2012 Advocacy Agenda

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For the Nation Initiatives

NSGIC believes that our Nation needs common geospatial data that are useful to all levels of government and others.  Creating separate data for each level of government is wasteful.  Since 2005, NSGIC has promoted its “For the Nation” initiatives, starting with Imagery for the Nation (IFTN). These initiatives must be built through consensus by all stakeholders to meet their collective business needs. Several states have begun to manage such programs with their local government partners.

National data layers should be built by aggregating local data into statewide files that are provided to the Federal government, or through large area contracting efforts managed by state and federal agencies to provide better products and save money. The following initiatives are key components of this year’s Advocacy Agenda.

ADDRESSES FOR THE NATION

Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911), is driving requirements for better, more accurate mapping so that emergency calls made with mobile devices that transmit their location coordinates (points) can be accurately matched to street addresses and other map data to assist 9-1-1 dispatchers. Most street address information is not accurate, complete, or current enough to meet the needs of NG911.

Street addresses are used every day by emergency responders and for a myriad of other important uses. Street addresses are the most common way that government and business data are tied to locations. Address data is collected and maintained by many organizations in an uncoordinated manner with varying levels of quality that can’t easily be shared. NG911 represents a major change from current 9-1-1 systems that match a landline telephone number with a street address for dispatch purposes. What is needed is a nationally coordinated approach to create and maintain standardized address data that meet the needs of NG911 and can also be made available to support the wide range of address data needs of the US Census Bureau, U.S. Post Office and other agencies. As NG911 systems are being designed, and as the Census Bureau is revisiting their strategy for maintaining address data, we have an opportunity to build it right and build it once.

NSGIC believes that Addresses For The Nation should leverage these requirements, to save lives, improve government efficiency and aid economic growth. A key requirement to realizing this vision is for the data to be publicly available.

• The Census Bureau should partner with the States and other Federal agencies to leverage their combined resources to create and maintain Addresses For The Nation.
  

• The Census Bureau is encouraged to identify effective methods for exchanging address data with Federal, state, local and tribal governments in support of programs such as public safety.
  

TRANSPORTATION FOR THE NATION

At NSGIC’s request, the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) funded a strategic planning effort for developing nationwide road centerline data. In July 2011, US DOT released an excellent strategic plan for this initiative which led to a requirement that all state DOTs submit comprehensive GIS data for their road networks.

• A business plan must still be developed to ensure a sustainable program that will meet stakeholder needs.
  

IMAGERY FOR THE NATION

NSGIC’s flagship initiative was first proposed in 2005 as a partnership between federal, state and local governments. The concept clearly demonstrated that costs could be shared and significantly reduced by creating products over large areas to reduce contracting costs. Although the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) incorporated most of the basic features of IFTN and is invaluable to many states, the entire initiative may be difficult to fund in this economy.

• Comprehensive contracting solutions must be developed for the states and their partners.
  

Governance

Data production has shifted from the Federal government to state/local governments and the private sector. In spite of this, the United States still uses a federal-centric governance model for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). This must change to a model that is more inclusive of state and local efforts. Building the NSDI will require implementing effective governance models that include the entire stakeholder community. This will require an independent national oversight authority that has the ability to regulate agency budgets.

Federal programs that are clearly tied to the use of geospatial data are normally effective in getting budget appropriations for their projects.  If similar data needs across different federal programs were better coordinated, it would reduce duplication of effort, increase economies of scale and save taxpayer money.  The mission of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is well suited to oversee this coordination, but they are not positioned to affect geospatial budgets or to properly incentivize federal programs to encourage collaboration and cooperation. 

NSGIC advocates the following actions:

• Move the FGDC from the Department of Interior to an oversight agency such as GSA or OMB to increase its authority and ability to coordinate across federal agencies.
  

• Increase the authority and resources available to the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) to allow local, tribal and state government, academia and the private sector to have a more effective role in advising the Federal government on NSDI issues.
  

• Form an inclusive governance mechanism in which all stakeholders are empowered to define the NSDI, determine the best methods for building it, and to measure its success.
  

• Encourage states to implement effective strategic and business plans to create viable statewide spatial data infrastructures with the stakeholder community.