NSGIC News

Broadband Mapping Funding Available

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:06:00 +0000

The US Department of Commerce has released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) (PDF) for a State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. The Notice is published in the Federal Register. There is also a Fact Sheet (PDF).

The media announcement, from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), explains that the funds are intended to support the collection of state-level broadband data, "as well as state-wide broadband mapping and planning."

The Program will provide approximately $240 million in grants to assist states or their designees to develop state-specific data on the deployment levels and adoption rates of broadband services. These data, including publicly available state-wide broadband maps, will also be used to develop the comprehensive, interactive national broadband map that NTIA is required by the Recovery Act to create and make publicly available by February 17, 2011.

This is a grant opportunity that has been expected for some time. Most states have already established teams working on possible approaches to broadband mapping. Broadband mapping is a part of the "Technology for the 21st Century" section of the NSGIC 2008-2009 Advocacy Agenda (PDF). And broadband mapping has been the subject of presentations and discussions at the most recent NSGIC Annual (September 2008) and Midyear (February 2009) conferences.

The program allows only one grant application per state. State-level grants will range from $1.9 million to $3.9 million. Applications are to be accepted via grants.gov between July 14 and August 14, 2009.

NSGIC Member David Arbeit Named CGIO in Minnesota

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:13:00 +0000

In a move that surprised some in the state by its speed, Minnesota Commissioner of Administration Sheila Reger yesterday named David Arbeit as the state's first-ever Chief Geospatial Information Officer (CGIO). Mr. Arbeit had served as the director of the Office of Geographic and Demographic Analysis until this week.

His job change came on Wednesday morning, June 24, at a public meeting -- named "Point of Beginning" (PDF) -- called to introduce the new Minnesota Geospatial Information Office. The legislation (PDF) that created the office that was developed and passed just this year.

NSGIC President-Elect Will Craig, Associate Director at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, and long a leader in GIS in Minnesota, was there.

"The Commissioner of Administration was invited to say a few words, invited David forward, and anointed him before us all," reports Mr. Craig. "I don't think anyone expected it at yesterday's gathering. We had expected David to be anointed, but nothing official had happened or been announced until this public meeting."

The appointment, the second announcement of a GIO this year, was noted yesterday on the web site of Government Technology News, which took the opportunity to further explain the idea of a Geospatial Information officer (GIO):

Modeled after a chief information officer (CIO), the GIO position -- instituted in some federal agencies and this March in California -- has served to acknowledge the importance of geospatial data and its coordination.

Will Craig was pleased with the appointment and proud of his state's approach to GIS coordination.

"I think we've got something unique here," he explained. "Michael Terner, from Applied Geographics, says were are the only place that has a GIO that reports to a state-level advisory body composed of the all state agencies with significant GIS interests, such as the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture. It's a real federation, trying to find efficiencies by coordinating activities."

Mr. Terner and his company assisted the state in the drafting of A Program for Transformed GIS in the State of Minnesota (PDF) that called for the creation of the Minnesota Geospatial Information Office and the creation of the CGIO position.

Registration is Now Open for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Now is the time to register for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. You can register on-line or download a printable registration form (PDF).

The conference, set for October 4 through October 8, will include the usual NSGIC mix of meetings, meals, networking, late-night brainstorms, peer-to-peer challenges and inspiration, and that astounding realization we all end up with around the third day: there's just a crazy amount of GIS coordination going on around the nation, and we're all a part of it!

The conference theme -- Fifty States Rockin' Solid -- is an accurate evocation of the intensity of a NSGIC conference.

Folks gathered at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel will hear from state and local leaders, from private sector partners, and from many federal agencies. They will caucus and hold business meetings. They will argue with and teach one another in the hallways. They will sit down together in any nook they can find and plan the sorts of projects that expand the use and sharing of geospatial tools and information by local, state and federal government in service to the people.

There's no good reason why you shouldn't be a part of this.

Registration for NSGIC members is $485 before September 4, or $570 after September 4, and $670 after September 25. For non-members, registration starts at $685 before September 4, rises to $770 after September 4, and to $870 after September 25.

Registration for all non-sponsoring corporate attendees is $1,500. So, why not consider becoming a sponsor?

In any case, registration is now open. So. Go and register.

Congressional Research Service Looks at GIS

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:24:00 +0000

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.

Second Call for Content for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:39:00 +0000

The NSGIC Conference Planning Committee has released its second and final call for content for the 2009 Annual NSGIC Conference. The Conference is scheduled for October 4 through 8, at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. This follows a first call, in April.

