Wednesday

The registration desk is located in the Waterfall Atrium area. Please stop by the registration desk to register for the conference or if you have any questions regarding the conference.

Welcome to the BEST ITAG CONFERENCE EVER and announcements in the Ballroom.

Title: What Can You Do With Lidar?

Workshop Description: Lidar data is becoming commonplace but most GIS practitioners don't understand the benefits and disadvantages of all the ways one can manage lidar data. I will present the most common ways to manage lidar information within the ESRI ArcGIS platform, including as LAS datasets, Multipoints, Terrains, and Triangulated Irregular Networks (TINs) as well as the surface/elevation models that can be generated from them. LAS datasets are quick, lightweight containers for managing and visualizing LAS data. Multipoints are a vector format created from the raw lidar points. Terrains and TINs are networks built of triangular facets that make it easier to visual and manage the millions or billions of individual points. LAS datasets are best used for visualization and first return surfaces. Terrains are better for bare earth surfaces, especially when hydrologic processing is desired. Multiple examples from the Iowa statewide lider dataset will be used.

Presenter: Brian Gelder

Presenter Bio: Brian is a Scientist II and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Iowa State University in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. He does research on estimating soil erosion across large areas using models by developing automated methods for hydrologic enforcement of elevation models and remote sensing methods for determining residue cover and tillage practices. He also teaches classes in Community and Regional Planning on GIS Programming and Automation using Python and Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and ArcGIS Spatial Analyst.

Title: An update on the USGS 3D Elevation Program

Workshop Description: The USGS developed the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) to respond to growing needs for high-quality topographic data. The primary goal of 3DEP is to collect elevation data from lidar over the Nation over an 8-year period. The 3DEP initiative is based on the results of the assessment that documented more than 600 business uses. 3DEP provides more than $690 million annually in benefits. This would result in a nearly 5:1 return on investment, save lives, and improve our environment through informed decisions. Key components of 3DEP are cooperative funding, options for upgrades to meet State and local needs, and partnerships to bring Federal agencies, academia, states, tribes, and communities together to gather elevation data of the Nation. Lidar also supports geologic mapping, which enable assessment of critical mineral resources in the United states in support of the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI). In preparing for the next phase of collections, USGS is conducting a new study called 3D Nation to gather information on realized benefits from the current program and to determine new uses and requirements.

Presenter: Jim Langtry

Presenter Bio: Jim Langtry is employed by the US Geological Survey as the National Map Liaison for Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. He received a Master’s Degree in Geography specializing in GIS in 2003 from the University of Nebraska and has over 30 years of experience in GIS being involved with the development of the Lancaster County Nebraska GIS since it’s inception in 1988. In 2007 he went to work for the USGS to be the Geospatial Liaison for Nebraska and has since picked up additional states.

Lunch in the Ballroom

Title: ArcGIS Pro: Migrating from ArcMap

Workshop Description: Are you an ArcMap user? This is the workshop for users to learn tips and strategies for getting your job done right with ArcGIS Pro. Take the apprehension out of transitioning from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro and gain the skills you need and learn where to find your favorite tools. We'll show you tips and tricks and share how to tackle essential workflows, such as editing, querying, basic analysis, and sharing with ArcGIS Pro.

Presenter: Tim Hensley

Presenter Bio: Tim Hensley has been employed with Esri since 1998 and has attained the Esri Desktop Associate certification. Also during his tenure with Esri, Mr. Hensley has specialized in Esri’s web solutions, such as ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Online. Prior to 1998, Mr. Hensley worked in the field of mapping and GIS for approximately twelve years in both State and County government.

Afternoon break in the Ballroom sponsored by LiftOff

Title: Personal Self Defense

Description: In this seminar. Gabe Johanns will show a “safe escape” mindset. Preventing a situation from escalating to the point of physical altercation should be a self-defense minded person’s initial focus. Once a situation reaches the physical stage, you will learn simple, effective ways to neutralize the attacker and get you away from danger.

