I was hired by the Federal Government as a Geographer in the 90s and used GRASS and ESRI products. I think GRASS has been around since the mid 80s. I did most of my early GIS work in Alaska so not CT. I do know I have been around a long time when I say "Pro has Layouts like ArcView used to have, isn't that great!" and my younger co workers look at me like I have three heads.

Stacy Deming, GISP

GIS Manager

GIS Department
Housatonic Valley Association

P.O. Box 28
Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754
Office: 860-672-6678 (ext. 111)

Cell: 860-378-9345

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**Due to COVID-19 precautions I am currently working at my home office most days but will be in the Cornwall Bridge office occasionally. Please contact me via my cell phone number for a prompt response.**

On Thu, Sep 24, 2020 at 11:46 AM Meghan McGaffin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

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I’m curious, when did people in CT start getting hired for GIS positions outside of academia? Not the engineer or zoning officer who obtained GIS skills, but the earliest positions where the job role was just to know GIS software as a desktop product? I was hired as a GIS intern in 2003 so I’m aging myself here but there were already people working in the field and there were consulting firms that existed to support them.

And to set a line in the sand, I’m going to use Wikipedia and say that “In 1986, Mapping Display and Analysis System (MIDAS), the first desktop GIS product ^[15] was released for the DOS operating system. This was renamed in 1990 to MapInfo for Windows when it was ported to the Microsoft Windows platform. This began the process of moving GIS from the research department into the business environment." ArcView 1.0 was released in 1991 and shapefiles weren’t a thing until ArcView 2.

So, in CT, where did it begin?

Meghan C. McGaffin

GIS Coordinator

O +1 203 344 7887 x5002

E [log in to unmask]
195 Church Street, 7^th Floor, New Haven, CT 06510

www.mminc.com │ www.slrconsulting.com

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