating web services and other tasks that I help with at CGIS. This book is chalk full of information without being overly technical and an easy read. I highly recommend it!

OpenLayers is a free open source JavaScript library for creating web mapping applications from scratch.  It’s relatively easy to use, all you need to do is throw in a couple links to different web map services from various servers/APIs such as Google Maps, ESRI ArcGIS or Bing Maps and voila, you have yourself a handy dandy web map! Well…okay, so maybe it’s a little more complicated than that, but with the beginners guide by your side, you will be creating web maps in no time.

I mentioned JavaScript, but there’s no need fret if you aren’t familiar with any programming languages. The OpenLayers beginners guide is your friend here and the best part is that it doesn’t require you to have any prior programming experience, which is great if you are someone like me! The book guides you though the whole process of creating web maps in a step-by-step process, and you learn by doing! As the book says, “Less theory, more results”. This is essentially why I chose this book.

Here is a little example of a basic map I created using OpenLayers:


Seems pretty simple right? The other thing about open layers is that it’s completely customizable and requires no special software to run because it’s run on a web browser. This seems like a winning combination if you ask me.

In sum, I have outlined a couple great book and free tools for understanding and creating web mapping applications. Hopefully, this blog will help some of those out there who looking to learn a new skill or two and break into the world of web GIS, or for those who wish to expand upon and leverage the use of Open Source Technologies.  Soon, you’ll be creating web maps and mashups in no time.

Bio
Alex Stapleton joined CGIS in 2011 as a GIS Technician. He works primarily on the community anchor institution data component of the Maryland Broadband Mapping Initiative. He is pursuing a B.S. at Towson University in a combined Sociology and Geography major, with a minor in Geographic Information Systems.

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Strategic Planning 101: Prioritizing Objectives

April 9, 2012

Guest Blogger, Larry Martin

In my previous blog (Strategic Planning 101—taking the first step), strategic objectives were captured from all levels of the organization.  So what do you do with those strategic objectives?  The next task in Strategic Planning is to create a smaller list of no more than ten (10) objectives.  These 10 objectives will be narrowed down even further, creating a “Priority List” of 5 objectives that the organization can begin to implement.

How to do it?
One way to create this “Priority List” is to have all those involved with creating the original list divide into groups.  Then, depending on the number of groups, subdivide the large list of strategic objectives by the number of groups.  Each group will be responsible for reducing their list down to 1 or 2 objectives they feel are important for your organization.  One of the benefits of dividing up the list is that it mixes up the objectives such that a group may not be working on an objective they created.

After the smaller groups have completed their reductions, all the groups will reconvene. With the larger group assembled, the facilitator will lead the discussion, asking each smaller group to provide a reason why an objective should be placed on the “Priority List.”  The group as a whole will come to a consensus as to what objectives will make it to the “Priority List.”

Image credit: David Castillo Dominici

Why do it?
Having ten objectives that are important to the organization is great, but implementing all ten can be overwhelming.  Further narrowing the objectives down to a “Priority List” consisting of three (3) to five (5) objectives will allow your organization to gain success through implementation.

How to make it fun?
Control over the group discussion is critical, so that everyone is given an opportunity to speak without interruption. 

Your facilitator will need to manage and control the discussion in order to reduce the stress of a large group discussion.  This is where the group can have a little FUN.  I have seen sessions where the use of props such as stuffed toys are used to indicate a person has the floor and no one else can speak.  Conversely, I have also seen it where everyone has a stuffed animal and can throw into the center of the room to call the current conversation to a close (or if someone has been talking WAY to long).  The point is, make the discussion fun, light and productive.  You know your organizations culture, work with what you know to make the sessions count.

As external events, market forces, and the economy can change the course of the plan, it is recommended that a Strategic Plan not project any further out than five (5) years.  Also, all of these factors are a good reason to revisit the plan in validating that the objectives remain important and relevant.  If not, update the plan to project out another 5 years.  It is important to remember however not to discard any objective that does not make it to the “Priority List”.  As the organization successfully implements the priority objectives, or external/internal events affect the Strategic Plan, the organization can then decide what remaining objectives to implement next.

