Resources: An NSDI Collection

The Geodata Policy Blog has started a great list of links to articles, reports and editorials on the discussion around the building of as National Spatial Data Infrastructure for the United States.

The list includes:

• National Geospatial Advisory Council Reports,
• 2009 Proposals for a “National GIS,”
• Congressional Hearing Archives,
• Related Commentary, and
• related documents

And it may grow. It is, if nothing else, certainly worth a bookmark.

“What Cannot be Measured…”

Editor's Note: The following is a guest post from Dennis Goreham, retired GIS coordinator for Utah, and a member of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee.

The National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) has endorsed, as a concept, a paper crafted by the NGAC Governance Subcommittee which seeks to promote the development of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) by creating a more precise definition of the NSDI and of a set of metrics needed to measure progress towards the NSDI.

The paper – a Proposal to Measure Progress Toward Realizing the NSDI Vision (PDF) – takes as its central theme the truism that “what cannot be measured, cannot be managed.” It was presented at the December NGAC meeting and resulted in instruction that the Subcommittee begin implementation, including outreach to refine the metrics approach.

The initial categories of metrics selected by the committee address many aspects of the NSDI beyond its original data-centric definition:

1. Societal metrics intended to determine the extent to which geospatial data, processing and applications have become part of the general information infrastructure and decision support process;
2. Environmental measures which describe the full extent of geospatial activities and their economic implications;
3. Data metrics providing evidence of progress toward the initial completion or the ongoing maintenance of framework data layers at a minimum;
4. Technology metrics for the fitness and quality of the underlying technology infrastructure in use across relevant organizations; and
5. Governance metrics to measure progress toward the realization of a national governance structure for the NSDI.

Readers should note that the proposed measures are national in scope, and not merely federal. There are many opportunities, even responsibilities, for the states and for NSGIC to participate in measuring, analyzing, and communicating metrics that will help manage the NSDI.

The Obama Administration Arrives at NGAC

The following was submitted by Barney Krucoff, the GIS Director for the District of Columbia, Secretary to NSGIC's Board, and a member of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC).

The National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) held its first meeting in April 2008, late in the life of the Bush administration. By the fall of 2008 most of the senior Bush political appointees had left their respective agencies and the government below the cabinet level entered a period in which many key positions were not filled. In such an environment, career employees are well able to keep the government running, but significant operational change is unlikely occur.

The December 2009 NGAC meeting was notable for the energy and direction provided by the Obama administration. Derek Douglas, Executive Office of the President, Xavier de Souza Briggs, Office of Management and Budget, and Andrew Jackson, Department of the Interior, each spoke to the committee. Another administration official, Vivek Kundra, had previously spoken to NGAC (PDF). Each has a very important job to do and must move with extraordinary speed.

Their priorities include:

• Developing resilient communities
• Developing effective place-based policies
• Making the government more transparent
• Ensuring that the Department of the Interior operates efficiently and shares its information

Geospatial data and technology is not on the priority list, but underlies each of these goals. The amount of high-level attention that geospatial will get depends on our communities' ability to quickly mobilize and meet the needs of an administration that is hungry for the data and analysis. In this light, the administration’s budget guidance, which calls of FGDC/Geospatial Line of Business to, “by April 1 … to provide recommendations to revise its governance structure, a 2012 business case and budget request for imagery for the nation and a modernization plan, including a target architecture of the geospatial platform” is perhaps the first and last opportunity to capture the imagination of the Obama administration by helping them do better what they are going to do with or without us.

Also notable from the December NGAC meeting: a serious push from USGS on LiDAR that leverages many of the “For The Nation” principles.

NSGIC President Pens NSDI Goverance Article

NSGIC President Will Craig's article, Governance of the NSDI, made the front page of the Fall 2009 issue of ArcNews.

The US has been working its National Spatial Data Infrastructure -- the NSDI -- since 1994, he observes, but has not made significant progress. He says that the problem is institutional, not technical.

We simply haven’t figured out how to engage and coordinate all the significant players – federal, state, and local, and tribal governments, or the private sector. We need comparable data that comes from all these players and which meets all of their needs: Data for the Nation.

The problem is becoming apparent to Congress. In July a subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on federal geospatial data management. That hearing was preceded by a report of the Congressional Research Service called Geospatial Information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Current Issues and Future Challenges. The report investigates coordination efforts both internally within the federal government and externally with state and local government.

The US has focused all its geospatial data coordination efforts in the Federal Geographic Data Committee. According to Will Craig, the FGDC has a good mission and a good staff, but comes up short in two critical areas:

First, it has no power to require federal agencies to deliver their assigned components of the NSDI. Second, it coordinates only federal activities, not state or local activities.

States have figured out how to coordinate their activities. Many have designated a Geographic Information Officer (GIO) – giving them the power to make state agencies work together and a mandate to encourage cooperation among other levels of government.

