2025 WA GIS Conference

Are you a GIS Professional? GISP? WAGISA member? URISA member? If you answer yes, you are obligated to abide by the GIS Code of Ethics.

The Geospatial Technology Competency Model refers to the business and professional ethics. Professional ethics is a competency to be developed.

This workshop will help GIS professionals understand the GIS Code of Ethics and prepare them to apply it when circumstances warrant. When do circumstances warrant? Always, throughout a GIS career.

During the past few years several high-profile cases related to the GIS Code of Ethics have been publicized. Are you prepared to act if placed in a situation that might require you to violate the Code? Are you able to discuss the Code with employers, colleagues, and customers to frame the ethical limits of applying geographic

We will begin this workshop by discussing the characteristics of a profession and the good and harm that professions can cause. The development and use of codes of ethics through history will be reviewed, leading to their wide use within most professions today.

The GIS Code of Ethics will be reviewed and discussed in detail. We will use case studies to understand the practical application of the various obligations defined in the Code. These include:

I. Obligations to Society

II. Obligations to Employers and Funders

III. Obligations to Colleagues and the Profession

IV. Obligations to Individuals in Society

We will also discuss the Locus Charter – A key tool we can promote for the ethical use of geospatial technology. And we will explore a possible addition to the GIS Code of Ethics.

This workshop is intended to be very interactive. We will go into breakout sessions to discuss our understanding of our obligations and how we might react in potential real-world situations.