Now that we have a Priority List of strategic objectives, we are ready to create the . . . Action Plans.  Action Plans will provide the road map on how objectives will be implemented and the topic for my next blog.  Stay Tuned . . .

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Guest Blogger – Cisco Academies: The World’s Largest 21st Century Classroom

March 19, 2012

Guest Blogger, Nancy Null

Imagine teaching over one million students in over 160 countries how to design, build, troubleshoot and secure computer networks.  The Cisco Networking Academy program operates over ten thousand academies worldwide in secondary, post-secondary, and alternate environments ranging from workforce development programs to prisons.  Towson’s IT Affiliate and Cisco Support and Training Centers, located at the Center for Professional Studies, manage and support over sixty academies throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia, providing technical support and professional development resources.

How is Towson helping Cisco Academies to support educational reform?
Academy curricula are aligned to the STEM National Career Cluster Standards and Common Core Anchor Standards in Language Arts and Mathematical Practices.  This summer, Towson’s Cisco Instructor Training Center will offer a three-day workshop for high school IT instructors in embedding Common Core experiences in IT instruction.  The activities and lessons produced from this workshop will be shared through video and other technologies. Three summer “boot camps” for Cisco instructors to earn A+, CCENT, and CCNA certification will continue to raise the bar on quality instruction.  National and state Common Career Technical Core Standards are due for release over the coming year, and professional development to support them will be a key future project for Towson’s Support and Training Centers.

What’s happening in Maryland’s Cisco Academies?
It’s an exciting time to be a Cisco Academy in Maryland:  in response to Governor O’Malley’s goal to make Maryland the “cyber hub of the nation,” the Maryland State Department of Education has designed a high school career and technology Cyber Security pathway partnering Cisco Academy and CyberWatch curricula.  Students following this pathway can earn up to three industry certifications (A+, CCENT, and Security+) along the way.  This new pathway, along with the two existing Network Engineer and Computer and Network Support pathways, provide Maryland students with a wide range of career and college opportunities.

Six two-year colleges were the first community colleges to be named National Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Information Assurance recently by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Three of the six institutions–Anne Arundel Community College, Hagerstown Community College and Prince Georges Community College—are Maryland Cisco Academies.

What “core beliefs” are driving all of this?
Career and technology programs everywhere need to meet the 21st century learners’ needs and expectations, and meet national goals of graduating secondary school students who are truly prepared for success in both college and career.  Towson’s Cisco Support and Training Centers’ goal is to understand and support what Cisco instructors are doing well, identify areas of need, and give instructors the resources to practice those skills in the classroom.

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated in April, 2011, that, “Once CTE programs deliver on the promise of truly preparing students for success in college and careers, their successes will make a compelling case for further investment.”  Towson is helping to ensure that the world’s largest 21st century classroom can meet that challenge.

Nancy Null is a guest blogger for www.tuoutreach.com .  Nancy closed a 38-year career as a Baltimore County Public Schools educator, and opened a new career as co-director of the Towson University Maryland State Department of Education IT Affiliate, and lead contact for the Towson University Cisco Academy Support Center and Instructor Training Center.

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Strategic Planning 101—taking the first step

February 21, 2012

Guest Blogger, Larry Martin

In her previous blog (It’s all in the Planning, Strategic that is), Dawn Bott started a discussion about Strategic Planning.  She mentioned the use of SWOT analysis as the beginning in order to start to the strategic planning process. Though a SWOT is part of a Strategic Plan, which can be a useful tool, I wanted to talk about the entire process of creating the Strategic Plan.

There is no one way in creating a Strategic Plan. There are many different approaches some can take a year other approaches can take a day.  What is common among them all is the inclusion of the organization at all levels. Strategic Planning is all about feedback and gaining the commitment from the organization’s employees to implement the plan created.