Mr. Craig notes that his home state, Minnesota, has two advisory councils -- one for state agencies and one for other GIS communities. Both have direct connections with the GIO.

He suggests that the federal government should follow a simple model:

• Add a GIO to work with the new federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
• Empower FGDC to coordinate federal efforts by moving it to OMB.
• Create a new council to coordinate non-federal activities – giving it the resources to make a difference.
• Finally, add a Congressional oversight committee to watch over all this.

GovTech Scores the Gov 2.0 Summit...

...And calls it for GIS as the big winner in the push for open government.

The article is a review of the Gov 2.0 summit, which had as its theme "The Platform for Change" and which focused on how the government can use "the principles of participation, collaboration, transparency, and efficiency to address the challenges facing our country and the world."

According to Government Technology editor Tod Newcombe, GIS is the key component in that effort, and thus, the winner.

The math is simple. According to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget's Federal Enterprise Architecture framework, 74 percent of government data is location based. At the state and local level, the number is even higher: 80 percent, according to several organizations and publications.

The article goes on to point out that, while government gave us some of the tools that led to the internet and to GPS, the private sector took those tools and starting building a platform for public discourse with them. It holds up Jack Dangermond -- now dubbed "GIS Godfather" -- as an example. And it examines the notion of maps as portals into government for citizens.

For much of this week, I tracked the Gov 2.0 Summit via twitter; it was hash-tagged variously #g2s, #gov20 and a few others. (Note to selves: We should all agree to tweet the coming NSGIC 2009 conference as #nsgic2009.)

There seemed to be a lively discussion about what it meant to have a platform for government transparency. I like the notion of maps as portals, but still think -- and the discussions I followed seem to bear this out -- that maps and GIS alone won't equal transparency unless we are working with other segments and agencies and bringing them along int0o our map-based portals.

Another thing I heard (and I paraphrase): "It's about the mission, not the technology."

Recognition of the importance of GIS in Government Two-Point-Oh is great; but it's up to us as GIS practitioners, to make sure that the work we do meets the needs of an open policy.

NSGIC Folk Featured on Capitol Hill

A current NSGIC Board member and two long-time friends of NSGIC (one a past-president) testified together in front of the Subcommittee On Energy And Mineral Resources at an oversight hearing On "Federal Geospatial Data Management" on Capitol Hill on July 23.

Full video of the hearing (WVX), which also included a panel testifying on legislation relating to the AmericaView program, is posted on the subcommittee web site, along with links to the written testimony of each of the panel members.

The Federal Geospatial Data Management panel included:

• Michael Byrne, the Geospatial Information Officer (GIO) of the State of California, who is a current member of the NSGIC Board of Directors. (Written testimony [PDF])
  
• Karen Siderelis, the GIO of the U.S. Department of the Interior, who was a long-time NSGIC member as GIS Coordinator for North Carolina and later as a USGS representative. And she served as President of NSGIC in 1999. (Written testimony [PDF])
• John Paletiello, Executive Director of the Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS), who has long attended NSGIC meetings and whose organization includes many of NSGIC's main corporate leadership partners. (Written testimony [PDF])
• Susan Marlow, the Chief Executive Officer of Smart Data Strategies, Inc., who is remembered by many in NSGIC for her work on the parcel study committee of the Mapping Science Committee. (Written testimony [PDF])

The subcommittee web site also includes the opening statement of Chairman Jim Costa (PDF).

Observers among the NSGIC membership, who watched on-line from around the nation, were well pleased with the hearing.

"I was most surprised by the interest of the Committee," said one. "Two self-described 'map fiends' and a former land state land commissioner were among the members. And they asked questions that showed their interest and knowledge."

Update: Congressional Hearing on Geospatial

As noted in Learon Dalby's "Prez Column" earlier this week, there are plans for a Congressional oversight hearing on geospatial governance on July 23. With thanks to commenter jlhgis (who are you, masked commenter?), we can now point to the web page for the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing.

Here's the part to bookmark for future reference:

The hearing will be webcast live and archived on the Committee's Web site at resourcescommittee.house.gov.

It is also interesting to note that this will be a hearing on "Federal Geospatial Data Management" and it will be immediately followed by a legislative hearing on House Resolution 2489 (AmericaView Geospatial Imagery Mapping Program Act), which NSGIC will want to keep an eye on:

H.R. 2489 (Herseth Sandlin): To authorize a comprehensive national cooperative geospatial imagery mapping program through the United States Geological Survey, to promote use of the program for education, workforce training and development, and applied research, and to support Federal, State, tribal, and local government programs. "AmericaView Geospatial Imagery Mapping Program Act."

We understand that the hearing could go about two hours. Each witness will be given five minutes of testimony. There will only be three or four witnesses, to be followed by a question and answer session.

