(Park Ridge, IL) – URISA is now accepting abstract submissions for its Fourth Caribbean GIS Conference. The conference will take place August 25-29, 2008 at the Ritz Carlton Resort on Grand Cayman and will feature workshops, keynote presentations, dozens of educational sessions, an exhibition, and networking opportunities. The Program Committee will organize an educational program based upon the abstracts submitted through the Call for Presentations. All abstract submissions, received by December 7, 2007, will be reviewed and considered for this comprehensive educational program. Abstracts are being solicited in the following categories:

· Disaster Management, Law Enforcement, Public Health and Safety
· Standards, Policy and Management
· Land, Environment, Planning and Natural Resources
· Utilities, Business and Organizational GIS
· Hot Topics

Visit the URISA website, for details and submission guidelines.

The previous three Caribbean GIS Conferences took place in the Bahamas (2006), Barbados (2004) and Jamaica (2001). The chair of the 2008 conference committee is Alan Jones, Director of Lands & Survey for the Cayman Islands. The committee is comprised of well-respected GIS professionals from across the Caribbean region, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

As in the previous gatherings, the conference objectives are:

1. To inform broad cross-section of Caribbean users about GIS technology and applications
2. To share experiences regarding GIS implementation and management issues
3. To establish new relationships with the vendor/consultant community
4. To provide workshops and sessions that are application driven, and are relevant to the Caribbean community of GIS users
5. To foster a Caribbean GIS network

Visit www.urisa.org for conference information.