Special Requirements: Wear comfortable clothes you can move in. Bring a partner if possible, as this session will contain paired exercises. If you come solo, you may be paired with someone during the session.

Presenter: Gabe Johanns

Presenter Bio: Master Gabe grew up on the mean streets of Albuquerque after traveling the world to learn every martial art known to man. He then became a straight-to-video action star and still holds the record for the top-grossing film in Vietnam (Titled "American Groin Stomper"). After a lawsuit ended his movie career, he took the best parts of his years of training and created his own brand of street fighting which the world now knows as "Ameri-Do-Te".

Free time

Are you ready to “Outwit” and “Outplay” fellow ITAG attendees at this year’s Wednesday night games? Teams of 4 will compete in 15 “minute-to-win-it” games to determine the final winning team.

Sheraton Salon A & Rooms 226-227 (2nd Floor) will be open and available for a Free-For-All Meetup. Bring your own games, drinks, snacks, etc., and catch up with fellow ITAG attendees.

The registration desk is located in the Waterfall Atrium area. Please stop by the registration desk to register for the conference or if you have any questions regarding the conference.

Welcome to the BEST ITAG CONFERENCE EVER and announcements in the Ballroom.

Title: Resolution Revolution

Workshop Description: Join oblique imagery expert Ryan Poots, as he breaks down the evolution of aerial imagery, from panchromatic film to what's now the highest resolution in the world. As we embark on the resolution revolution, find out how innovation opens the doors for more use cases across local and municipal government agencies.

Presenter: Ryan Poots & John Wenande

Presenter Bio:
Ryan Poots, EagleView
District Manager - 1.5 years
Regional Technical Manager - 4.5 years

John Wenande, EagleView
Regional Technical Manager - 1.0 year

1st Presentation Title: Cedar Valley Trails 360 Imagery Project (Google Street View)

Description: Matt will present about a project the GeoTREE Center completed with the Cedar Valley Trails Partnership. UNI GeoTREE students captured 360° imagery and video of the local recreational trail network. The 360° imagery were published to Google Street View and also built into a custom virtual tour. These imagery and videos as well as other media were also built into an ESRI Story Map. Matt will also discuss a related project that the UNI GeoTREE Center is carrying out with Americorps with funding from IGIC Geomentor grant.

Presenter: Matt Wagner & John DeGroote

Presenter Bio: Matt is a Senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Geographic Information Science with an Environmental Planning and Policy emphasis. He has been working in UNI GeoTREE since summer 2018.

John DeGroote manages the GeoInformatics Training, Research, Education, and Extension Center in the Geography Department at the University of Northern Iowa. He also teaches GIS II, GIS Programming, and Web Mapping and GIS at UNI.

2nd Presentation Title: Development of 3D Model and 360 Imagery Based Virtual Tour for Local Museum

Description: Nathan will describe a small project in which he is working on building a virtual tour for the Ice House Museum in Cedar Falls. He will describe building a 3D model of the Ice House and also of displays from inside and also the capture and publishing of 360 degree imagery for inclusion in a virtual tour and for publishing to Google Street View.

Presenter: Nathan Huffman & John DeGroote

Presenter Bio: Nathan Huffman is a Northern Iowa Senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Geographic Information Science.

John DeGroote manages the GeoInformatics Training, Research, Education, and Extension Center in the Geography Department at the University of Northern Iowa. He also teaches GIS II, GIS Programming, and Web Mapping and GIS at UNI.

3rd Presentation Title: Conflation of Updated Iowa Hydrography Data into the National Hydrography Dataset

Description: Stream, waterbody, and edge of water datasets for Iowa have been mapped in recent years, supplanting National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) geometry that is out of date. The University of Northern Iowa Department of Geography GeoTREE Center is contracted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to prepare these relatively new hydrography datasets for conflation into the NHD. The new statewide hydrography data has been compiled into a geodatabase and initial NHD attributes have been calculated such as Feature Codes and Types, and Flow Direction.

