City of Evanston GIS Manager Pat Keegan has been elected president of the Illinois Geographic Information Systems Association.
The non-profit professional organization’s goal is to expand the understanding and growth of effective geographic information systems throughout Illinois.
ILGISA “has been a tremendous resource for me,” Keegan said. “It has offered me a unique opportunity to network and learn from over 800 GIS professionals across the state.”
He continued, “It is very powerful to have access to the most successful GIS practices, people and innovations in Illinois. I’ve learned how people are successfully handling issues in my field. I learn how to do my job better.”
President-elect Keegan, a Skokie resident, has served on the ILGISA Board of Directors for four years and has been an active ILGISA member for more than eight years. As president-elect, some of his new responsibilities include creating a strategic plan for the organization and developing future conferences.
ILGISA is already working on their spring conference with the theme of “Open Your World,” which will investigate how open-source technologies can affect GIS operations.
As manager of Evanston’s award-winning GIS Division, Keegan oversees the popular web mapping services About My Place and the Interactive Tax Parcel map, which provide detailed tax and land information, digital photographs of the property and customizable mapping. Other web-based resources include standard and historic maps available as free PDF downloads and data analysis like density mapping and network routing.
The GIS Division also offers many internal services supporting functions such as public safety, utility maintenance and economic development. GIS is a part of the city’s Business Performance and Technology Division (BPAT), recipient of the 2006 Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award. Evanston’s GIS was the recipient of the International GIS User Conference Special Achievement Award in 2001.
For further details about the city’s GIS services, visit the GIS website.