An Interview With an NGAC Member

You might have caught this in the State GIS News portion of the NSGIC Blog sidebar, but I thought the recent interview with a member of National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) from the Wisconsin Mapping Bulletin interesting enough to call your attention to it here as well.

The NGAC membership includes Wisconsin's Don Dittmar, a county Land Information Manager, who was interviewed for the Bulletin by Ted Koch.

Mr. Dittmar explains some of the workings of the group and some of the dynamics that he has seen develop in the first few meetings. He adds a note about the NGAC's purpose:

I think now our most important mission is to refocus the FGDC on building the NSDI with particular attention paid to building on local data, the data that is, for the most part, created at the source.

This interview is worth a read; I don't want to dilute it by just extracting the quotes that resonate with me. Head on over to the Wisconsin Mapping Bulletin and see what you think.

NASCIO Looks at Geospatial Data Issues

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has published a new issue brief that "deals with the growing demand for GIS in every aspect of government decision making," according to the NASCIO news release.

The brief -- "Where’s the Data? Show Me" - Maximizing the Investment in State Geospatial Resources -- is available from the NASCIO web site. It was developed with assistance from a diverse group of experts, including several NSGIC members and partners.

The brief notes the nine coordination criteria developed by NSGIC as part of the Fifty States Initiative and suggests seven additional important issues, from the CIO perspective (paraphrased):

1. Add a geospatial domain to a state's enterprise architecture.
2. Develop enterprise data and process standards.
3. Deal with privacy and security issues at the state policy level.
4. Ensure continuity and disaster recovery of geospatial data resources.
5. Make geospatial data use a normal part of state service.
6. Take advantage of enterprise level contracting and pricing.
7. Recruit, train and develop a geospatially aware and enabled workforce.
   

The brief further suggests a series of calls to action for state CIOs to help govern geospatial data and tools as a part of a state's knowledge asset management and enterprise architecture.

Register Now for NSGIC 2008

Registration is now open for NSGIC's 2008 Annual Conference in Keystone, Colorado.

The conference is set to run from September 7 through 11 and will feature a wide-ranging discussion of issues of import to state GIS Coordinators, local and federal agencies, and their private-sector partners.

Among the major subjects tentatively scheduled to be addressed are:

• Progress on Imagery for the Nation
• Improving addressing and transportation data
• State/federal partnerships to manage hydrography data
  
• Factors for better coordination with and among federal agencies
• USGS "National Map" planning

Members of the NSGIC Corporate Leadership Council will offer panel discussions on subjects such as:

• Handling the large volumes of data now available from digital sensors and LiDAR projects
• Approaches to enterprise licensing of data and software
• QBS and Best-Value contracting

NSGIC conferences are traditionally fast-paced and very active, with meetings starting early in the day and running well into the evenings. State and local GIS coordinators mingle with federal agency staff, sponsors and vendors in an open and friendly gathering at which as much is learned in the hallways as in the meeting rooms.

Registration is $450 for NSGIC members and $650 for non-members before August 8. After August 8 it will be $535 for members and $735 for non-members. Late registration (after August 29) will be $635 for members and $835 for non-members.

Those in the geospatial industry who are interested in spending time with some of the top GIS executives in state governments should consider becoming one of the sponsors of the NSGIC conference. NSGIC sponsors are an integral part of the discussion at each NSGIC conference and can have input into the thinking that guides GIS policy among the states.

And, on a more personal note, the NSGIC crowd is open, welcoming and great group to get to know. Effective GIS coordination is a community-based endeavor; NSGIC models the sort of community-building effort that many states are working to achieve.

More details on COGO

Matteo Luccio has posted a comprehensive overview of the new Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) on The MetaCarta Blog. In Geospatial Organizations Form a Coalition, Luccio offers a list of the organizations that have come together to form COGO (including NSGIC) and has interviewed several of the leaders of those organizations about their goals for COGO. and he discusses the thinking behind the formation of the new group, and some thoughts about how it will work.

NSGIC's Own Barney Krucoff Featured in Google Lat Long Blog

Barney Krucoff, GIS Manager for Washington DC and a valued member of NSGIC, has posted some thoughts on adding his city's data to Google Earth (Google LatLong: Our city in 3D).

As noted yesterday on the Lat Long blog, Washington DC is among the first group of cities for which 3D models have been added to Google via the Cities in 3D Program. The others are Amherst, Massachusetts; Greenville, South Carolina; McMinnville, Tennessee; Nanaimo, British Columbia; Jamestown, New York; and Nashville and Davidson Counties in Tennessee.

Barney's blog post today offers a some thoughts on why the District government's GIS team was eager to take part. He notes that it was the right thing to do, it is a benefit to district neighborhoods, the Google "cloud" is an effective ad free data distribution approach, and that it is a good way to communicate with District residents, the government's clients.

LiDAR as Rock Star?

The rock band Radiohead has released a new "video" made without video. The optical portion of the "House of Cards" single was created using two laser-scanning technologies. One for close-ups of the band and another, a more traditional-feeling LiDAR, for landscapes.

The band partnered with Google for the release and has included data set downloads to allow fans to remix the spatial data themselves.

This has been making something of a splash among the geo-bloggers and music press alike. At least one geo-blogger has some screenshots of playing with the singer's head.

This may be the start of Music Video for the Nation.

(NOTE: The final sentence of this post is a gentle form of self-parody. No offense was intended; none was taken.)

USGS Meets with Northeast States

The USGS held a "meeting among partners" in Albany, New York, this month. The meeting brought together USGS staff with GIS coordinators from northeastern states to discuss common interests and partnership opportunities. It was one in a series of USGS partnership meetings that included a meeting of the southeast states in 2007.

Among the states represented, either by a state GIS Coordinator or staff or by their USGS liaison, were New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Maine, Illinois, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Washington DC, Indiana and Delaware.

USGS staff spoke about efforts to update the National Map program, interactions and partnerships with the homeland security community, integrating GIS data in USGS science efforts, and the renewed interest by USGS leadership in printed topographic maps. Each state gave an update on its latest efforts and several states took the opportunity to outline challenges seen in the years to come in providing meaningful geospatial data.

The meeting featured frank, open and respectful dialogue. I hope to post more information from this meeting as I digest my notes.