A Few Words from the NSGIC President: A Breath of Fresh Air

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

NSGIC has posted a briefing document (in PDF) on three major issues -- IFTN, Title 13, and Governance -- which we have shared with a number of folks in Washington. This isn't just our document; NSGIC has worked with many others in the geospatial community to move these issues along. We are thrilled to see that movement.

Here are two things we hope for:

1. The GIS Community will unite and work together rather than working independent of one another, and
2. All this work and movement will result in action.

Here are some actions we've seen on each of these issues. This is movement. This is progress.

Imagery For The Nation (IFTN)

• The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) has expanded coverage with additional funding.
• The FGDC Executive Committee is actively working on an implementation plan for IFTN.
• The Office of Management and Budget has expressed interest in seeing IFTN move forward.
  

Title XIII on Addresses and Coordinates

• A study by the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget to address privacy concerns related to information sharing, including address data.
• NSGIC continues to make its views known about releasing address point locations from Title 13 restrictions.
  
• National CIO Vivek Kundra specifically spoke to the need to release addresses and coordinates in an interview in Wired Magazine.
• The National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), in its Notice of Funding Availability for broadband mapping (PDF), has called for states to map broadband access at the address level. NSGIC has made NTIA aware of the files maintained by the Census Bureau.
  

Governance

• The Congressional Research Service has published a detailed report on geospatial governance.
• A Congressional oversight hearing on geospatial governance has been scheduled for July 23.
  

All of these may seem like minor things; taken individually, they don't tell us much. But when you take a step back and look at the big picture, it has to make you smile.

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.

Oracle Adds Its Voice to the Call for IFTN

Oracle Corporation has sent a letter of support (PDF) for the Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) to NSGIC President Learon Dalby.

In the letter, Oracle Vice President Steven Hagan writes:

...this initiative will help to maintain US leadership in geospatial technologies, while helping to better manage our resources, communities, and economy. It will contribute to a broader national spatial information infrastructure that is the foundation for our future economic development. Oracle strongly endorses the IFTN proposal and looks forward to its successful acceptance.

Mr. Dalby, in welcoming the Oracle endorsement, stressed the importance of a broad spectrum of stakeholders in national initiatives such as IFTN.

"We cannot, and should not, try to do what are very large jobs all alone," he said. "If we are to build a National Spatial Data Infrastructure that works for all levels of government and all sectors of the geospatial community, we all have to work together. Oracle represents a vital part of our industry and I am thrilled to have their support for IFTN."

GIS is Now Widely Discussed as a Tool for Economic Stimulus

This month has seen a flurry of activity around several proposals to use the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) to guide and organize the national stimulus plan. The NSGIC Board is tracking the issue closely (through the impressive and diligent efforts of NSGIC President Learon Dalby and Washington Liaison Bill Burgess) and has authorized letters of support for several proposals.

The issue is starting to generate a broader discussion, with commenters from all sides considering the value of the NSDI and efforts over the years to achieve it as a vision of an interconnected series of data sets used by all levels of government, and others, to serve their clients and constituents.

Adena Schutzberg has been tracking the various proposals, and some reaction to them at All Points Blog. She has also posted the full text of the recent letter to Congress from COGO on the subject.

Sean Gorman, of the Off the Map blog, has started a discussion of the NSDI proposals and asked for thoughts that might counter what he describes as hie own "cynical" reaction:

I’m as bullish on the potential of the Geoweb as anyone, but I think we have to ask some hard questions. What is the customer really demanding? Further, what is the cheapest way we can deliver the most value to the customer? How can fulfilling those demands best grow the economy?

Later in the week, Mr. Gorman returned to the discussion with a more hopeful post about the inherent good in the NSDI proposals: an emphasis on making government data public.

David Smith, on his Surveying, Mapping and GIS blog, approached the issue with a brief history of the idea of the NSDI, an overview of the present proposals, and a call for continued discussion:

The hope is that the community can have an open, informed discussion of these elements and proposals, along with all of the key context, history and background. And hopefully adequate open forums will become available for doing so.

Finally (not really, but for now), NSGIC veteran Ted Koch, of Wisconsin, has posted a thoughtful review of the situation on the Wisconsin Mapping Bulletin:

While it’s unlikely that GIS, per se, will be included in any economic stimulus bill, a small contingent of folks in Washington continue to advocate for some inclusion of expanding the collection of spatial information. The House of Representatives may be voting on the Bill this week, followed by the Senate. Following votes by both Congressional chambers, differences will have to be reconciled. Possibly within that upcoming timeframe, GIS will get its due recognition.

This is by no means at that has been said, or will be said, about this issue. But it is what I've been reading this week. I'm sure there will be more. I plan to keep a list of links to other such discussions as we go along, using the delicious.com tag "nsdi-stimulus."

Please feel free to suggest other such discussion in the comments.