The remaining pre-processing steps will be done individually for the hydrography features within each 10-digit Hydrologic Unit (HU10) watershed in Iowa. Subsets of features will be using the HUC10 watershed boundaries; then the subsets will be loaded into a NHD geodatabase template to ensure the schema will match that of the NHD. Then the HU10 geodatabase will go through a series of quality control tests to proper flow direction, enforcement of topology, and correction of pseudo-nodes. Before the local data can be conflated with the source NHD, a process to identify if streams are perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral must be determined and this investigation is currently being undertaken by the Iowa DNR.

Presenter: Grant Burke

Lunch in the Ballroom

Title: Web Mapping APIs Introduction (Open Source)

Workshop Description: Take a brief and relatively broad look at open source (e.g. Leaflet), generally free (Google Maps), and commercial web mapping and geo-visualization API's. The session will give a broad overview of the web mapping APIs and cloud-based GIS landscape outside of ESRI software. Students will learn about simple exercises building web mapping and geovisualizations using Leaflet and/or Google Maps API. This session will also briefly examine lightweight data formats that are commonly used in these type of applications in addition to seeing examples of how other open source libraries or APIs can be used in conjunction with web mapping. A very brief introduction to key web technologies of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS will be provided.

Special Requirements: No programming experience will be expected but hopefully after this session, attendees will have a better idea of how the web and web mapping work.

Presenter: John DeGroote

Presenter Bio: John DeGroote manages the GeoInformatics Training, Research, Education, and Extension Center in the Geography Department at the University of Northern Iowa. He also teaches GIS II, GIS Programming, and Web Mapping and GIS at UNI.

Afternoon break in the Ballroom sponsored by LiftOff

Title: Web Mapping APIs Introduction (Open Source)

Workshop Description: Take a brief and relatively broad look at open source (e.g. Leaflet), generally free (Google Maps), and commercial web mapping and geo-visualization API's. The session will give a broad overview of the web mapping APIs and cloud-based GIS landscape outside of ESRI software. Students will learn about simple exercises building web mapping and geovisualizations using Leaflet and/or Google Maps API. This session will also briefly examine lightweight data formats that are commonly used in these type of applications in addition to seeing examples of how other open source libraries or APIs can be used in conjunction with web mapping. A very brief introduction to key web technologies of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS will be provided.

Special Requirements: No programming experience will be expected but hopefully after this session, attendees will have a better idea of how the web and web mapping work.

Presenter: John DeGroote

Presenter Bio: John DeGroote manages the GeoInformatics Training, Research, Education, and Extension Center in the Geography Department at the University of Northern Iowa. He also teaches GIS II, GIS Programming, and Web Mapping and GIS at UNI.

Free time

Are you ready to “Outwit” and “Outplay” fellow ITAG attendees at this year’s Wednesday night games? Teams of 4 will compete in 15 “minute-to-win-it” games to determine the final winning team.

Sheraton Salon A & Rooms 226-227 (2nd Floor) will be open and available for a Free-For-All Meetup. Bring your own games, drinks, snacks, etc., and catch up with fellow ITAG attendees.

The registration desk is located in the Waterfall Atrium area. Please stop by the registration desk to register for the conference or if you have any questions regarding the conference.

Welcome to the BEST ITAG CONFERENCE EVER and announcements in the Ballroom.

Explore ESRI software offerings and get free training at the Hands-on Learning Lab.

The Learning Lab offers self-paced training sessions (approximately 45 minutes each) featuring a recorded presentation and an interactive exercise. ESRI instructors are available to answer your questions.

Free time

Are you ready to “Outwit” and “Outplay” fellow ITAG attendees at this year’s Wednesday night games? Teams of 4 will compete in 15 “minute-to-win-it” games to determine the final winning team.

Sheraton Salon A & Rooms 226-227 (2nd Floor) will be open and available for a Free-For-All Meetup. Bring your own games, drinks, snacks, etc., and catch up with fellow ITAG attendees.

The registration desk is located in the Waterfall Atrium area. Please stop by the registration desk to register for the conference or if you have any questions regarding the conference.

Welcome to the BEST ITAG CONFERENCE EVER and announcements in the Ballroom.