Image Credit: sheelamohan

In creating and implementing a Strategic Plan, by-in and input into the process from all levels of the organization is essential for successful implementation.  It starts by including a good cross section of employees at all levels to determine what is working and what is not.  To make an analogy, the TV show “Under Cover Boss” is a good example.  For those who have not seen the show, the CEO goes under cover for a week to see how their organization is functioning or implementing their goals.  They are disguised so no one will recognize them while they work alongside different employees in different departments over the next 5 days.  In almost all cases, the CEO learns that what he/she has implemented at the upper management level may not actually be the best strategies for improving the organization’s products or service.  And in some cases, what they thought was a good idea, turns out not to be a good idea at all.

So now let’s put this to practical use.  How do you get started?

One of the best ways to start a Strategic Plan is to take this cross section of employees I talked about earlier and move them into a room, preferably off-site to eliminate distractions such as email and phone calls, so they can develop a list of Strategic Objectives.  This process is led by a facilitator who has no connection to the organization and whose first job is to define a Strategic Objective for the group. Strategic Objectives are ideas and suggestions that will improve the organization in one form or another. The facilitator needs to challenge the group in developing these objectives.

Since the gathering of these Strategic Objectives is a brainstorming exercise, they do not need to be in any particular order; it’s just important to capture the ideas on paper.  The Strategic Planning process may end up revealing ways to improve existing products or services and/or ideas for new product and service offerings.   Just remember all of those ideas are captured through feedback from all levels of the organization, not just senior management.

So now that we have the Strategic Objectives, what do we do with them?   Stay tuned . . .

Larry Martin is a guest blogger for www.tuoutreach.com. Larry is a Senior Project Manager with Towson University’s Center for Applied IT.  During his 28 years in the project management field he has managed a wide-range of projects and has guided numerous state agencies and departments through the Strategic Planning process.    

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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Spring Preview

January 2, 2012

Jackie Gratz

Want to know what’s coming up for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s spring 2012 semester?   Attend its Preview of Spring Classes to be held on Thursday, January 19 from 10 a.m. until noon in the Merrick Lecture Hall at Goucher College.  There’s plenty of free parking with a short walk to the Lecture Hall.  At the Preview you’ll see and hear teachers as they give brief presentations of their upcoming courses.  A wide array of courses in the Fine Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences will be offered in spring as well as two book clubs and two film series.   Among the courses are

  • Cosmic Puzzles
  • Russia in Revolution
  • Disease and History
  • Roots of the Blues
  • Jewish Women in the American Labor Movement
  • Physics for Everyday Life
  • Traits of Triumphant Survivors
  • French Wines Demystified
  • and many more

Some of these courses are four-week courses and some are eight-week with all offered during the day.  The spring semester begins on March 5 and ends May 3. View the full list of course offerings.

The Osher Institute offers courses to persons 50 years of age and older, but makes a special offer to Towson University faculty and staff of any age who may join Osher at a reduced rate and take one course each semester without further charge.  If you are reading this blog, you are no doubt still employed and may not have the time to attend even one course.  But please spread the word about the Osher Preview and its upcoming spring semester among the older generations of your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

For more information about the Osher program, visit the Osher website call the office at 410-704-3688.  We’d love to send you a spring 2012 catalog with descriptions of all of the courses being offered and biographical information on the teachers who will teach them.

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Guest Blog: A Time to Give – ArcGIS Online Research Leads to Volunteerism Mapping Application

December 13, 2011

Michael Bentivegna

Doesn’t it seem like the pace of life is getting faster and faster, and that technology is at least supporting this change, if not causing it? With every time-saving productivity gain that technology provides, the expectations for the speed and the amount of work to be completed in any time frame seem to just increase.  Within the field of GIS (Geographic Information Systems), this expectation is being driven by consumers that want to search for and view information in a spatial context (a map). In the world of media mashups, the publishing of new GIS data and applications is expected in a few weeks, if not days, and updates are expected to be nearly instantaneous.

