Broadband Mapping Funding Available

The US Department of Commerce has released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) (PDF) for a State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. The Notice is published in the Federal Register. There is also a Fact Sheet (PDF).

The media announcement, from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), explains that the funds are intended to support the collection of state-level broadband data, "as well as state-wide broadband mapping and planning."

The Program will provide approximately $240 million in grants to assist states or their designees to develop state-specific data on the deployment levels and adoption rates of broadband services. These data, including publicly available state-wide broadband maps, will also be used to develop the comprehensive, interactive national broadband map that NTIA is required by the Recovery Act to create and make publicly available by February 17, 2011.

This is a grant opportunity that has been expected for some time. Most states have already established teams working on possible approaches to broadband mapping. Broadband mapping is a part of the "Technology for the 21st Century" section of the NSGIC 2008-2009 Advocacy Agenda (PDF). And broadband mapping has been the subject of presentations and discussions at the most recent NSGIC Annual (September 2008) and Midyear (February 2009) conferences.

The program allows only one grant application per state. State-level grants will range from $1.9 million to $3.9 million. Applications are to be accepted via grants.gov between July 14 and August 14, 2009.

NSGIC Member David Arbeit Named CGIO in Minnesota

In a move that surprised some in the state by its speed, Minnesota Commissioner of Administration Sheila Reger yesterday named David Arbeit as the state's first-ever Chief Geospatial Information Officer (CGIO). Mr. Arbeit had served as the director of the Office of Geographic and Demographic Analysis until this week.

His job change came on Wednesday morning, June 24, at a public meeting -- named "Point of Beginning" (PDF) -- called to introduce the new Minnesota Geospatial Information Office. The legislation (PDF) that created the office that was developed and passed just this year.

NSGIC President-Elect Will Craig, Associate Director at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, and long a leader in GIS in Minnesota, was there.

"The Commissioner of Administration was invited to say a few words, invited David forward, and anointed him before us all," reports Mr. Craig. "I don't think anyone expected it at yesterday's gathering. We had expected David to be anointed, but nothing official had happened or been announced until this public meeting."

The appointment, the second announcement of a GIO this year, was noted yesterday on the web site of Government Technology News, which took the opportunity to further explain the idea of a Geospatial Information officer (GIO):

Modeled after a chief information officer (CIO), the GIO position -- instituted in some federal agencies and this March in California -- has served to acknowledge the importance of geospatial data and its coordination.

Will Craig was pleased with the appointment and proud of his state's approach to GIS coordination.

"I think we've got something unique here," he explained. "Michael Terner, from Applied Geographics, says were are the only place that has a GIO that reports to a state-level advisory body composed of the all state agencies with significant GIS interests, such as the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture. It's a real federation, trying to find efficiencies by coordinating activities."

Mr. Terner and his company assisted the state in the drafting of A Program for Transformed GIS in the State of Minnesota (PDF) that called for the creation of the Minnesota Geospatial Information Office and the creation of the CGIO position.

Registration is Now Open for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference

Now is the time to register for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. You can register on-line or download a printable registration form (PDF).

The conference, set for October 4 through October 8, will include the usual NSGIC mix of meetings, meals, networking, late-night brainstorms, peer-to-peer challenges and inspiration, and that astounding realization we all end up with around the third day: there's just a crazy amount of GIS coordination going on around the nation, and we're all a part of it!

The conference theme -- Fifty States Rockin' Solid -- is an accurate evocation of the intensity of a NSGIC conference.

Folks gathered at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel will hear from state and local leaders, from private sector partners, and from many federal agencies. They will caucus and hold business meetings. They will argue with and teach one another in the hallways. They will sit down together in any nook they can find and plan the sorts of projects that expand the use and sharing of geospatial tools and information by local, state and federal government in service to the people.

There's no good reason why you shouldn't be a part of this.

Registration for NSGIC members is $485 before September 4, or $570 after September 4, and $670 after September 25. For non-members, registration starts at $685 before September 4, rises to $770 after September 4, and to $870 after September 25.

Registration for all non-sponsoring corporate attendees is $1,500. So, why not consider becoming a sponsor?

In any case, registration is now open. So. Go and register.

Congressional Research Service Looks at GIS

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has published a new report that looks at GIS, geospatial data, the NSDI, the FGDC, various geospatial coordination groups, and the challenges and opportunities that the geospatial community faces.

The report -- Geospatial Information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Current Issues and Future Challenges (PDF) -- includes a primer on GIS that would be useful in introducing GIS to new audiences, particularly among policy-level leaders. It also presents of examples of uses of geospatial information and explores the issues of geospatial data coordination, governance, and data sharing.