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Workshop Description:

Special Requirements:

Presenter:

Presenter Bio:

Title: How Five Iowa Counties Moved to Office 365

Workshop Description: Within the last decade, there’s been quite a bit of buzz around “cloud” IT systems and specifically Microsoft Office 365 and Azure. There’s much excitement about getting enterprise functionality at affordable prices, and freeing IT staff from keeping expensive, on-premise legacy systems not only operational, but secure, updated and refreshed, so they can develop new skills and contribute at a "higher level." But there’s also a great deal of confusion about "how to get there." What are the different products under the Office 365 umbrella? Can I move more than just email to the cloud? How can I safely and securely move data to Office 365? What are all of the costs I should be budgeting for? How long will it take? Is my data safe? The questions can go on and on...! Ron Braatz of LiftOff, a top Microsoft partner, is here to help. Through the use of case studies highlighting five diverse Iowa Counties, Ron will explain everything organizations should be thinking about before making the leap to Office 365 including the key steps involved and the decisions that must be made before migrating.

Presenter: Ron Braatz

Presenter Bio: Over the years, Ron Braatz has worked for some of the leading technology companies in the world including Microsoft, Siebel (Oracle), and IBM. He has held roles in sales and marketing, partner mentoring and readiness, and technical consulting. Ron worked for five years at Microsoft in the Business Solutions Division as a Solution Specialist. Prior to founding LiftOff, he served as the CTO at a government contractor where he led several IT eLearning projects for The Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. Ron holds a Masters Degree in Technology Education from Johns Hopkins University and has taught courses at the high school and college graduate level. He lives in Maryland with his wife and two children where he is an active volunteer and coaches several youth sports teams.

Lunch in the Ballroom

There will be an ICIT Business Meeting in the Dallas Room after lunch. All members are encouraged to attend.

Title: Election Night Reporting

Workshop Description: How do you report the local election results for your jurisdiction? Benton County uses a custom report site powered by Google Sheets. Ben will walk through the process used to create and link to the election results.

Presenter: Ben Turnis

Presenter Bio: Ben is the IT Director for Benton County.

Title: Drones in Iowa Counties

Workshop Description: Micah Van Maanen and Ryan Eaton are certified drone pilots who have been utilizing drones to assist law enforcement and emergency management. They will answer questions on drone regulations and certification and share interesting videos from their usage over the past couple years.

Presenter: Micah Van Maanen, Ryan Eaton

Presenter Bio: Micah Van Maanen is the IT Director for Sioux County. Ryan Eaton is the IT Director for Jasper County.

Afternoon break in the Ballroom sponsored by LiftOff

Title: Why and How to Simplify with HCI

Workshop Description: Join Scale Computing to learn how organizations are doing more IT with less infrastructure and less complexity using hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). The hyperconverged experts will discuss why virtualization doesn’t need to be complex, inefficient, or costly when you adopt a modern, innovative architecture. The simplicity, scalability, and high availability of a turn-key infrastructure doesn’t just lower costs, it frees up your own IT experts to work on new projects they haven’t had time for in the past.

Presenter: Reid Smith

Free time

Are you ready to “Outwit” and “Outplay” fellow ITAG attendees at this year’s Wednesday night games? Teams of 4 will compete in 15 “minute-to-win-it” games to determine the final winning team.

Sheraton Salon A & Rooms 226-227 (2nd Floor) will be open and available for a Free-For-All Meetup. Bring your own games, drinks, snacks, etc., and catch up with fellow ITAG attendees.

The registration desk is located in the Waterfall Atrium area. Please stop by the registration desk to register for the conference or if you have any questions regarding the conference.

Welcome to the BEST ITAG CONFERENCE EVER and announcements in the Ballroom.

Title: Iowa Security Operations Center Essential Functions

Workshop Description: Security Operations Center Essential (SOC) Functions. Explore different Cybersecurity roles and responsibilities. Dive into threat hunting and artificial intelligence in SOC processes.