The NSGIC Annual Conference is an opportunity to explore state-level GIS coordination activities without losing focus on the NSGIC Advocacy Agenda (PDF).

Ideas for conference content should be e-mailed to Tony Spicci. While all suggestions are welcome, it is really very helpful to include names of individuals or groups that can present on the topic suggested.

The conference committee will review all suggestions and try to accommodate as many as time permits. A separate call for topics for the state caucus meetings will be released prior to the conference.

A Few Words From the NSGIC President: What is Your Bandwidth?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:12:00 +0000

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

This is not about the bits and bytes your CPU can process, nor about the rate at which they are processed. This column is about your time, about our time as an organization.

NSGIC has been involved in a number of activities this year. Many of those have been brought to completion and highlighted on the blog, others are just continuing nags that never seem to end. No doubt we are all busy; often too busy doing our jobs to actually do our jobs.

I was recently surprised to learn the estimated amount of time our office is on the phone, email or using social media. I guess it really shouldn't have been such a big surprise since those are all tools for communication which is a requirement for coordination. Nonetheless, we are all juggling numerous things.

Now that I have you thinking…

Have you considered running for a NSGIC office; for President-Elect or for the NSGIC Board? No, I am serious! NSGIC needs you! A Call for Nominations went out on the membership listserv this week and I urge you to consider answering the call.

Have you thought about what should be on our next NSGIC Advocacy Agenda? Get ready, the call for submissions for the 2009-2010 Advocacy Agenda will be out soon. If there's an issue that is important to you, please submit it for consideration. And be be prepared to serve as a lead if your issue becomes part of the final NSGIC Advocacy Agenda. This is a very important part of what we do. This agenda keeps us focused; without it we would lose sight of the end game and waste our bandwidth chasing whatever is the issue of the day.

I leave you with a quote from one of my favorite books, Good to Great.

Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.

NSGIC needs you, your time, your energy, your interest. Your bandwidth.

The Economist Noticed!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:16:00 +0000

The Economist magazine has a short feature on the power of presenting information through maps. In Mapping a better world, the magazine looks at some recent successes in the use of maps and on-line map presentation to address social and political challenges.

For most people it is merely a handy tool to find a nearby pizzeria or get directions to a meeting. But mapping technology has matured into a tool for social justice. Whether it is to promote health, safety, fair politics or a cleaner environment, foundations, non-profit groups and individuals around the world are finding that maps can help them make their case far more intuitively and effectively than speeches, policy papers or press releases.

The story details uses of mapped information for a variety of purposes, including political activism, law enforcement, and social science applications.

And it includes a quote from NSGIC member Jeff Vining, of Gartner:

“Today you are allowed to visualise data in ways you couldn’t even understand just a few years ago,” says Jeff Vining of Gartner, a consulting firm.

With thanks to ESRI and GotGeoInt, on twitter, for the link!

Who Will We Be Listening To? Reading? Watching?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:15:00 +0000

Directions Magazine is looking for suggestions as to who we, as a geospatial community, will be listening to in the near future. They have established a survey looking for the most influential people in the geospatial world for 2010 and beyond.

Many, many people have helped get us to we where we are today; their names fill the textbooks and magazines of the last 35 years. Who will fill those shoes in the coming years?

The survey asks for name, title, and reasons why that person should be considered for inclusion in a community-wide vote, later this summer to "tease out the top ten."

Who will you be listening to?

NAIP Expands to Cover More States in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:35:00 +0000

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that the Farm Services Agency (FSA) would allocate the full $24 million available to the 2009 National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP).

NAIP will also attract additional partnership funds from federal and state agencies increasing the expenditure to approximately $30 million. This event reflects well on the efforts of the entire geospatial community to realize Imagery For The Nation (IFTN) as a viable national program, and it signals a new level of cooperative effort between NSGIC and its corporate partners.

The expanded coverage of 32 states -- against the original plan of 15 states -- means that roughly two-thirds of the country will obtain much-needed imagery. This of course will have a very positive impact on the public, and the federal, state and local agencies that use NAIP. Many states are already seeking to procure enhanced products. Efforts are underway to increase and secure additional NAIP funds in the coming years to obtain complete coverage. NSGIC leadership will continue to play a supporting role in these efforts.

