Agenda Posted for NGAC Meeting

A draft agenda is now posted for the next meeting of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The meeting is set for June 3 and 4, at the American Institute of Architects Building in Washington, DC.

The agenda includes work on organization issues related to the creation of the NGAC and discussions of the Geospatial Line of Business, Imagery for the Nation, and a National Geospatial Strategy. The meeting is open to the public and there are opportunities for public comment.

Getting Serious About Original Place Names

The April Edition of Spatially Speaking (PDF), the FGDC's monthly update, includes a short article on a grant from the USGS National Geospatial Program Office to the Hawaiian Geographic Information Coordination Council (HIGICC) to enhance the web site of the Hawaii State Board on Geographic Names (HBGN).

The Hawaii names folks have been working through USGS place-name data for the island state (at the USGS' request) and making suggestions on updating the typography and spelling of those names to help users towards a more correct pronunciation of traditional names. The new grant will go towards adding audio files to the HBGN web site to demonstrate proper pronunciations.

The idea is borrowed from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe in Idaho, who have added written and recorded traditional names information on their web site. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe GIS Program has created a Native Names Project (with some USGS funding) that presents information on original names in a searchable database and in several map formats, including as a Google Earth KML.

The project is open to input on names outside of traditional Couer d'Alene areas. Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, for example, is at the same spot as what was once known as Tsi wahswèn:to (MP3) which translates as "at the coal forked mouth."

The projects are expected to expand to include video presentations, additional history, and other information.

Draft Agenda Posted for National Geospatial Advisory Committee Meeting

The FGDC web site has a draft agenda up for the initial meeting of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The meeting is set for April 15 and 16, at the American Institute of Architects Building, on New York Avenue in Washington, DC.

The NGAC is a Federal Advisory Committee set up to "review and comment upon geospatial policy and management issues and will provide a forum to convey views representative of non-federal stakeholders in the geospatial community." It includes members from the private sector, nonprofits, and Academia.

The agenda includes a variety of introductory remarks, briefings on federal geospatial data activities, planning for future study and discussions, and public comment.

The meeting is also announced (PDF) in the March 31 issue of the Federal Register.

2008 CAP Grant Awardees Announced

The FGDC Secretariat has announced the selection of the 2008 NSDI Cooperative Agreements Program (PDF) proposals that will be funded this year. The list includes several NSGIC members and partners. The 2008 grants were awarded in 6 categories, several of which are of greater interest to NSGIC members.

Seven states, and the US Virgin Islands, have been awarded funds to "develop and implement statewide strategic and business plans" under the Fifty States Initiative.

Two universities, a state council, and a state agency have been awarded funds to support for "building data stewardship for The National Map and the NSDI."

And two universities, a city and a state have been awarded funds "to assist in the implementation of FGDC- endorsed [data] standards."

Other categories are:

• Metadata Trainer and Outreach Assistance,
• Best Practices in Geospatial Service Oriented Architecture, and
  
• Joint Canadian and United States Spatial Data Infrastructure Project.

The FGDC has also posted a project status table that will eventually include fact sheets, a projects map, and reports and updates.

Latest FGDC Newsletter Released

The Federal Geographic Data Committee has released its Winter 2007/2008 Newsletter (PDF).

The newsletter includes a detailed article about the late Carol Brandt, who was awarded the first-ever NSGIC Dedicated Service Award in 2007.

There are also articles on using Web Services to deliver framework data, the 10th Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference, the Fifty States Initiative, Geospatial One-Stop, the buzz about metadata in Virginia, and several Tribal Government GIS success stories.

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.

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.

FGDC Releases 2006 Annual Report

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) has released its 2006 Annual Report. The report is available on the FGDC web site in both PDF and HTML versions.

The report includes highlights and successes from th past year, as well as goals for 2007. There is also a status report on the NSDI Framework Data Themes.