Presenters: Jesse Martinez & Zach Monaghan

Presenter Bio: Jesse is the Cybersecurity Services Coordinator for OCIO Information Security Division

Title: Care and Feeding of Elected Officials

Workshop Description: This will be a roundtable discussion on how Technology folks deal with Boards of Supervisors, Dept Heads, Managers, and End Users. What to say during budget time, How to deal with a difficult Elected Official, How do you educate your end users?

Presenters: Round Table Discussion Hosted by Joel Rohne and Eric Guth

Presenter Bio: Joel is the IT Director for Worth County. Eric is the IT Director for Winnebago County.

Lunch in the Ballroom

Title: How the FirstNet Network is Providing the Data Superpipe Public Safety Needs

Description: The FirstNet network is currently being leveraged by many agencies across the United States, and represents the future of interoperable public safety communications. As communications affects all public safety operations, the FirstNet Responder Network Authority believes we can significantly inform your attendees, answer questions, and enhance their knowledge about the critical importance of dedicated public safety communications.

As agencies across the country are seeing the benefits of the FirstNet Network, such as the recent hurricanes and wild land fires, the benefits are only as valuable as they are shared with their peers from other agencies. As the federal agency responsible to serve as public safety’s advocate, we are determined to help agencies decide the best broadband network provider for them, and applications to serve their data transfer needs. But we are committed to working with them as they desire.

Recently, Hurricane Florence put many communities across the Southeast to the test. The FirstNet network worked across national, state and local agencies to keep emergency responders connected to the critical information needed to coordinate response. And as the storm pushed on, FirstNet continued to stand by the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect and support their communities. The City of Whiteville, North Carolina, deployed a Satellite Cell on Light Truck (SatCOLT) to the Whiteville Fire Department staging area to aid emergency response efforts. Because the SatCOLT is Band 14 only, it boosts connectivity for first responders on FirstNet without interfering with the coverage and capacity they already have. And a Cell on Wheels brought FirstNet connectivity to a FEMA staging location to support its response and recovery efforts as the agency assists those affected by the hurricane. “FirstNet delivered,” said Hal Lowder, director of emergency services for Whiteville, NC.

Accordingly, FirstNet Authority is seeking to update Iowa Counties — this key stakeholder group, about the applications, devices, deployable assets, local control, and possibilities that a dedicated public safety network can deliver. Considering the importance of communications, as well as availability on the calendar for ITAG 2019, FirstNet proposes a plenary session, and perhaps a panel featuring actual users of the network.

Presenter: Kyle Spies, FirstNet Solutions Consultant - Iowa

Title: ISICS and FirstNet Round Table

Description: Worth And Wright County are early adopters of ISICS state radio system and I thought it would be good to have a meeting of the minds for both the current users of the system and folks that are interested in what it is and what it means for counties. What are the plus and minus of embracing the system, what impacts it will have on IT. Just to have a good open discussion on what the technology is and where it is headed.

Presenter: Andy Flagge & Joel Rohne

Andy is the IT Director for Wright County. Joel is the IT Director for Worth County.

Afternoon break in the Ballroom sponsored by LiftOff

Title: Advanced Threat Detection and Response
Description: WatchGuard Engineer Ryan Poutre will demonstrate WatchGuard’s Threat Detection & Response. Acclaimed by unbiased third party industry research firms to be highly effective. TDR is one of the latest introductions to the WatchGuard Total Security Suite. This tool provides Network and Endpoint Threat Correlation. Key benefits include:
◦Improved security against advanced malware attacks, including ransomware,
◦Correlates network and endpoint insight for enterprise-grade threat visibility
◦Scores threats indicators and incidents based on severity to guide response
◦Works alongside existing antivirus solutions with no impact on endpoint performance
◦Decreases time to detection and remediation through policy-based automation

Presenter: Kevin Willette & Ryan Poutre

Presenter Bio: Kevin Willette, President & CEO of Verus Corporation, will lead a discussion highlighting the VerusGuard Pro security and performance analysis solution. Learn how this can simplify and automate the process of monitoring, detection, response, & recovery.