Today was the first day of the ESRI User Conference in San Diego.  It was a day filled with new software, apps, and inspirational talks by special people.  The plenary talk today, as always, highlighted the newest and greatest software and tools in development at ESRI.  These tools included ArcGIS Professional, this is a new desktop gis platform developed from the ground up to be a multi-threaded 64-bit application for the windows platform.  This new application has new and more intuitive workflows for GIS professionals.  Beyond the new software ESRI highlighted several new tools for building web and mobile apps that we can build with little to no programming.  These apps ranged from new web apps that are available from within ArcGIS Online to new native application builders such as App Studio for ArcGIS that will allow for the easy design, implementation, and deployment of native applications for iOS, Android, Linux, and Windows phone devices.  After the initial talk by Jack Dangermond and his team we had the pleasure to hear from the former Governor of Maryland about how local and state government have changed by using GIS.  We also heard from the President and CEO from National Geographic Society and his vision for a geographically enlightened youth in the United States and the world and the role that GIS plays in this vision.  Last, we heard from a head doctor within the World Health Organization (WHO) and the important role that GIS played in the control and the continued fight against EBOLA in the past year.  I am sure that we will hear a lot more about these new software and apps in the days ahead. 

To view videos from the Plenary Sessions they can be viewed and shared from the following link:

• Keynote from Jack Dangermond
• R&D at Esri
• Southwest Florida Water Management District - A Mission-Critical Approach to Water
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - Web GIS Delivers Safety and Efficiency
• Beck's Hybrids - Feeding the World: Precision Agriculture Simplified
• State of Victoria, Australia, Government - Proactive Rejuvenation: Ignite Your Potential
• World Health Organization - The Battle against Ebola and Polio
• National Geographic Society - Understanding Geography
• Mentoring the Next Generation - Connecting GIS with Education
• Keynote from Martin O'Malley - Smart Government: Reduce the Distance between People