The report ends with a discussion subtitled "A National GIS?" which draws on the several proposals offered at the time of the presidential transition earlier this year. It concludes:

Congress may wish to consider how a national GIS or geospatial infrastructure would be conceived, perhaps drawing on proposals for these national efforts as described above, and how they would be similar to or differ from current efforts. Congress may also wish to examine its oversight role in the implementation of OMB Circular A-16, particularly in how federal agencies are coordinating their programs that have geospatial components. In 2004, GAO acknowledged that the federal government, through the FGDC and Geospatial One-Stop project, had taken actions to coordinate the government’s geospatial investments, but that those efforts had not been fully successful in eliminating redundancies between agencies. As a result, federal agencies were acquiring and maintaining potentially duplicative data sets and systems. Since then, it is not clear whether federal agencies are now successfully coordinating among themselves and measurably eliminating unnecessary duplication of effort. An additional challenge is how Congress oversees the federal geospatial enterprise when so much government information has a geospatial component, and many departments and agencies are actively involved in acquiring and using geospatial data for their own purposes.

The The Congressional Research Service provides research support to members of Congress and to congressional committees. It does not directly post its reports for the public, but other services, in this case the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), often post CRS reports.

The FAS web page that collects CRS reports includes this explanatory note:

The Congressional Research Service, a congressional support agency, does not make its publications directly available to the public online. The FAS collection of CRS reports indexed below primarily addresses national security, foreign policy and related topics. These reports are provided without CRS authorization as a public service.

Second Call for Content for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference

The NSGIC Conference Planning Committee has released its second and final call for content for the 2009 Annual NSGIC Conference. The Conference is scheduled for October 4 through 8, at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. This follows a first call, in April.

The NSGIC Annual Conference is an opportunity to explore state-level GIS coordination activities without losing focus on the NSGIC Advocacy Agenda (PDF).

Ideas for conference content should be e-mailed to Tony Spicci. While all suggestions are welcome, it is really very helpful to include names of individuals or groups that can present on the topic suggested.

The conference committee will review all suggestions and try to accommodate as many as time permits. A separate call for topics for the state caucus meetings will be released prior to the conference.

A Few Words From the NSGIC President: What is Your Bandwidth?

The following is the eighth in a series of monthly guest-posts from 2008-2009 NSGIC President Learon Dalby, of Arkansas.

This is not about the bits and bytes your CPU can process, nor about the rate at which they are processed. This column is about your time, about our time as an organization.

NSGIC has been involved in a number of activities this year. Many of those have been brought to completion and highlighted on the blog, others are just continuing nags that never seem to end. No doubt we are all busy; often too busy doing our jobs to actually do our jobs.

I was recently surprised to learn the estimated amount of time our office is on the phone, email or using social media. I guess it really shouldn't have been such a big surprise since those are all tools for communication which is a requirement for coordination. Nonetheless, we are all juggling numerous things.

Now that I have you thinking…

Have you considered running for a NSGIC office; for President-Elect or for the NSGIC Board? No, I am serious! NSGIC needs you! A Call for Nominations went out on the membership listserv this week and I urge you to consider answering the call.

Have you thought about what should be on our next NSGIC Advocacy Agenda? Get ready, the call for submissions for the 2009-2010 Advocacy Agenda will be out soon. If there's an issue that is important to you, please submit it for consideration. And be be prepared to serve as a lead if your issue becomes part of the final NSGIC Advocacy Agenda. This is a very important part of what we do. This agenda keeps us focused; without it we would lose sight of the end game and waste our bandwidth chasing whatever is the issue of the day.

I leave you with a quote from one of my favorite books, Good to Great.

Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.

NSGIC needs you, your time, your energy, your interest. Your bandwidth.

The Economist Noticed!

The Economist magazine has a short feature on the power of presenting information through maps. In Mapping a better world, the magazine looks at some recent successes in the use of maps and on-line map presentation to address social and political challenges.

For most people it is merely a handy tool to find a nearby pizzeria or get directions to a meeting. But mapping technology has matured into a tool for social justice. Whether it is to promote health, safety, fair politics or a cleaner environment, foundations, non-profit groups and individuals around the world are finding that maps can help them make their case far more intuitively and effectively than speeches, policy papers or press releases.

The story details uses of mapped information for a variety of purposes, including political activism, law enforcement, and social science applications.

And it includes a quote from NSGIC member Jeff Vining, of Gartner:

“Today you are allowed to visualise data in ways you couldn’t even understand just a few years ago,” says Jeff Vining of Gartner, a consulting firm.

With thanks to ESRI and GotGeoInt, on twitter, for the link!

Who Will We Be Listening To? Reading? Watching?

Directions Magazine is looking for suggestions as to who we, as a geospatial community, will be listening to in the near future. They have established a survey looking for the most influential people in the geospatial world for 2010 and beyond.

Many, many people have helped get us to we where we are today; their names fill the textbooks and magazines of the last 35 years. Who will fill those shoes in the coming years?

The survey asks for name, title, and reasons why that person should be considered for inclusion in a community-wide vote, later this summer to "tease out the top ten."

Who will you be listening to?

NAIP Expands to Cover More States in 2009

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that the Farm Services Agency (FSA) would allocate the full $24 million available to the 2009 National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP).

NAIP will also attract additional partnership funds from federal and state agencies increasing the expenditure to approximately $30 million. This event reflects well on the efforts of the entire geospatial community to realize Imagery For The Nation (IFTN) as a viable national program, and it signals a new level of cooperative effort between NSGIC and its corporate partners.

