TELECOMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY STEERING COMMITTEE

Issue: Provide a way for counties to more affordably acquire digital imagery.

Proposed Policy: NACo's supports the Imagery for the Nation initiative and urges support for the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) as it seeks endorsement for this initiative.

Background: On August 4, 2006, NACo's GIS Committee unanimously endorsed support for the Imagery for the Nation initiative being spearheaded by National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC).

Geospatial data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are necessary tools today for county governments wishing to serve the public more efficiently and more effectively; however, the cost of geospatial data acquisition is often a huge hurdle for county governments wishing to deploy GIS technological solutions. High-resolution and current aerial imagery data has become an essential commodity to counties using GIS, and while, different levels of governments share the need for high-resolution aerial imagery and other GIS data, they seldom share the cost. The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) is leading an initiative called Imagery for the Nation that will coordinate and promote federal financial support for counties and states in the acquisition of high resolution digital aerial imagery. Imagery for the Nation has as a core value the ability of different levels of governments to come together and realize huge savings by taking advantage of economies of scale.

Fiscal/Urban/Rural Impact: This initiative poses no additional cost to counties and NACo. If adopted by the federal government, this initiative will provide at no cost to all American counties with basic high-resolution imagery every three to five years. Counties that already invest in aerial imagery stand to save money and will have the ability to buy-up and more affordably acquire even higher resolution imagery.

Sponsor: Randy Johnson, Commissioner, Hennepin County, MN

Copyright © 2010 National States Geographic Information Council