Welcome to the 2026 GIS in Action Annual Conference hosted by the Oregon & SW Washington Chapter of the Geospatial Professional Network & Cascadia ASPRS.
We will explore how reliance on traditional blueprints and floorplans has repeatedly led to degraded and inefficient responses during critical incidents, as documented in after-action reports from national tragedies such as Uvalde, Parkland, and others. Using these real-world examples, we will illustrate the core problem facing public safety agencies: the lack of an accurate, accessible, and tactically useful common operating picture in moments where seconds matter. We will walk through the specific limitations of architectural plans during emergencies and introduce ways to provide first responders with a true common operating picture— a map designed not for construction, but for crisis. This session will move from problem to solution, highlighting technologies and strategies that are redefining how agencies prepare for and respond to incidents in schools and large infrastructure environments, and discuss how GIS fits into this picture.
