A Geospatial Presentation of Campaign Finance Information

The Federal Elections Commission has established a map-based interface with its campaign contributions data.

The 2008 Presidential Campaign Finance Map "summarizes financial information disclosed by each active 2008 Presidential candidate who has reported at least $10,000 in contributions from individuals other than the candidate," according to the FEC web site.

The site uses a simple "CONUS" view of the nation, with Alaska and Hawaii tucked-in where Mexico would be. Amounts of contributions are represented by circles of different relative sizes. Clicking on a state's circle will "zoom" to a state-level view with circles showing contribution amounts by 3-digit ZIP code levels. Clicking on those circles, if you have a candidate selected, brings you to the individual contribution records.

Users can view data for all candidates, candidates by party affiliation, or for individual candidates. the map-based presentation offers a simple, intuitive way to view one aspect of campaign contributions -- where geographically they come from.

The site currently shows about $157 million in contributions through the end of March. The next update will come in July.

Moving Forward on the Geospatial Line Of Business

Federal Computer Week reports today on reviews under way at USGS of proposals for management support services and more under the Geospatial Line of Business (LOB).

According to the story, Interior reviewing Geospatial LOB proposals, vendors responded to a Request for Quotes earlier this month.

Under the request for quotes, USGS wants vendors to provide 16 program management support services including project management office support, quarterly and ad hoc reports for the Office of Management and Budget, fiscal 2008 business case and funding strategy, performance management plan, and business requirements strategy and plan.

The RFQ also asks the vendor to develop a geospatial business architecture, which will help agencies understand and implement a standard geospatial business model, value chains for data and services, and other geospatial components.

The federal government released its LOB and asked for comments in 2006. NSGIC was among a number of geospatial groups that provided feedback (PDF).

National Research Council Study on Land Parcel Data

The National Academies Press has announced a pre-publication release of a report on taking a national approach to creating and maintaining a parcel information.

A Committee on Land Parcel Databases was brought together. It included county, state and federal officials and representatives from academia and the private sector. The Committee reviewed previous studies and concluded that "complete national land parcel data is necessary, timely, technically feasible, and affordable."

The report includes nine recommendations to reach the goal of national land parcel data. What follows is my interpretation of these recommendations, based on a first reading of the report's executive summary. Further study may show that I have missed some nuances, but let this be a starting point.

1. There should be federal/national coordinators and further study should determine where best to place that responsibility in the federal government.
2. There needs to be a better understanding of the role of parcel data in the collection and maintenance of several related framework data sets.
3. The federal government should develop a "single, comprehensive, and authoritative" geospatial data set of federal lands.
4. A business plan for land parcel data should be created at a national level.
5. There should be a land parcel data coordinator for tribal trust lands.
6. There should be an effort to better integrate Census Bureau geospatial data, and potentially Title 13 data, into the national land parcel data effort.
7. There should be state-level land parcel data coordinators, integrated with the NSGIC Fifty States Initiative.
8. There should be a funding plan to assist local governments in data collection and maintenance and to make better use of existing federal funding.
9. Federal funding to state and local governments for geospatial projects should be dependent upon those governments making basic parcel data -- not detailed property ownership data -- available in the public domain.
   

The report -- "National Land Parcel Data: A Vision for the Future" -- is available for sale from the National Academies. A free PDF Executive Summary is available. The final published copy is expected later this summer.

I predict that this will be the subject of some continuing discussion.

Court Rules Against MAPPS in QBS Lawsuit

The geo-related web is somewhat abuzz this week-end with the news that the judge in the MAPPS v. USA lawsuit has ruled against MAPPS in a summary judgement that "plaintiffs lack the requisite standing to maintain this action."

All Points Blog had the news as it broke, and offered some analysis after reading the judge's decision (PDF).

The news is posted on the web sites of several GIS-related organizations, such as the Association of American Geographers and the GIS Certification Institute. Both had opposed MAPPS in the lawsuit.

There is a statement from several professional organizations that had opposed MAPPS in the lawsuit (AAG, GISCI, GITA, UCGIS, and URISA) applauding the decision, saying "ruled against special interest groups seeking to strictly limit government contracting for mapping and GIS activities."

MAPPS itself has issued a statement indicating that it intends to continue to pursue the matter:

By ruling on process, the Court did not address the legal merits and policy issues of the case as presented by MAPPS and its co-plaintiffs, which means the question of QBS applicability to mapping is unresolved and leaves the door open to further litigation.

Because the decision was announced on a Friday afternoon, reaction may continue to surface over the next few days and into the next week.