For GIS professionals, Esri’s ArcGIS Online comes to the rescue or further enables this trend (depending upon your perspective). This platform enables the discovery, sharing, and display of GIS data in a free cloud-based software-as-a-service, social GIS ecosystem. In plain speak, it allows you to create map data mashups with great Esri hosted/developed basemaps and lots of national and global scale GIS data. In the past few months, Esri has added the capability to upload basic spreadsheets with address information and other data in GIS formats that are processed and made available through the site. They even offer templates to provide simple applications with functions like search, measure, identify, and social media integration. All of this can be shared within a group of your choosing or out to the greater public, embedded in your website. Exciting stuff!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to dig into ArcGIS Online so I could share the new capabilities to CGIS’s staff in a brown bag lunch, and I am glad I did. Later the very same day, I was in a meeting with the Maryland State Geographic Information Officer (GIO), Barney Krucoff, where we were asked to assist with a hurry-up effort to push information about volunteer locations out to the public for the holidays. After listening to the requirements of rapid and ongoing development of volunteer location data by interns and the need for a simple application to find the sites, I mentioned that this was a perfect project for ArcGIS Online. With the go-ahead given to investigate, I took a draft cut of the volunteer locations that the interns had compiled in Google Docs and within a few hours had the data set up on ArcGIS Online for review. Within a week of data refinement by the interns, investigation of the data update workflow process, and tweaking of the template application, we had the end product mapping application ready to be embedded in Governor O’Malley’s Maryland Stronger Together website. With the site up and running, the interns were trained to edit and update the data using ArcGIS Online tools, and the site was released to the public a few days later. You can see the map under the locate charitable organizations near you link in the website above. This is a great example of success in meeting the new accelerated expectations, and in this case, with free hosting.

I happily followed an interoffice email thread a few weeks after the Maryland Stronger Together site was launched, wherein team members were looking for an organization for DECO to donate food to this year (as we have done for the past several years). Without any prompting on my part, the site was used to find the nearest location to donate. I hope that in this time of need and giving, this tool might make it that much easier for you to find a place to donate to or to volunteer for during this busy holiday season.

View the Maryland Stronger Together map in mobile device.

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Guest Blogger: 2011 CUMU Conference focus on “Creating Tomorrow’s Future Today”

October 17, 2011

Nicole Schiraldi

Towson University is home to the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) Headquarters where I work as the Program Coordinator.  Members of CUMU use the power of their campuses in education, research, and service to enhance the communities in which they are located. Institutions located in metropolitan areas often do not fit the common definition of more traditional colleges and universities. With Bobbie Laur out of the office on maternity leave, I was left to fend for myself at the 17th Annual Conference.  The theme “Creating Tomorrow’s Future Today” focused on urban development and community engagement. This year’s host university location, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), served as the perfect backdrop for a conference.


View From Nicole's Hotel Room

The conference agenda was full of exciting speakers and sessions, but I’d like to share my top 3 conference moments:

  1. Networking.  I have some of the most impressive university presidents in the country on my speed dial.  How many people can say that?  I met many incredibly influential people and networked all day and all night.
  2. Meeting the 2012 Superbowl Chairperson.  Indy is home to the 2012 Superbowl and the Bowl Chairperson, Allison Melangton, was our Opening Plenary speaker.  I am now following their blog and stories of community engagement – some of which are incredibly inspiring.
  3. Visiting the NCAA Hall of Fame.  Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, and former ACE Fellow, was gracious enough to host our conference guests at the NCAA Hall of Fame for a casual dinner and tour.  The Hall of Fame showcases some of the best athletes in college sports.  My favorite part? The quote they live by, “There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and almost all of us will be going pro in something other than sports.”

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Guest Blog: Maryland Stem Cell Research Symposium

September 26, 2011

Dan Gincel

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) has been promoting state-funded research and cures for the past five years. This year, we are partnering with Baltimore County, Stevenson University and Towson University to bring the 4th Annual Stem Cell Research Symposium to Towson University campus on Thursday, October 6, 2011.

The Symposium will feature remarks from policy makers such as Governor Martin O’Malley and Baltimore County Executive, Kevin Kamenetz, on how MSCRF research is creating jobs, expanding opportunities for Maryland graduates and changing the state and regional economy to become hi- and bio-tech driven.