"NSGIC applauds USDA leadership for moving forward with additional funding for NAIP and the efforts of the geospatial community to make this happen" said NSGIC President Learon Dalby, of Arkansas. "Building on the recent success with NAIP, NSGIC will continue to advocate for the high resolution leaf-off portion of IFTN. The nation is just beginning to see tangible evidence that our years of work are paying off, but IFTN won’t be a reality until the entire program is funded."

Help Wanted: Wisconsin State Cartographer

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:22:00 +0000

The Badger State is looking for a new State Cartographer (PDF). The University of Wisconsin-Madison has advertised for a person to head the Wisconsin State Cartographer’s Office, a permanent unit of the Geography Department at the UW-Madison.

This position offers a challenging and unique opportunity to serve as one of the state’s leading experts in mapping and geospatial information technologies. It provides leadership, outreach, coordination, and the gathering and dissemination of information on a variety of issues serving the geospatial community and the general public.

The incumbent, Ted Koch, is retiring after a long and distinguished career. The job posting closes on June 15. Further information and application instructions are available on-line from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Plan on Being in Cleveland in October

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:06:00 +0000

Registration is now open for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference: Fifty States Rockin' Solid.

The conference will be held at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel (in Ohio, as you might expect) from October 4 through 8. The preliminary agenda (in Excel format) includes state caucus sessions, committee meetings, workshops, open discussions with private sector partners, homeland security training sessions and open-mic sessions. There will be a social event at the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.

The registration fee for members is $485 by September 4, it is $570 after September 4, and $670 if after September 25. For non-members, registration is $685 before September 4, $770 after that date, and $870 if after September 25. For all non-sponsoring corporate attendees, the registration fee is $1,500.

On-line registration is available as well as a downloadable PDF registration form.

Theme Set for 2009 NSGIC Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:08:00 +0000

The theme has been chosen for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference, October 4 through 8, in Cleveland, Ohio.

NSGIC 2009: Fifty States Rockin’ Solid

The theme makes obvious reference to the establishment, in Cleveland, of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the (unofficial?) Cleveland theme song, "Cleveland Rocks!"

"This year's theme reflects NSGIC's commitment to all 50 states -- and insular areas -- working together to build the NSDI," explains Conference Committee Chair Tony Spicci, of Missouri. "It also recognizes that we’re going to have some fun doing it."

Conference plans include a social event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

An Intriguing Question

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:56:00 +0000

There's legislation proposed in Texas to require a disclaimer on maps or on-line data hosted by government agencies if that data "was not produced using information from an on-the-ground survey conducted by or under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor."

The disclaimer would have to say:

This product is for informational purposes and may not have been prepared for or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. It does not represent an on-the-ground survey and represents only the approximate relative location of property boundaries.

Joe Francica had a post on All Points Blog about this yesterday (Texas Bill to Require Disclaimer on Geospatial Data) and he and Adena Schutzberg discuss it today on their Podcast.

It's an interesting discussion. Adena notes that the idea does do one thing that GIS professionals would support; it highlights the need for some disclaimer about what data users are looking at ("Data on map may be closer than they appear.")

But she also asks what I think is a key question:

Are there sites out there where you can actually get on-line data that was produced by a surveyor that can be used for legal engineering and survey purposes?

We spend most of our time looking at stuff that is specifically not; that does not fall into that category because that is where most GIS lives right now.

So it would be really interesting to see the other side of the coin, whether it is from Texas or another state.

On the face of it, this is a requirement that makes a certain amount of sense, but does it solve a particular problem? Is it truly meaningful?

And, once we start looking at this issue closely, where does it finally lead? To more "GIS V. Survey" fights? Or to tough questions like that posed by Ms. Schutzberg?

National IT Dialogue Follow-Up #1

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:40:00 +0000

I got a very nice e-mail just now from Earl Devaney and Ed DeSeve, who headed up the recent Recovery Dialogue on IT Solutions, thanking me for my comments during the dialogue last week. I had commented on the two ideas submitted by NSGIC: enhancing recovery web sites with imagery and thoughts on a nationally consistent approach to collecting geospatial location information.

The "thank you" e-mail noted that there were over 500 ideas suggested, with more than 1,300 comments from among the over 23,000 unique visitors.

With your help, the Recovery Dialogue made history by providing government with a new, proven mechanism for gathering input from individuals and stakeholders. This initiative set out to allow the public an opportunity to submit, debate, and vote on the best ideas for providing the public transparent access to recovery information. We are now compiling the ideas, tools, and approaches from the Dialogue and, this week, the National Academy of Public Administration will present the ideas from the dialogue to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to consider during the evaluation phase for building out Recovery.gov.

