In Spring 2008, Amruta Sudhalkar, a graduate student in DUSP, initiated the GIS HelpDesk, working with numerous organizations and individuals in Lawrence to provide GIS mapping services and products. In Lawrence, community organizations identified the need for a GIS laboratory located within the City, equipped with the appropriate hardware, software, and skilled GIS technicians in order to benefit from this technology.
While the GIS HelpDesk has been able to accomplish its goal of meeting the community’s mapping needs and involving youth in the process of learning GIS, the project will not be fully sustainable until it is institutionalized in Lawrence. It is toward this end that Sudhalkar received a commitment from the City of Lawrence for resources and space allocation in support of this project. One of the key objectives of this project has been to build capacity in the City of Lawrence through technology transfer and a GIS laboratory that has the potential to do so in a way that benefits community organizations through better representation of spatial data.