The day will also include an unparalleled opportunity to:

  •  Learn about stem cell ethics issues such as embryonic stem cell dilemmas, animal/human chimeras and other hot topics that are covered in the media.
  • Listen to scientific talks that will cover topics from induced pluripotent stem cells, adult stem cells, clinical trials and many more all being performed right here in Maryland.
  • See 120 plus research posters summarizing years of progress towards finding cures to devastating diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune disease and many more.
  • Join a community of 600 symposium attendees all of whom are passionate about stem cell research and cures.

Please check out our agenda and join Towson’s Interim President, Marcia Welsh, and myself and be part of this great event!

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Guest Blogger: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is great in Maryland, and it just got better!

August 15, 2011
Kenny Miller Headshot

Kenny Miller

GIS is a strategic, core business enabler, and a valuable analysis and communications tool state agencies use in their work with other state resources and the public. GIS mapping products are increasingly integrated in the state’s accountability and business processes, as well as in publicly available applications. Scores of live, dynamic maps–AgPrint, GreenPrint, GrowthPrint, Stream Health, Recovery, Budget, Energy, Broadband, PlanMaryland, and VisitMaryland, to name just a few–are readily accessible through www.maryland.gov.


Virtually all of Maryland’s GIS applications are built on Esri technology platforms and products. Esri is the GIS software leader and has become the state’s de facto GIS standard. Standardizing on Esri GIS enables the state’s agencies and business partners to keep the geospatial train on the same gauge of track, thereby securing the benefits of consolidation, interoperability, and cost efficiency. But this is only part of Maryland’s Esri GIS story. We’ve been working with Esri to forge an Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) that covers widespread GIS software use and support across state agencies and are pleased to announce that on August 10, 2011, the Maryland Board of Public Works approved the contract.

The ELA offers numerous advantages: lower unit cost of Esri software; fixed predictable overall costs over the life of the agreement; flexibility to deploy Esri software products when and where needed; streamlined procurement processes; increased leverage for achieving statewide GIS standards and interoperability; offer of GIS to agencies that otherwise could not afford GIS; and continuous support of the geospatial data and mapping requirements driven by agency and administration initiatives.

The major cost benefit of the ELA is its offer of unlimited use of Esri mainstream software products, upgrades, maintenance, and support for a fixed price. These items are unique and proprietary to Esri and are not available from an alternate source. Besides economizing the anticipated uptick in GIS use by the primary GIS agencies, the ELA encourages smaller or current non-GIS user agencies to start deploying GIS. The increase in deployment of Esri technology throughout state government will lower the unit cost.

The final price of the ELA was negotiated to a level approximately equivalent to current spending for Esri products and support. A nominal annual price escalation is permitted during the life of the contract. There are 56 state agencies and entities named in the ELA, with the option to add others. The fixed contract cost will be distributed to each agency in a proportion to its level of license consumption.

The ELA will become effective September 1, 2011. The Department of Information Technology will be responsible for Esri ELA contract administration, management and oversight, and is currently developing processes and a web presence for requesting and delivering products covered by the ELA.

Kenny Miller has held many leadership positions in Maryland at the Departments of Natural Resources and Information Technology, as well as professional organizations promoting the adoption of GIS technology in the state.

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Guest Blogger: The 2011 Esri International User Conference Experience

July 21, 2011

Ken Juengling

In my role as Project Manager for the Center for GIS, I am involved in many interesting efforts that leverage GIS technology to solve critical issues in today’s ever changing world.  Having just gotten back from the premier GIS conference, the Esri International User Conference, I feel a little overwhelmed – as I do every time I get back – and energized by Jack Dangermond’s plenary session that opened the conference.

Here are a few of my thoughts from the conference, which attracted over 15,000 attendees (about 5,000 were there for the first-time!).

Hopefully, you’ll have the opportunity to attend next year’s User Conference, which happens July 23-27, 2012.


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