Needless to say, NSGIC will keep an eye on this process. We have two primary interests:

Making sure that geospatial data and tools are used, and used well; and
Trying to learn from this Dialogue ways in which we ourselves can do better job of communicating among the states and with our own constituents.

These are interesting times that we live in.

Worry Not!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:22:00 +0000

The Metadata Duck may have just been replaced as an icon by DigiMan, of Team Digital Preservation. DM, as he is chest-labeled, makes his debut in this video from DigitalPreservationEurope(DPE), which has begun a series of "short animations introducing and explaining digital preservation problems and solutions for the general public..."

For me, as a metadata fanboy, the money quote comes at 2:25 into the story, as DigiMan comforts the tweedy, data-bereft scientist before vanquishing the evil forces of Team Chaos:

Worry not! The data have been annotated with descriptive information -- or "Metadata," as we call it -- which is just like having an instruction manual to understand the information.

I recommend reading that back, out loud in the voice of Batman, as played in the 1960s by Adam West. Slowly... with quiet intensity and pregnant... pauses... and uneven syllabic stresses. Maybe with a touch of Jim Kirk as well.

Challenge: I fully expect to hear this quote back from the podium at some point during the NSGIC annual conference in Cleveland this fall. There's probably a Dogfish Head in it. If I remember.

A Few Words From the NSGIC President: April Showers Bring May Flowers Showers

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:35:00 +0000

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

It's been a busy April for NSGIC, and we don't see any signs of a slow-down in May. The Board and committee leadership have been active on many fronts. Let me give you a sense of what's been going on. I know I can't do real justice to any of these, but here's what's been happening.

The NSDI White Paper
The NSDI white paper (PDF) is complete and has been approved by the NSGIC Board. This paper, based on many discussions among NSGIC membership, presents our thoughts on how best to create the National Spatial Data Infrastructure that we all seek to achieve. If I have to boil it down to one thought, it is this: The NSDI will be created as a collection of inter-related SSDIs - State Spatial Data Infrastructures.

Broadband
NSGIC leadership provided comments to the Federal Communications Commission on ways to make broadband mapping more effective as the nation works to close the digital divide. Broadband enhancement is a big and complicated job, but it will depend on accurate mapping of where the broadband infrastructure already exists. And that's something we know how to do.

The National IT Dialogue
NSGIC, as an organization, submitted two ideas to the National IT Dialogue. And many NSGIC members have been active in this on-line discussion which was set up to try to find ways to make recovery and Government Transparency web sites more useful.

We suggested ways to enhance recovery web sites with imagery; a funded Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) program would certainly make this easier.

We also offered thoughts on a nationally consistent approach to collecting geospatial location information on where recovery funds are spent. You'd think that that would be an easy thing to do. But if we want to do it right on a nation-wide basis, we all need to agree on a simple, logical approach.

ARRA Comments
We submitted comments on May 1, 2009, on OMB Section 1512 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5. Again, our focus was on a consistent approach to collecting geospatial location information.

FLAIR Act Support
The NSGIC Board passed a motion supporting HR1520 (The FLAIR Act) at its April meeting. This is legislation that calls for the federal government to "improve federal land management, resource conservation, environmental protection, and use of Federal real property, by requiring the Secretary of the Interior to develop a multipurpose cadastre of Federal real property and identifying inaccurate, duplicate, and out-of-date Federal land inventories, and for other purposes."

NSGIC continues to respond to federal requests for comments as best it can. To be most effective, we need the whole of the state GIS coordination community to present a united message and to speak, at times, with many voices in unison. If we do that, we can share the load of speaking to the federal government. If we present a consistent message, we can amplify our message and be most effective.

The NSGIC leadership also needs to hear from individual states as we formulate NSGIC positions. The "State Caucus" is no longer just a part of the mid-year and annual conferences. We now have a "continual caucus" that meets on-line and by conference call. Please don't be a stranger; be a voice in our discussions and in our chorus.

The Indiana GIS Community Honors Jill Saligoe-Simmel

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Sun, 03 May 2009 12:16:00 +0000

The first-ever David C. Ford Special Achievement Award was presented by the Indiana Geographic Information Council (IGIC) to Dr. Jill Saligoe-Simmel at the recent 2009 Indiana GIS Conference.