NSGIC Continues to Support NSDI Improvements

The NSGIC Board has formally endorsed the latest proposal for managing economic stimulus efforts at least in part through good geospatial data and tools.

“A Proposal for Reinvigorating the American Economy Through Investment in the US National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)” was put out by Autodesk, Google, Intergraph, Microsoft and Oracle.

The NSGIC Board's endorsement of this proposal is in addition to the endorsement by the Board last week of a similar proposal by ESRI and Booz Allen Hamilton -- "A Proposal for National Economic Recovery An Investment in Geospatial Information Infrastructure Building a National GIS."

Both proposals have a great deal in common, though they differ on their approaches to data management and to management of NSDI activities within the Federal government.

"NSGIC also has some concerns in these areas, but we believe that we need to send a positive and consistent message regarding these activities to help them succeed," said NSGIC President Learon Dalby, of Arkansas. "We remain focused on NSGIC’s advocacy agenda and I am providing input to these initiatives as appropriate and with approval of the Board of Directors."

Directions Magazine Digs Into COGO's Letter to Congress

The latest Directions Magazine Podcast finds Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg in a detailed discussion of the recent letter from COGO to the leaders of the House and Senate calling for more congressional oversight of federal geospatial activities.

Mr. Francica starts the podcast by describing the letter as a "demand," though in the conversation Ms. Schutzberg tones that down to "a request, but a big one." They discuss the timing of the request -- tied to the start of a new Congress -- and links to industry meetings coming up in the first part of the year.

There is also a brief discussion of what the prospects for the request might be. Mr. Francica wonders if there is an effective lobbying organization in place. Ms. Schutzberg notes that this is only a first step; letting Congress know that there is an issue and a constituency for that issue.

There is also a discussion of whether the idea might get "pushed aside" by the budget crises. Both agreed that a stimulus package will require some geospatial guidance, though and that makes the timing fortuitous.

Image (Tivo Play) courtesy of flickr user rgusic.

COGO Advocates Congressional Oversight of Geospatial Efforts

The leadership of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) has sent a letter to Congressional leaders suggesting that House and Senate subcommittees be given some level of jurisdiction over geospatial activities at the federal level.

The letter (PDF) is from COGO Chair (and past NSGIC President) Cy Smith to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). It outlines some of the history of geospatial coordination, stresses the value of geospatial data and coordination in the public and private sectors, and points to the problem with the current state of congressional oversight:

Despite this extraordinary growth and the near-ubiquitous presence of geospatial data in government and the private sector, Congress does not have a committee or subcommittee with primary jurisdiction over geospatial activities. Rather, responsibility for oversight and authorization of federal geospatial activities is spread among more than 30 House and Senate committee and subcommittees.

It is important to note that the letter does not ask for a new committee or subcommittee. Rather, it suggests "including geospatial in the name and mission of an existing House and Senate subcommittee."

FGDC Publishes 2008 Annual Report

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) has published its 2008 Annual Report. The document is available as both a web page and a PDF document.

The Annual Report includes highlights of 2008 and goals for 2009.

The highlights for the last year include:

• The Geospatial Line of Business,
• Formation of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee,
• The third year of the 50 States Initiative,
  
• Growth in the Geospatial OneStop,
  
• Progress on Imagery for the Nation, and
  
• Several success stories.

Goals for 2009 include continuing to work in these areas and:

• Developing a national strategy for geospatial information,
• Improving national land parcel data, and
  
• Support for homeland security and emergency management.

Among several appendices are an update on the status of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure Framework Themes.

NGAC Transition Recommendations Posted

Materials from the most recent meeting of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) have been posted on the FGDC web site. The NGAC met October 15 -16, 2008, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

The posted materials include a meeting summary (PDF), updates from NGAC members, an action plan for the committee and information on several major issues now under discussion by the committee:

• The "Changing Landscape" White Paper
• National Land Parcel Data
• Imagery for the Nation (IFTN)
• The Geospatial Line of Business (LoB)

Most timely on this election eve, there is also a three-page paper outlining the NGAC's recommendations (PDF) for the transition team of which-ever candidate will be the next President of the United States.

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.

COGO Sparks Interest and Curiosity

This week's Directions Magazine Podcast takes a look at the new Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO). Adena Schutzberg has been following the development of COGO and takes the opportunity to reflect on the purpose and organizing principles of the group.

In general, she is interested and supportive, though she's waiting for more details and information. Further information will become available as COGO becomes formally established and organizations ratify their membership.

COGO is just getting started, based on input from a wide variety of organizations, including NSGIC, whose leadership team has been involved from the start. The NSGIC states are voting now on whether or not the Council should affiliate with COGO and become a founding member, as recommended by NSGIC leadership.

We are watching the birth of a new organization. And, if Adena's take on COGO is representative, we are watching intently.