Flood Mapping Reform Discussed on Capitol Hill

Representatives from several groups interested in FEMA's map modernization efforts were in Washington this week to testify at the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Hearing on The Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007 (H.R. 1682).

A key part of the discussion was the effort to modernize FEMA flood maps.

Witnesses included representatives from:

• The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM)
• The Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS)
• The American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)
• The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America
• The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America
• The National Association of Realtors

According to a MAPPS news update, the Mapps representative "called for FEMA to collect accurate ground elevation data using the latest state-of-the-art commercial geospatial technologies." MAPPS also called for a move to fully embrace digital products "with the goal of eliminating paper products by 2010."

The representative of the floodplain managers supported greater use of digital data and GIS data and tools, but suggested that, given limited resources, engineering studies of flood risk based on existing data are more important in the short term than expanded acquisition of new, higher-resolution digital elevation data.

There was support for re-establishing the Technical Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC), but concern that it be given broad representation and sufficient authority to be effective.

The MAPPS testimony also included a suggestion that FEMA be given access to the Census Bureau's Master Address File (MAF). This could be a contentious idea; Census has a tradition, and a legislative mandate, to guard that file closely because of privacy concerns.

The listing of hearing witnesses includes links to the written testimony submitted by each witness. It will eventually also include a hearing transcript.

FGDC Releases Summer 2007 Newsletter

The latest newsletter from the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is available for download from the FGDC web site.

This issue includes a note about NSGIC giving FGDC Staff Director Ivan DeLoatch the NSGIC Distinguished Service Award. It gives an overview of the Dept. of the Interior's Geospatial Modernization Blueprint, which attempts to organize the many geospatial initiatives in the Department. And it provides a brief review of recent FGDC Steering Committee and Coordination Group meetings.

The newsletter lists the 26 projects that were granted 2007 CAP Grant awards under the National Spatial Data Infrastructure Cooperative Agreements Program. It provides an update on the Geospatial Line of Business and the work of the Common Solutions Team. And it lists several emergency response success stories.

GIS in the Oval Office?

The Associated Press is reporting that Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has said that, if elected, he would use a version of the CompStat program that he used as Mayor of New York in addressing issues as president.

"What I'm going to do when I become president is I'm going to use that program to secure our borders," he said during a speech at the Police Officers Association of Michigan's annual convention. "If we did the same thing with our borders that we did with crime in New York City, we could stop people from coming into this country illegally by having a 'BorderStat' program." (via the Chicago Tribune)

Setting aside the political and policy questions (not grist for this particular mill), I note that CompStat is built on a GIS platform, using the geospatial element to organize, analyze, and present crime information.

I doubt that this would really be the first use of GIS in an Oval Office, but this story does suggest to me that the next president might be the first to consciously use GIS as an every day information tool.

That reinforces the need to build an accurate National Spatial Data infrastructure and suggests a need for an interNational Spatial Data infrastructure.

Another (the Official) Update on Imagery for the Nation

The first of a planned series of Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) updates has been posted to the NSGIC web site.

Imagery for the Nation is a cooperative effort to make real a vision of "a sustainable and flexible digital imagery program that meets the needs of local, state, regional, tribal and federal agencies."

Update #1 (PDF) looks at several on-going activities related to the effort:

• Work now under way on a Cost Benefit Analysis study.
• Thoughts on the idea from the Western Governors Association.
• Recent discussions on potential funding options.
• Next steps and "what can I do to help?"

One answer to that last question is very simple:

You can assist the implementation of IFTN by showing your support for this initiative. Please have your organization send a letter of support to NSGIC for posting on its web page. You can simply use the format from one of the letters on the site, or create your own format. What’s important is your show of support.

Stay connected to the NSGIC blog and to the IFTN web site for further updates.

An Update on Imagery for The Nation

Ted Koch, NSGIC's lead on the Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) project, has posted an update on the project on the Wisconsin Mapping Bulletin.

He reports that the National Digital Orthophoto Programs Committee (NDOP) which has been focused on IFTN lately, met in May and continued their work to flesh-out what IFTN will mean:

The NDOP committee will be developing over the next six months a much greater level of detail on technical specifications, and program and management issues. Work on these issues will involve federal, state and local government participation.

He also reports on work on a Cost Benefit Analysis of IFTN funded by the USGS and the USDA

The CBA will compare costs over a 10-year period of the way orthoimagery is currently collected and achieved vs. the potential methods that could be possible under the IFTN proposal. The study will also look at overall risks and benefits to the proposed program.

He notes that the analysis is expected to be published this summer.