The Ford Award is presented in honor of Indiana State Senator David C. Ford (1949-2008), a legislative champion of GIS Coordination. It is given:

...to an individual or organization for exemplary service, dedication, and accomplishment in coordinating Indiana GIS through dissemination of data and data products, education and outreach, adoption of standards, building partnerships, and advancing the “Indiana-Map.”

Jill Saligoe-Simmell, a former member of the NSGIC Board of Directors, helped shepherd the IGIC from dream to reality. She is a past winner of the NSGIC Outstanding Service Award (2006).

Another Ford Special Achievement Award was presented to University Information Technology Services (UITS) at Indiana University. They are the first organization to receive this award.

Since We Said We Should, We Did

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:04:00 +0000

NSGIC President Learon Dalby has submitted a pair of related suggestions to the National IT Dialogue that we wrote about yesterday. Since good suggestions regarding the value of GIS tools for data visualization are already under discussion, Mr. Dalby has offered two suggestions on ways to make the best use of those tools for tracking stimulus funding:

Location Schema - Enables Data Analysis and Visualization -- If we're going to track where stimulus funds are spent, let us do it right.
Use Annual Imagery to Track Success (IFTN) -- We can help the people see exactly where and how their money has been spent.

A few words to the wise... There are many voices in this IT Dialogue. The servers are showing the strain; getting from idea to idea can be slow. But it is worth the wait to make your voice heard in an important discussion.

The first thing you should do is register and log in so that you can comment, and vote, on these ideas. Don't wait until after you have scanned the ideas; register now and join the dialogue.

They've Asked, We Should Respond

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:38:00 +0000

The Obama Administration has asked for community input, in what they are calling "The National Dialogue, on how to best use Information Technology to keep the public fully informed of how the recovery funding is spent.

Many in the geospatial community have added their ideas to this discussion -- The National Dialogue -- with a primary focus on making sure that we make the best use of appropriate geospatial technologies.

As of this writing, data analysis and visualization and mapping are among the most active topics in the discussion. There are "mapping" suggestions from ESRI (Add Mapping and Geographic Analysis to Recovery.gov), Scott Horvath (Map of Ongoing Recovery Projects), and Grant Thornton (Optimize Transparency and Accountability Using Location).

It is incumbent on the NSGIC membership, as leaders in the geospatial communities in each state, to add our voices to the discussion.

And, for tracking purposes, the National Dialogue is on Twitter at @natldialogue, and there is a "Recovery Dialogue: IT Solutions" Facebook group as well.

They have asked for our input. Let us not let them down.

"Found" Crowd-Sourced Geography

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:35:00 +0000

The information aesthetics blog has an interesting post today (Mapping the World's Photos: Extensive Flickr Photo Analysis) about an academic paper presented last week at the WWW 2009 Conference.

A group from Cornell University used some 35 million geotagged photos from Flickr to map where and when photographers were snapping pictures.

Their approach used in Mapping the World's Photos [www2009.eprints.org, PDF] combines content analysis based on text tags and image data with structural analysis based on geospatial data.

Based on that analysis, the researchers were able to tease out a large amount of information about the places being photographed.

While individual users of Flickr are simply using the site to store and share photos, their collective activity reveals a striking amount of geographic and visual information about the world.

This is a great example of re-purposing data that is not originally geospatial into geo-enabled information.

A Listing of State Geospatial Data Clearinghouses

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Glen Letham, over at GISuser.com, has posted a directory of state GIS data clearinghouse sites. It is a collection of links to, and descriptions of, state-level NSDI nodes, clearinghouses, portals, libraries, commons, systems, networks, onemaps, warehouses, centers, and a variety of creative acronyms* often involving the letters G, I, and occasionally S.

Glen includes a variety of other, related links -- including to NSGIC's own state GIS information -- and asks for updates via a form on the GISUser site. It would be well worth a state GIS Coordinator's time to have a look at Glen's listing and suggest any needed additions for his or her state.

And while we are thinking about clearinghouses, Glen suggests something that may be worth at least lunch-table conversation at the annual NSGIC gathering in October:

A suggestion to coordinators of State GIS activities... I would urge you all to agree upon a naming convention, perhaps something to the effect of "The XXXXX State GIS Clearinghouse" (or similar) enabling fast, simple web search to locate "official" State GIS repositories. Also, as State GIS repository websites become obsolete, consider providing a redirect weblink to the current State GIS node... no more Error page not found messages!

Maybe this is an item for the Conference Planning Committee's call for content.

*Just a thought that is completely unrelated: Is an acronym that has become outdated an anacronym? Is a random collection of letters an anarchronym?