The expanded coverage of 32 states -- against the original plan of 15 states -- means that roughly two-thirds of the country will obtain much-needed imagery. This of course will have a very positive impact on the public, and the federal, state and local agencies that use NAIP. Many states are already seeking to procure enhanced products. Efforts are underway to increase and secure additional NAIP funds in the coming years to obtain complete coverage. NSGIC leadership will continue to play a supporting role in these efforts.

"NSGIC applauds USDA leadership for moving forward with additional funding for NAIP and the efforts of the geospatial community to make this happen" said NSGIC President Learon Dalby, of Arkansas. "Building on the recent success with NAIP, NSGIC will continue to advocate for the high resolution leaf-off portion of IFTN. The nation is just beginning to see tangible evidence that our years of work are paying off, but IFTN won’t be a reality until the entire program is funded."

Help Wanted: Wisconsin State Cartographer

The Badger State is looking for a new State Cartographer (PDF). The University of Wisconsin-Madison has advertised for a person to head the Wisconsin State Cartographer’s Office, a permanent unit of the Geography Department at the UW-Madison.

This position offers a challenging and unique opportunity to serve as one of the state’s leading experts in mapping and geospatial information technologies. It provides leadership, outreach, coordination, and the gathering and dissemination of information on a variety of issues serving the geospatial community and the general public.

The incumbent, Ted Koch, is retiring after a long and distinguished career. The job posting closes on June 15. Further information and application instructions are available on-line from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Plan on Being in Cleveland in October

Registration is now open for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference: Fifty States Rockin' Solid.

The conference will be held at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel (in Ohio, as you might expect) from October 4 through 8. The preliminary agenda (in Excel format) includes state caucus sessions, committee meetings, workshops, open discussions with private sector partners, homeland security training sessions and open-mic sessions. There will be a social event at the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.

The registration fee for members is $485 by September 4, it is $570 after September 4, and $670 if after September 25. For non-members, registration is $685 before September 4, $770 after that date, and $870 if after September 25. For all non-sponsoring corporate attendees, the registration fee is $1,500.

On-line registration is available as well as a downloadable PDF registration form.

Theme Set for 2009 NSGIC Conference

The theme has been chosen for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference, October 4 through 8, in Cleveland, Ohio.

NSGIC 2009: Fifty States Rockin’ Solid

The theme makes obvious reference to the establishment, in Cleveland, of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the (unofficial?) Cleveland theme song, "Cleveland Rocks!"

"This year's theme reflects NSGIC's commitment to all 50 states -- and insular areas -- working together to build the NSDI," explains Conference Committee Chair Tony Spicci, of Missouri. "It also recognizes that we’re going to have some fun doing it."

Conference plans include a social event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

An Intriguing Question

There's legislation proposed in Texas to require a disclaimer on maps or on-line data hosted by government agencies if that data "was not produced using information from an on-the-ground survey conducted by or under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor."

The disclaimer would have to say:

This product is for informational purposes and may not have been prepared for or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. It does not represent an on-the-ground survey and represents only the approximate relative location of property boundaries.

Joe Francica had a post on All Points Blog about this yesterday (Texas Bill to Require Disclaimer on Geospatial Data) and he and Adena Schutzberg discuss it today on their Podcast.

It's an interesting discussion. Adena notes that the idea does do one thing that GIS professionals would support; it highlights the need for some disclaimer about what data users are looking at ("Data on map may be closer than they appear.")

But she also asks what I think is a key question:

Are there sites out there where you can actually get on-line data that was produced by a surveyor that can be used for legal engineering and survey purposes?

We spend most of our time looking at stuff that is specifically not; that does not fall into that category because that is where most GIS lives right now.

So it would be really interesting to see the other side of the coin, whether it is from Texas or another state.

On the face of it, this is a requirement that makes a certain amount of sense, but does it solve a particular problem? Is it truly meaningful?

And, once we start looking at this issue closely, where does it finally lead? To more "GIS V. Survey" fights? Or to tough questions like that posed by Ms. Schutzberg?

National IT Dialogue Follow-Up #1

I got a very nice e-mail just now from Earl Devaney and Ed DeSeve, who headed up the recent Recovery Dialogue on IT Solutions, thanking me for my comments during the dialogue last week. I had commented on the two ideas submitted by NSGIC: enhancing recovery web sites with imagery and thoughts on a nationally consistent approach to collecting geospatial location information.

The "thank you" e-mail noted that there were over 500 ideas suggested, with more than 1,300 comments from among the over 23,000 unique visitors.

With your help, the Recovery Dialogue made history by providing government with a new, proven mechanism for gathering input from individuals and stakeholders. This initiative set out to allow the public an opportunity to submit, debate, and vote on the best ideas for providing the public transparent access to recovery information. We are now compiling the ideas, tools, and approaches from the Dialogue and, this week, the National Academy of Public Administration will present the ideas from the dialogue to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to consider during the evaluation phase for building out Recovery.gov.

Needless to say, NSGIC will keep an eye on this process. We have two primary interests:

• Making sure that geospatial data and tools are used, and used well; and
  
• Trying to learn from this Dialogue ways in which we ourselves can do better job of communicating among the states and with our own constituents.
  

These are interesting times that we live in.