The FCC's Geographic Information Officer Will Speak on Using Broadband to Support Health Care

REDLANDS, Calif., June 1 — (PRNewswire) — Michael Byrne, geographic information officer (GIO) for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will give the Keynote Address at the 2010 ESRI Health GIS Conference, to be held October 18–20, 2010, in Denver, Colorado. As GIO of the FCC, Byrne plays a key role in developing a nationwide broadband Internet strategy that has the power to transform the way patients and providers access affordable health care. His presentation will examine strategies for using broadband technology to extend the reach of health care to the greatest number of citizens.

"Making health care information more geographically relevant to consumers is one of the major tenets of recent U.S. health care reform," states Byrne. "Broadband capacity building can work as a vehicle for improving accessibility to health care services as well as reducing health care disparities regardless of the geography." Byrne's previous positions include GIO for the State of California, eServices program manager for the California Department of Public Health, and enterprise geographic information system (GIS) architect for the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

In addition, featured speaker Dr. Amy Hillier, assistant professor for PennDesign Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, will share her pioneering experiences in using GIS technology to map social services, support advocacy, and evaluate social program impacts.

The annual Health GIS Conference brings together health and social services practitioners, researchers, executives, and policy makers to examine innovative applications of geographic technology to health and human services challenges. Moderated sessions will include a lively discussion of geomedicine, the use of GIS to better understand, manage, and communicate issues related to environmental impacts on human health. Those who want to dive deeper can attend sessions led by ESRI technical specialists. One session will delve into spatial statistics for GIS, and another will invite audience participation in building GIS workflow frameworks that respond to public health and human services objectives.

"The conference is a great opportunity to network with a growing community of health and human services practitioners who are applying geographic technology to today's issues and challenges," says Bill Davenhall, ESRI global marketing manager for health and human services solutions. The format of featured speakers, moderated exchanges, and breakout sessions combined with a hands-on GIS learning center and GIS EXPO will give attendees a one-stop opportunity to explore a wide range of GIS applications.

The early registration discount deadline is July 16, 2010. Online registration and additional information are available by visiting www.esri.com/healthgis.

About Health GIS

ESRI's innovative GIS software plays a major role in disease surveillance by helping health professionals understand the dynamics of geography when studying the spread of disease. GIS is the enabling technology that adds a spatial component to information, making it a powerful tool for identifying, tracking, and responding to disease patterns and health services needs. ESRI software is extensively used by health and human services organizations throughout the world, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), 112 national health ministries, and over 400 hospitals. 

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com/news.

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ESRI U.S. Federal Communications Commission FCC Susan Harp of ESRI Phone: +1-909-793-2853, ext. 1-2860 Email Contact Web: http://www.esri.com