Oklahoma State Representative Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) will provide keynote remarks to the Public Safety GIS User Group of the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation on June 25 at 9:00 a.m. Murphey`s presentation will occur at the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism in Oklahoma City. The user group workshop is sponsored by the Oklahoma Council of Firefighter Training, Lincoln, Nebraska Police Department and Oklahoma State Fire Marshall`s office. It is designed to assist public safety leaders in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas in gaining new ideas about the use of geographic information technologies to solve public safety challenges.

Murphey, who chairs the House of Representatives` Government Modernization Committee and the Oklahoma Integrated Justice Information Systems Steering (OIJIS) Committee, will speak to the group about the importance of the utilization of geographic information systems (GIS) in coordinating emergency response. Murphey is also expected to emphasize the responsible use of technology and to encourage open source and Government 2.0 transparency components of the technology which will allow for greater interaction between the public and public safety officials at a lower cost to taxpayers.

"It is a moral imperative for public safety agencies to quickly deploy new technologies to provide life saving services. These technologies allow life saving services to be provided in a more transparent and responsive manner than ever before," Murphey said.

Murphey has long been an advocate of public safety and law enforcement policy issues. Murphey serves on the House Public Safety Committee and won approval for House Bill 2215 during the 2008 legislative session, which allows the Department of Public Safety to streamline the process for building a practice firing range for State Troopers with donated resources. "It is always exciting to have the opportunity to bring two of my most emphasized policy initiatives (technology and public safety) together in a presentation," Murphey said.

For additional information about the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation, visit http://www.publicsafetygis.org/.