Municipal GIS Leaders take part in a discussion to give you the opportunity to ask questions and learn from their experiences. We will discuss the variety of Municipal GIS Service Delivery Platforms that their GIS teams maintain, internally and externally, as well as, GIS related initiatives and innovations that are happening in their Municipalities.

• Nicole Schleifer, Geomatics/Mapping Manager at City of Peterborough

• Rob Halko, Information Management Lead at Town of East Gwillimbury

• Jordan Rogers, Manager, Enterprise GIS, Information Systems & Technology at City of Kingston

• Randal Rodger, Program Manager, Geospatial Analytics, Technology & Solutions at City of Ottawa

•  Adam Commeford, Team Lead, Location Intelligence & Data Visualization, Digital Innovation & Information Technology at City of Brampton

Nicole Schleifer - Panelist

Nicole is currently the Geomatics/Mapping Manager at the City of Peterborough. She is responsible for leading the ongoing development and delivery of the City’s corporate GIS. Nicole has spent almost 2 decades working with municipal governments in everything GIS, she enjoys challenging her organization to think spatially and ensuring her team has the appropriate resources and tools to accommodate.  Her education includes a GIS Applications Specialist post graduate certificate from Fleming College.

Rob Halko - Panelist

at the Town of East Gwillimbury. He is passionate about utilizing technology in creative and effective ways, to simplify workflows and produce cost-effective results for the municipal sector. People are at the heart of it all - Rob likes to see everyone be successful and find joy in the day to day. His education includes a GIS Applications Specialist post graduate certificate from Fleming College.

Randal Rodger - Panelist

Randal has been innovating all things geospatial at the City of Ottawa for over 25 years. He is currently Program Manager of the Geospatial Analytics, Technology and Solutions (GATS) team and oversees the development of the Digital Twin and Reality Capture programs. His portfolio also includes the Geo-Information Centre and Geospatial Projects and Operations Units. Early in his career he shared his geospatial knowledge teaching at Algonquin College, as part of the MAP development team and during his years working on enterprise systems (ESRI, Sun Microsystems, Vision, Oracle).  He then left the server room behind and headed over to Planning and Growth Management to manage Mapping & Graphics and to develop a strong geospatial culture within the Planning department and beyond.   If he is not at work he is likely out cycling somewhere.

Jordan Rogers, GISP - Panelist 

Jordan is a senior GIS professional who is currently the Manager of Enterprise GIS at City of Kingston.  Jordan’s agricultural background and interest in land stewardship led him to discover his passion for geography and GIS at the University of Ottawa.  He has been working in the GIS field since 2011 and obtained his GISP designation in 2016.  He has had the opportunity to work with several municipalities as well as in conservation, and utilities.

Adam Commeford, GISP - Panelist

Adam is the Team Lead for the Location Intelligence & Data Visualization Team at the City of Brampton. With 15 years of experience in municipal GIS, he specializes in user experience, solution development and open data analysis. Along with an Honours Degree in Geomatics and GIS Applications Specialist Certificate, Adam is an active ESRI GIS Ambassador and Certified GIS Professional (GISP) who enjoys promoting geospatial awareness through the building and sharing of useful web apps and solutions.

Marikka Williams, GISP - Panel Moderator

Marikka is a graduate of the University of North Texas and has been GISP certified by GISCI since 2008. Marikka is a GIS Professor for the GIS Post Diploma, Common First Semester and Environmental Technician programs at Fleming College, Eastern section board member for BeSpatial Ontario, and Mapping and Technologies Spatial Data Strategies Chair for Canadian Cartographic Association (CCA).

She has 20+ years of experience providing GIS services to support Municipal Operations, Engineering Consulting, and Higher Education. She joined Fleming College, as GIS Professor in 2014, and teaches Spatial Analysis, Geovisualization, Municipal Mapping, Geomatics in Surveying, Remote Sensing and Fundamentals of Geomatics. As Mapping Technologies and Spatial Data Interest Group Chair for the CCA, she seeks to build awareness around mapping technologies to deliver spatial information that supports business practices in both public and private sectors. As the manager for the BeSpatial Eastern section, she volunteers to bring GIS education, career development and networking opportunities to students and GIS Professionals.