Call for Content for 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:44:00 +0000

The Conference Planning Committee has released a first call for content for the 2009 Annual NSGIC Conference. The Conference is scheduled for October 4 through 8, at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.

What do you want this conference to cover? All suggestions for content are welcome. However, it is really very helpful if you include the names of individuals or groups that can present on the topic you suggest. So, to be fair, we should say that content suggestions with more content are more welcome.

Please submit your ideas/suggestions to Tony Spicci via e-mail. The conference committee will review all suggestions and attempt to accommodate as many as time permits. A separate call for state caucus topics will be made prior to the conference.

GIO Michael Byrne Takes to YouTube to Outline his Approach in California

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:40:00 +0000

The YouTube Channel of the California Office of the CIO this week features a brief discussion by California GIO Michael Byrne, on his priorities as the state's new Geographic Information Officer.

The video is highlighted in an article on the Government Technology web site: GIS Helps State Understand "Unintended Things," Says California's Geographic Information Officer. The video runs nearly four minutes and includes a good overview explanation of GIS as well as a set of goals for the new GIO office.

A Few Words From the NSGIC President: How Long Will It Take?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:58:00 +0000

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

I would like to share the following story to illustrate that progress does not always come quickly, and that time-lines don't always work out the way you expect.

In 2001, a group of folks sat around a table and decided the State of Arkansas needed a publicly accessible, statewide, geocode-able road centerline data collection that was maintained at the local level. The group had no money; but they had a vision.

I said, "that should take about two years to pull together."

A schema and an accuracy standard were adopted and a process was put in place:

Work with city, county and state road centerline developers;
Collect the data;
Standardize the data; and
Publish the data to the internet for consumption.

Fast-forward eight years and several months. The image at right represents the centerline data that are currently available online for Arkansas. Five counties are left; four are in the pipeline and, just this week, county and officials determined a process to complete the fifth county and get it into maintenance mode.

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that this road centerline file meets all of the business needs of a transportation network; it doesn't. Nor do I want to leave you with the impression that is without flaws (in attributes or accuracy), perfectly maintained, and always current; it isn't.

That said, it is a publicly accessible road centerline file that 911 centers save lives offices across the state every day. And others are taking this work, building on it to meet their needs, and sharing their products back. as well. This has been achieved by a group that includes no less than 150 individuals across the state.

This story has been repeated all over the country, with various framework datasets, over the years. This story is happening now. You likely have your own story of people working together, integrating data and building state spatial data infrastructures that will hopefully, one day, feed the National Spatial Data Infrastructure -- the NSDI that is our goal.

It won’t come easy, it won’t come quickly, but it is and will happen.

I think the Arkansas road centerline file (www.geostor.arkansas.gov keyword ACF) will be completed statewide in 2010, but if it is 2011, 2012, or 2013, that’s okay; the relationships that we have built are important and mean that the data will be maintained.

So here are a few things we learned along the way:

It doesn't always require money, but it does require focused persistence.
Take what you can get, and don’t make demands.
Say thank you, and give credit.
"ETL" is not always as easy as the letters make you think it is.
You can’t put a timetable on large, coordinated efforts.

We have similar stories that pertain to other framework themes, but I would enjoy reading your story. How have you worked with others? What have you learned? Please share your lessons learned.

Editor's Note: Learon Dalby wrote this, sent it to me by e-mail, and we worked together to craft a final blog-post. There's no reason that your stories shouldn't be posted here as well. The NSGIC Communications Committee maintains this blog as a tool for the membership to use to spread the good word. We're here to help you get your story published. All you have to do is ask.

A New GISCI Board

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:34:00 +0000

The GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) held its annual meeting this week and sat new board members (PDF), one from each of the four member organizations:

Matthew Koeppe, representing the Association of American Geographers;
Michael Vanhook, of the State of Alabama Geospatial Office, representing NSGIC;
Rakesh Malhotra, of North Carolina Central University, representing UCGIS; and
Kim McDonough (GISP), of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, representing URISA.

These four joined Ed Arabas (GISP) of NSGIC, Bruce Joffe (GISP) of URISA, Francis Harvey of UCGIS, and Matthew Koeppe of AAG on the board. The new board elected Ed Arabas president, Bruce Joffe vice president, Michael Vanhook secretary, and Kim McDonough treasurer.

The GIS Certification Institute is a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization that provides the geographic information systems (GIS) community with a complete certification program.