The University of Texas at El Paso established the Regional Geospatial Center in 2005 funded by congress as a prototype with Stephen F. Austin State university (SFASU) / Columbia Center. The center is physically located on campus in the Research and Business Development complex in Kelly Hall suite 115. The centers will provide accurate geospatial data to local emergency responders including the Texas National Guard and other member of the El Paso region’s emergency response community.

The Center will also be involved in the development of geospatial applications to support UTEP research and service activities in a variety of areas including border security, economic development and public health. The Regional Geospatial Center will be connected to its partner in East Texas at SFASU and the Texas Natural Resource Information System to demonstrate and provide backups in the event of catastrophic system failure. GIS is crucial in emergency planning and decision making. Therefore the Center will initially collect data that are most important for such decisions.The Center will help direct some of the research that relates to GIS and add the data components or attributes that will serve the main goals.

UTEP is an active member of Paso Del Norte mapping for public access organization which includes all GIS professionals in El Paso, TX. Donna Anna NM. and Cd. Juarez Chih. Data and maps are published on the website and updated periodically by participating members representing many organizations.