The AGIO Office is excited to open up the Call for Presentations for our upcoming 2026 GISA Conference, which will take place November 16-19, 2026. The success of our conference is based on user presentations because our users are doing exceptional work that deserves to be shared with the broader community. Their real-world experiences, innovations, and lessons learned create valuable opportunities for collaboration and learning.

Registration for the conference will open in July, but for now we invite all those who plan to attend, to submit an abstract for an opportunity to speak at this year’s conference. Submission deadline is July 31^st. Visit this link for all information and to submit your abstract. 

GISA - Call for Presentations

And as always, please feel free to reach out to me for any questions.

Thank you,

Jaime Lambert

GIS Specialist

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

Office: (334) 676-6421

jaime.lambert@alea.gov

From the Alabama Geographic Information Office (AGIO):

The Alabama GIS Office would like to invite you to join us on May 20th from 10:30 - 11:30 for a Lunch and Learn opportunity to hear from Peter Erlenbach (Esri Solution Engineer), who will be sharing about ArcGIS for Office capabilities.

This is a new function that the GIS office will be trying to host quarterly or semi-annually. Please make plans to join us and learn about these capabilities. 

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/251145296435840?p=wW4hvacnuPoPFQXcFF

Meeting ID: 251 145 296 435 840

Passcode: gj2FB3Wm

Registration is open for the 27th Annual Disaster Response/Data Mining Geospatial Workshop, taking place on June 4 & 5, 2026.

This event will take place at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

A virtual option is available to those who are unable to attend in-person. The Zoom meeting link will be sent out closer to the workshop date.

Visit the event page: https://rac.louisiana.edu/news-events/news/20260413/2026-disaster-responsegeospatial-data-mining-workshop-june-4-5

View the event flyer

The Regional Application Center/LouisianaView at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is proud to host this cornerstone event for professionals in geospatial science, emergency management, and public service. For over two decades, the workshop has united experts and decision-makers to explore the powerful intersection of geospatial data and disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Please join us!

Thanks to Esri for the lunch and learn on accessibility. It has been posted on our YouTube channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VJkzOe5r6s

Data visualizations are increasingly used to communicate important information. Ensuring that this information is accessible for everyone is critical. Learn about digital accessibility essentials for creating and improving mapping and web applications according to current accessibility standards. This presentation will share the features supporting accessibility across ArcGIS web, desktop, and mobile technologies. We will cover how to approach web accessibility through built-in tools and best practices. This presentation also introduces methods to test accessibility.

Additional resources from Esri: https://community.esri.com/t5/accessibility-blog/resources-for-digital-accessibility-in-arcgis/ba-p/1582411

Thanks to everyone who attended our lunch and learn event on 2/26/2026, OpenStreetMap US.

Missed the webinar? No worries, we have shared it on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/fCd-tABot1A?si=mtX2TZCr3MIiMgz7

From the U.S. Census:

The U.S. Census Bureau has released version 4.26.1 of OnTheMap for Emergency Management.

Version 4.26.1 updates American Community Survey tabulations to the 2020-2024 5-year estimates and Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) data to 2023.

OnTheMap for Emergency Management provides real-time access to a range of detailed Census Bureau data about the people living and working in areas affected by hurricanes, floods, wildfires, winter storms, and federal disaster declaration areas.

Explore our OnTheMap for Emergency Management data tool and our help and documentation resources.

https://onthemap.ces.census.gov/em/?utm_campaign=20260304pio&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

From ADA.gov - State and Local Governments with 50,000+ persons are required to have compliant web content and mobile apps by April 24, 2026.

A fact sheet is available here: https://www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/#highlights-of-the-requirements-in-the-rule

Smaller governments and special districts should be aware their deadline is April 26, 2027.

GISAA is reaching out to web app providers for guidance and tools to ensure accessibility.

Can't make it to the GISA Conference? The University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB) is hosting the UAB GIS Day!

Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Time: 9:00am - 4:30pm

Location: Lister Hill Library 4th Floor

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4235be8d5b924fcaa4f6c753fb23426dhttps://uab.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4OUluMI1RPRputw

GIS Day celebrates the power of mapping and spatial thinking—bringing people together to learn, share, and be inspired. At UAB, GIS connects research, teaching, and community engagement across fields from public health and medicine to environmental engineering and policy.

What to expect:

1. Explore UAB’s GIS innovations See how mapping and spatial analysis are advancing public health, policy, and environmental research across Alabama and beyond.
2. Hear from faculty, students, and partners Learn how GIS supports teaching, discovery, and community engagement through real-world applications and data storytelling.
3. Connect with the UAB GIS community Meet others who share your interest in spatial thinking, and discover tools, resources, and collaboration opportunities available across campus.

Interested in attending? 

1. https://uab.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4OUluMI1RPRputw
2. Email: anassel@uab.edu or mhender4@uab.edu

The two easiest Public Parking Decks to park at are shown on the embed map within this StoryMap UAB GIS Day 2025
Both of these deck cost $3 for the first hour and then $1 each additional hour

Here are the parking locations on UAB’s Campus Map

• 14^th St Parking Deck
• University Blvd Parking Deck

In case you missed it, watch NASA’s Plankton Aerosol Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory's GISAA lunch and learn from 10/3/2025, which has now been uploaded to YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5b0R7IFufg

Many of the past GISAA webinars have been uploaded to our YouTube channel. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/@gisalabama

The popular FEMA resource, Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool (RAPT), has been updated! 

"The Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool gives everyone access to powerful data and GIS mapping that can help everyone understand their community. RAPT has more than 100 preloaded layers with data on population, infrastructure and hazards. This data and the analysis tools in RAPT extend GIS capacity for state and local officials to help understand disaster impacts and the potential challenges to resilience they face."

Visit https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/resilience-analysis-and-planning-tool