Lehigh Carbon Community College will be celebrating Geographic Information System (GIS) Day on Wednesday, April 28, with speakers, demonstrations, and an opportunity to experiment with the GIS software.

The program will include an overview of the new certificate program at the college, which began in spring 2009, and how GIS impacts our lives.The event will be held in Room 203 of the Technology Center on LCCC's main campus in Schnecksville from 3-6 p.m. Members of the community, businesses, and prospective students are welcome.GIS technology integrates maps with database operations to solve everyday problems ranging from environmental protection to emergency planning to crime prevention.Most commonly employed in online services such as Google Maps and MapQuest, GIS is a powerful, vital tool that can query, analyze, and map data needed for decision making."Every single business or industry can benefit from GIS in one way or another," said Joyce Thompson, faculty and coordinator of LCCC's Computer Science Program, where the GIS certificate will be housed. "Today you can't watch a news or weather broadcast or even follow the trends in the stock market without some form of mapping. GIS teaches us how to take raw data and transform it into information. This application will make a perfect fit into many of the programs at LCCC, not just business, but education, science, criminal justice, and computer science to name a few."GIS has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor and Industry (DL&I) as a key emerging and evolving industry with numerous opportunities as a career path.In fact, in December 2007, the DL&I announced that there will not be enough trained geospatial technologists in the coming years.There has been a "land rush" to grow new practitioners in a new field where limited experience yields competitive pay.Please contact Joyce Thompson at

GIS@lccc.edu for any additional information; visit our website for directions

www.lccc.edu .