As a senior resident fellow, Murphy specializes in infrastructure/transportation, public policy, retail/urban entertainment, housing, real estate finance, and environmental issues.

Since January 2006, Murphy had served as ULI’s Gulf Coast liaison, helping to coordinate with the leadership of New Orleans and the public to advance the implementation of rebuilding recommendations made by ULI’s advisory services panel last fall. In addition, he worked with the Louisiana state leadership, as well as with leadership in hurricane-impacted areas in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to identify areas appropriate for ULI involvement.

“In my long public service career, I've been involved with many aspects of building and maintaining infrastructure. I'm very pleased to have this opportunity to address an audience of practitioners who use geospatial technology in government, utilities, and businesses to preserve, expand, and protect the infrastructure assets that are so vital to our way of life. Particularly now as climate change, energy independence and other forces re-define our society, this role becomes both more challenging and critical.”

 Prior to his service as the ULI Gulf Coast liaison, Murphy served three terms as the mayor of Pittsburgh, from January 1994 through December 2005. During that time, he initiated a public-private partnership strategy that leveraged more than $4.5 billion in economic development in Pittsburgh. Murphy led efforts to secure and oversee $1 billion in funding for the development of two professional sports facilities, and a new convention center that is the largest certified green building in the United States. He developed strategic partnerships to transform more than 1,000 acres of blighted, abandoned industrial properties into new commercial, residential, retail and public uses; and he oversaw the development of more than 25 miles of new riverfront trails and urban green space.

 Online registration for the Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference will close Tuesday, March 4. Registration fees start at $379. Exhibits-only passes are $25. Full details about the conference are available at the GITA Web site, located at www.gita.org/gis, or by contacting GITA headquarters at 303-337-0513; e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The mission of the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) is to provide excellence in education, information exchange, and applied research on the use and benefits of geospatial information and technology in worldwide infrastructure applications. Visit GITA on the Web at www.gita.org.