CHICAGO-The Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) is proud to be a part of GIS Day, November 19, 1999, during National Geography Week (November 15-19). CATS staff will give presentations about GIS in the Cunningham-Williams Conference Room at the CATS offices at 10:00 a.m., and at 1:00 p.m. at Von Steuben High School, 5039 N. Kimball Ave., on Chicago’s North Side.
A GIS (geographic information system) is a computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing objects and events. It combines the power of a database with the visualization capabilities offered by maps. Businesses, schools, governments, and organizations use GIS for a wide variety of applications, as GIS provides the power to solve complicated problems, experiment with scenarios, and present ideas. Although geographic analysis and mapping are not new, a GIS performs these same tasks better and faster than manual methods.
GIS Day will be held November 19, the last day of Geography Awareness Week
(November 15-19), and is sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the American Association of Geographers and ESRI. Since 1987, the National Geographic Society has sponsored Geography Awareness Week to promote geographic literacy in schools, communities, and organizations, with a focus on the education of children. The GIS Day celebration is a grassroots event that formalizes the practice of GIS users and vendors opening their doors to schools, businesses, and the public to showcase real-world applications.
There are currently about half a million GIS users in the world, but most of the public is unaware of this growing technology. Used to solve problems in such areas as environmental protection, pollution, health care, land use, natural resources, conservation, business efficiency, education, and social inequities, GIS provides a unifying framework for analyzing and understanding the world around us.
Colleges, universities, K-12 schools, planners, cities, and private industries are participating in GIS Day, giving the public an opportunity to see how GIS technology is applied in many interesting and exciting ways.
The Chicago Area Transportation Study is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for northeastern Illinois, designated by state and local officials to carry out the urban transportation planning process for the region. The area covered by CATS includes all of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, plus a portion of Kendall County.