shrug-l: Announcing the National Geospatial Technology Center

Tripp Corbin tcorbin at keckwood.com
Tue Jul 8 09:05:38 EDT 2008


Georgia$B!G(Js Gainesville State College becomes a regional partner in the new National

Geospatial Technology Center

 

Beginning September, 2008, the Institute of Environmental Spatial Analysis at Gainesville State College will serve as a senior partner and the southeast regional extension of the new National Geospatial Technology Center (NGTC). The NGTC is a collaboration between eight colleges and universities with Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas as the lead institution.

 

The NGTC is funded with a five million dollar, Advanced Technological Education grant from the National Science Foundation. The first round of funding will last for four years. However, the NSF has asked for a minimum 10 year commitment. Chris Semerjian of Gainesville State is one of four principal investigators in the ATE grant.

 

Geospatial Technologies include Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), remote sensing and mobile$B!>(J and location$B!>(Jbased services. $B!H(JGeospatial$B!I(J is anything that can be referenced in space and time using the combination of spatial software and analytical methods with terrestrial or geographic datasets.

 

The goals of the NGTC include: 1) creating a national clearinghouse of exemplary geospatial curriculum materials, resources and national services; 2) increasing the capacity to educate geospatial technicians through new partnerships and collaborations; 3) increasing the quantity, quality and diversity of geospatial technicians to meet U.S. workforce needs; 4) providing a unifying voice for geospatial technology education interests in organizations, industry and government; and 5) increasing the number of community and technical college geospatial faculty and secondary school teachers participating in geospatial professional development.

 

As part of President George W. Bush$B!G(Js High Growth Job Training Initiative, geospatial technology was listed among the top three high$B!>(Jtechnology, high$B!>(Jgrowth industries in the country and has become a $30 billion$B!>(Ja$B!>(Jyear industry.

 

Of the total $5 million grant, Del Mar College will receive $3.2 million directly while partner institutions will share the other $1.8 million during the four$B!>(Jyear grant period that runs through 2012. Gainesville State College will receive approximately $360,000 for the first four years.

 

Led by Del Mar College, the NGTC is a partnership and collaboration that includes seven colleges (Lake Land College in Illinois, Gainesville State College in Georgia, Southwestern Community College in California, the Kentucky Community Technical College System, Niagara Community College in New York, Century Community College in Minnesota, and Central Piedmont Community College in North Carolina), four universities (San Diego State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas A&M University$B!>(JCorpus Christi and University of California(J-(J San Diego), an industry partner representing all regions of the country (ESRI, Inc.) and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Research Services in College Station, Texas, as fiscal agent.

 

Tripp Corbin, MCP, CFM, GISP
Vice President, GIS/IT
ESRI Authorized Instructor
Keck & Wood, Inc. <http://www.keckwood.com/> 
(678) 417-4013
(678) 417-8785 fax

 

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