Frederick, MD – The National Society of Professional
Surveyors (NSPS) and MAPPS today announced they will jointly host the third
annual national surveying, mapping, and geospatial conference, March 13-17,
2017 at the Sheraton Hotel in Silver Spring, Maryland. The conference will
bring together associations, professional societies, individuals, companies,
and government agencies in the surveying, mapping and geospatial fields. It
will focus on the profession in private practice, technological innovations and
collaboration, and public policy.
Providing a forum for discussions on best practices,
technology, issues and policies, the conference gives participants an
opportunity to share information, knowledge and tools, as well as opens doors
to new markets and facilitates collaboration on data acquisition, processing,
applications and the use of new and emerging technology. The program will also feature discussions of
business practices and policy issues that directly impact companies in the
private sector.
The overall conference will serve as an umbrella to
include plenary sessions, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and
social/networking activities designed to create synergy among the many vertical
segments (technical disciplines, applications, and sectors) of the surveying,
mapping and geospatial community.
NSPS will host the team presentations for its annual
Student Competition on Monday, March 13. The NSPS annual General Membership
meeting, and other business, committee and board meetings, will be scheduled
throughout the week in order to allow NSPS leadership to more fully participate
in conference activities.
The conference will also include the MAPPS annual Federal
Programs Conference March 14-15. Tuesday, March 14 will feature presentations
by Federal agencies, the newly elected Administration, and members of Congress
including briefings on programs, budgets, and requirements for the acquisition of
geospatial services, data and products by contract from the private sector.
On Wednesday, March 15, MAPPS and NSPS members will visit
some 200 Congressmen and Senators at the U.S. Capitol, advancing a common
agenda of legislative issues that serve the public and engage the surveying and
mapping community. Information on how to participate will be available soon.
The Sheraton Silver Spring was selected as the site of
the conference for its meeting facilities and proximity to the Washington Metro
subway system to particularly provide to attendees easy access and
transportation to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC for visits with Congress.
“This conference builds on the partnership formed in 2014
by focusing on business practices, technology, and government programs and
policy issues that affect the membership of both associations. We are pleased to continue developing a national
surveying and mapping conference intended to compliments, not compete
with or duplicate, the continuing education opportunities provided by
state surveying societies by focusing on business, technology, and policy
issues, and providing an opportunity for engagement between practitioners and
technology providers in a “vendor-neutral” setting,” said NSPS Executive
Director Curtis W. Sumner, LS, and MAPPS Executive Director John M. Palatiello.
The website, www.surveyingandmapping.net,
will include updates on program details and links to on-line registration.
About NSPS
Having incorporated ACSM within NSPS in 2012, the
organization is the preeminent national professional society working in
affiliation with the respective state societies of professional surveyors and
along with persons trained, registered, or interested in the profession of
surveying and mapping. NSPS advances the sciences and disciplines within the
profession and strives to establish and further common interests, objectives,
and political efforts to help bind the surveying profession into a unified body
in the United States. NSPS is the interface for the surveying profession with a
multitude of national organizations in related fields, and with federal
government entities.
About MAPPS
Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association
exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and
geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership
spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms
engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry,
aerial photography, LIDAR, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and
satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion
services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that
provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession
in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent
Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the
geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the
geospatial profession.
