Week Raises Awareness of Geographic Illiteracy; Activities planned for GIS Day, Weds. Nov.18

ERIE COUNTY, NY— As part of Geography Awareness Week the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, in conjunction with the Western New York Geographic Information Services (“GIS”) Group, will be observing GIS Day on Wednesday, November 18 with a Map Gallery in the lobby of the Edward A. Rath county office building. Observed during the third week of November each year, Geography Awareness Week is an annual celebration of geography and the important role it plays in our lives. The purpose of GIS Day is to raise awareness on how GIS technology is and can be used in the public and private sectors to better map parcels of land, provide clearer visual images with improved topographical and other features, and resolve issues with property lines and demarcations.

“The Erie County GIS system is widely used by departments throughout County government. Many departments have discovered how effective GIS can be to help manage their operations, and use of the technology has grown rapidly,” said Erie County Commissioner of the Department of Environment and Planning Thomas Dearing. “In addition, the local business community, from utility companies to real estate companies and small businesses such as lawn care companies, uses the County’s Internet mapping system, or ‘OnMap’ on a daily basis to enhance their business operations.”

The WNY GIS Group will be holding events throughout Erie County on GIS Day, including a Map Gallery from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM in the lobby of the Edward A. Rath county office building that will include maps demonstrating the uses of GIS technology in government. Workstations will be available with live demonstrations of GIS applications, including the use of Erie County’s OnMap Internet mapping application. Residents will also be able to view aerial photos of their property lines along with topographical and environmental features.

For more information:

On the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, visit http://www2.erie.gov/environment/ 

On Erie County’s OnMap application, visit http://gis2.erie.gov/HTML5/ErieCountyNY/