A More Formal COGO Announcement

The URISA Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) page now features a formal announcement of the "officialization" of COGO. The announcement includes a more complete list of founding member organizations and founding advisory organizations and a word from NSGIC president (and COGO Chair) Cy Smith, of Oregon:

"I know I speak for all organizations that have joined this coalition when I say that we are excited and optimistic about the potential to accelerate the advancement of a variety of national geospatial issues."

NSGIC is among the founding members, so we'll keep an eye on, and link to, COGO developements as they occur.

Coalition of Geospatial Organizations Becomes Official

The Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) came into official being during a regularly scheduled meeting on August 4, 2008, at the ESRI User's Conference in San Diego. Representatives of several organizations attended via conference call and WebEx.

The following founding member organizations voted unanimously to approve a set of Rules of Operation and Procedure that brought COGO into existence:

• American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)
• American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
• Association of American Geographers (AAG)
• Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CAGIS)
• Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA)
• GIS Certification Institute (GISCI)
• International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO)
• Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS)
• National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC)
• University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS)
• Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)

The group also elected its first group of officers:

• Chair: Cyril R. Smith (NSGIC)
  
• Chair-Elect: Curtis W. Sumner (ACSM)
  
• Secretary: George Donatello (IAAO)

The next meeting of COGO is expected to be held in conjunction with the next meeting of the Federal Geographic Data Committee, in October.

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.

Candidates Wanted: NSGIC Board of Directors

A call has been put out to the NSGIC membership looking for nominations of candidates for the NSGIC Board of Directors.

Three seats on the six-member Board are up for election at the 2007 NSGIC Annual Conference, September 23 - 27 in Madison, Wisconsin. Board members serve two-year terms. The current Board members whose seats come open this year are Jill Saligoe-Simmel (IN), Will Craig (MN), and Mike Mahaffie (DE).

According to the NSGIC By-Laws (PDF), there are two requirements for board candidates:

To be considered eligible for election, a candidate must be a Member in good standing and agree to serve if elected.

Nominations are also sought for candidates for the post of President-Elect. Current President-Elect Cy Smith (OR) will become president at the end of the Annual Conference when NSGIC President Stu Davis (OH) finishes his term in office.

Nominations must be forwarded to Election Committee Chair Joe Holmes (LA) by Friday, July 27, at 5:00 pm, CDT. The ballot box at the NSGIC Annual Conference will be open through the afternoon break on Tuesday, September 25.