[OKGIS] GIS Day at the Capitol

[mwc at ou.edu]

As our opportunity at the Capitol approaches, I'm reminded of a conference I attended last September that aimed to write the future of US drought response and preparedness.  In that conference, the topic of speaking with elected officials arose many times.  We even had a dedicated attendee and speaker, Gene Whitney, who works at the white house teach us how to grab a politicians ear.  Gene is ideal in his role because he has one foot in the science world and one in the political.

While we're struggling to understand how to better grab the ear of Oklahoma politicians and twist them towards GIS, I have two thoughts.

First, we need to hear from someone like Gene who has one foot in both worlds who might help us make these connections.  Bob Kerrey is such a resource and he recently spoke as a keynote speaker at the ESRI 2006 User's Conference.  The 38 minutes long mp3 is available here for those that wish to listen to it.  <http://www.esri.com/news/podcasts/audio/speaker/18_bob_kerrey_keynote.mp3>.  He begins with a geography connection, speaks a little about politics, and then returns to GIS and geography for the last ten minutes of his speech.  Bob outlines 5 key areas in which he sees GIS/Geography as making a big contribution.

1) Physical Security
2) Government Planning (especially where multiple entities have authority)
3) Improved Intergovernmental Decision Making
4) Increasing the Effectiveness and Lowering the Cost of Regulating Health and Safety Conditions
5) Education

While I'm not saying that this speech gives us the answers for reaching Oklahoma politicians, it has certainly provided me with food for thought and there are some wonderful thoughts embedded in his talk.

Second, Al Gore makes the point that unless a word is on the tips of their constituents tongues, it is easy for a politician to put off a subject for another day.  Is GIS on the tips of Oklahoman's tongues?  If not, how do we make it so?

Well, I'll leave you with those thoughts.  Good luck in your preparations for GIS Day at the Capitol!

Matthew Collier
Center for Spatial Analysis
University of Oklahoma