Press Release  Executive Office of Technology Services and Security, UMass Amherst to Partner on Geographic Information Hub for Western Mass

Amherst — This week, the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) announced the establishment of a  regional Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Hub at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to educate the next generation of the geospatial workforce and provide support for local governments that use GIS mapping data to make better decisions for resilient communities, plant and animal species, watershed health, business concerns, and public health.

Using $300,000 in FY2024 funding, this partnership will assist local, state, and regional government organizations with mapping projects by involving UMass Amherst students and faculty with geospatial mapping, data analysis and transformation, as well as acquisition of data, software, and consulting services. The Hub will work in coordination with regional planning organizations, private businesses, and other higher education institutions to assist in meeting its mission and the following objectives:

• Strengthen UMass Amherst engagement with and support for western Massachusetts communities
• Establish new workforce development pathways for both undergraduate and graduate students
• Build upon the strong research program in GIS at UMass Amherst
• Strengthen linkages between the Massachusetts Office of the State Geologist/Geological Survey (housed in EGCS) and MassGIS
• Further the MassGIS mission to support the public and private sectors in using geospatial data and technology for decision-making
• Support statewide efforts for more comprehensive and higher quality geospatial data
   

“Through our partnership with UMass Amherst, we are advancing critical state goals around regional equity, workforce development and decision-making informed by current, high-quality data,” said EOTSS Secretary and Chief Information Officer Jason Snyder.

“We are thankful for this timely collaboration with the Healey-Driscoll Administration and Secretary Snyder to establish the Regional Geographical Information Systems Hub at UMass Amherst,” said Michael Fox, Dean of the UMass Amherst College of Natural Sciences. “This Hub will serve as a regional center for geospatial data and research—supporting local, state, and regional governments, as well as organizations and private industry. Our students will conduct much of this work under the direction and supervision of world-class UMass Amherst faculty and research staff, providing experiential, real-world training for the future geospatial workforce.”

“We use data every day to help us make decisions, but some of our data requires an understanding of geography to be fully understood, and for our decisions to be correct,” said Forrest J. Bowlick, co-director of the GIS Hub, a lecturer in the Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences and Environmental Conservation departments, and director of the Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) concentration within the MS Geography program. “We use geospatial data—data that can be mapped or that uses location—to help us make these decisions and better understand our planet, or country, our Commonwealth, and our communities. Using a variety of computer technologies, we can build an understanding of our world with geospatial data that would be impossible without this combination of spatial data.”

"We are absolutely thrilled at this opportunity to create a resource that can help many of the Commonwealth’s communities meet or expand their mapping and geospatial data goals,” said Joe Kopera, co-director of the GIS Hub and Senior Research Fellow in the Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences department. “To be able to offer these services in a way that also provides paid, real-world, and meaningful internship experience to students prior to entering the regional workforce is a win for everyone."

The Hub will be operational in the coming Fall semester. Any data created will be available to the public under a broadly permissive license structure and will be served by MassGIS.

For more information on MassGIS, please visit this link to the MassGIS website on Mass.gov.

As the state’s lead technology and cybersecurity secretariat, EOTSS is charged with the responsibility of coordinating the Administration’s information technology activities and ensuring that all executive department agencies adhere to its published standards, policies, and procedures. This enterprise approach provides a single, comprehensive framework and ensures that the state is in alignment to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the Commonwealth’s data and information systems.

###