Susan Miller, Georgia’s first Geospatial Information Officer (GIO), addresses the GIS Coordinating Committee.
August 19, 2015 – Atlanta, GA – Susan Miller, Georgia’s first Geospatial Information Officer, was introduced to the Georgia Geographic Information Systems (GIS) community at the regular monthly meeting of the GIS Coordinating Committee. Ms. Miller has been on the job for just over a week and has been meeting individually with GIS leaders throughout the State, but this was her first opportunity to address a large gathering of over 40 GIS practitioners and stakeholders from around the State.
Representatives from State, Local and Regional agencies, as well as private sector companies, introduced themselves and their work to the new GIO providing an orientation to GIS activities throughout the State and a history of the initiative that led to the creation of the office of the GIO. Everyone in attendance offered their warmest greetings to Ms. Miller and expressed their support for her and the Office of the GIO.
Ms. Miller began her remarks to the Committee and guests by introducing herself and her background. She began her career as a watershed GIS manager and then became involved with the Society for Conservation GIS and later worked for Esri with the License Manager program. Most recently, Ms. Miller was the GIO for the Nature Conservancy and worked to develop and execute on strategies for a global network of approximately 3,500 GIS practitioners from dozens of organizations and countries as well as across the United States.
Over the next few months, Ms. Miller will be attending various meetings with GIS practitioners and organizations throughout the State to listen and learn about the various ongoing geospatial initiatives. She states that she would like to leverage and build on existing networks to establish Georgia as a leader in coordinated GIS services. Ms. Miller will work to advocate for and show the benefits of geospatial technologies and data that can only be realized through cooperation among public, private and educational agencies.
Ms. Miller also showcased the new website for the GIO, which is intended as a forum and a resource for connecting the GIS community around the State of Georgia. The GIO website features a community forum and a directory of GIS professionals that will be built out in the coming weeks and months. Ms. Miller encourages everyone to use the new website as a tool to support each other and showcase the work of GIS professionals from around the State.