A growing interest in geospatial technologies drew people from all branches of federal government to the 2006 Esri Federal User Conference (FedUC) January 31�February 2, 2006, at the Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. Three days of presentations and exhibits provided more than 1,800 attendees with abundant opportunities to explore the multitude of ways GIS is used in national government.

Keynote speaker Bob Kerrey, former U.S. senator and governor of Nebraska, offered his vision of the nation's need for information technologies. Esri delivered a vision of GIS for the Nation (see "Imagery for the Nation" [PDF-13.8 MB, 1 page]) focused on emerging technology that supports collaboration. Jack Dangermond emphasized the need for government agencies to work together to participate in constructing a multipurpose GIS for the Nation.

The conference offered much insight into the vision and the technology for building this geospatial infrastructure. Dangermond explained, "Federal geospatial data crosses all disciplines and is needed by federal, state, and local agencies and public and private sectors." The idea of building an effective infrastructure to disseminate and access this data is a core concept in designing Esri's GIS software.

During the conference, the Library of Congress sponsored a GIS event at the Thomas Jefferson Building. Event participants learned how GIS serves the nation, enjoyed a docent tour of the Great Hall, and viewed a display of maps created by the GIS community.

The 2006 Federal User Conference details, including breakout sessions, technical workshops, industry tracks, papers, PowerPoint presentations, and Esri's latest offerings, are available at www.esri.com/feduc. Join Esri in 2007 for the Esri Federal User Conference in Washington, D.C. Participate in this user conference by presenting a paper. Learn more at www.esri.com/feduc or contact Chris Thomas, Esri (e-mail: cthomas@esri.com).