The Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITA) will be hosting a webinar by John Wertman of the Association of American Geographers on the Geospatial Data Act of 2017. The webinar will take place online on Tuesday, August 29, 2017 from 11:00 am – noon, PDT. To attend the webinar, go to http://www.gita.org/events/event_details.asp?legacy=1&id=997052.

From the press release:

John Wertman from the American Association of Geographers (AAG) will lead a webinar on the Geospatial Data Act (GDA), legislation that could effectively exclude everyone but licensed architects, engineers, and surveyors from federal government contracts for GIS and mapping services of all kinds – not just those services traditionally provided by surveyors.   The GDA is primarily focused on reauthorizing and implement several key federal geospatial data programs.  The bill, however, also includes provisions creating a system of exclusionary procurement that would prevent most companies and organizations in the dynamic and rapidly growing GIS and mapping sector from receiving federal contracts for a very-wide range of activities, including GPS field data collection, GIS, internet mapping, geospatial analysis, location based services, remote sensing, academic research involving maps, and digital or manual map making or cartography of almost any type.   Join this informative webinar to learn more about the GDA and how organizations have been responding to the legislation.

Bio: John Wertman serves as Senior Program Manager for Government Relations at the Association of American Geographers (AAG). He is a past Chair of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) and is now the AAG’s delegate to COGO.  His career has focused on positions in and around politics, and he previously served as Special Assistant to the Director of Presidential Letters and Messages at the White House during the Administration of President Bill Clinton.  Wertman also held government relations positions at the Consortium of Social Science Associations, the University of Virginia Medical Center, and the American Urological Association.  He interned on Capitol Hill for both former Congressman Tom Davis and former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt.  Wertman holds a BA in Government from the University of Virginia.