NSGIC News

A Few Words from the NSGIC President: On the FGDC Annual Report

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:38:00 +0000

From the desktop computer of 2009-2010 NSGIC President Will Craig, of Minnesota.

A few things stood out for me as I read the Federal Geographic Data Committee's 2009 Annual report.

First was the naming of Bill Wilan as National Spatial Data Infrastructure Champion. Our previous post on the FGDC annual report accurately reflects my thoughts on Bill and his being honored.

I do recall one other thing, though. I remember talking to Bill at the 1996 award event. He was pretty proud of his work.

"I think it is the first layer of the NSDI, isn't it?"

Indeed it was. The NWI is not one of those "core Framework" themes, but it was the first out and it met the needs of all levels of government across the nation.

I was also pleased to see the Fifty States Initiative as both an accomplishment and a part of the FGDC's goals for the next year. This partnership between the FGDC and NSGIC has been very valuable for the states, helping almost all of us increase our strategic planning efforts. I'm happy to see that the FGDC plans to start working with us on a transition from planning to implementation.

Among the success stories in the report is one about using geospatial data for program compliance. This is a story about USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) using NAIP images from four consecutive years, along with Common Land Unit data, to analyze areas suspected of improper claims. NAIP imagery allowed the RMA to identify large areas that were ineligible for payment, thus preventing more than $700,000 in improper payments in one state.

This illustrates the value to the federal government and to states of a sustained orthophotography effort and highlights, I think, the importance of the Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) initiative. Among the goals in the FGDC report for IFTN are "establishing a virtual project management office to implement the governance structure and to advance the funding strategy for full implementation in fiscal year 2011."

And I was impressed by the substance in the white paper on parcel data included in the report: Cadastral Data and the U.S. Mortgage Crisis: A Case for a National Land Parcel Database. A number of studies identify the need for an indicator based on parcels. The conclusion here is basically the same as that of the 2007 National Academies report -- that immediate action be taken to put in place a national land parcel coordinator. Because establishing this position will require resources and because the job is likely be a difficult one, the report also recommends that a review be done of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) authorities to understand who could take on this work.

It's a start, and I hope it is a start that we make in the coming year. This is important work and I was very happy to see it highlighted by the FGDC in this report.

Speaking of the FGDC Annual Report...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:18:00 +0000

Several folks in NSGIC leadership have called my attention to the naming of Bill Wilen as National Spatial Data Infrastructure Champion in the FGDC's 2009 Annual Report. The FGDC honors one champion in its report each year who "has taken a strong leadership role in the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)."

Mr. Wilen, Senior Wetland Scientist at the National Wetlands Inventory Center's Washington office, is chair of the FGDC’s Wetlands Subcommittee and is credited with helping to lead that group to produce the FGDC’s Wetlands Classification System and Wetlands Mapping Standard.

As the citation in the FGDC Annual Report, puts it:

Mr. Wilen’s leadership is well recognized within the geospatial community, as are his exemplary efforts to advance the management and preservation of wetlands. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s announcement of the adoption of the Wetlands Mapping Standard in August 2009 came about largely as a result of the tireless commitment, leadership, and dedication to the development of this standard by Mr. Wilen. It is in recognition of his trusted leadership within the NSDI community that Mr. Wilen is recognized as this year’s NSDI Champion.

Mr. Wilen also wins praise from those in the NSGIC community who have worked with him.

"I'd like to highlight his focus on Wetland Data for the Nation," noted NSGIC President Will Craig (MN). "He didn't call it that, but I will. He developed the NWI to meet the needs of all levels of government."

"Over the course of its 18 year history, the Minnesota Governor's Council on Geographic Information has given 24 awards; these are commendations signed by the Governor," Mr. Craig continued. "Wilen got the first of these in 1996 for the National Wetland Inventory. The NWI and NAIP are the only two federal programs that we have ever awarded."

2009 FGDC Annual Report Released

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:31:00 +0000

The Federal Geographic Data Committee has released its 2009 Annual Report, detailing accomplishments from the last year and plans for the year ahead.

According to the introduction from FGDC's acting Chair Karen Siderelis (U.S. Department of the Interior), the theme of the report is "The U.S. Mortgage Crisis and Land Parcel Data."

Land parcel data combined with other geographic information are essential to such functions as the management of emergency situations, development of domestic energy resources, management of private and public lands, support of business activities, and monitoring of regulatory compliance. The feature story of this year’s report underscores the need for a coordinated system of land parcel information across the country.

The introduction also points to progress on Imagery for the Nation:

In particular, the FGDC is pleased to announce its approval of the Record of Decision of the Phase 1 plan for the Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) initiative, which is an important 2009 milestone.

The report includes ten highlights of 2009 progress:

The Geospatial Line of Business
The National Geospatial Advisory Committee
National Policy and Strategy for Geospatial Information
The Fifty States Initiative
International Activities
Geospatial One-Stop
Standards
Imagery for the Nation
National Land Parcel Data
Homeland Security and Emergency Management

And there are ten goals for 2010:

Advance the Geospatial Line of Business
Collaborate with the National Geospatial Advisory Committee
Kickoff Development of a National Policy and Strategy for Geospatial Information
Transition the Fifty States Initiative
Advance International Activities
Improve Geospatial One-Stop
Advance the Development and Acceptance of Standards
Implement Imagery for the Nation
Advance National Land Parcel Data
Support Homeland Security and Emergency Management

There is a section devoted to a report on parcel data ("Cadastral Data and the U.S. Mortgage Crisis: A Case for a National Land Parcel Database"), a section outlining challenges to achieve the NSDI, and, among the appendices, a review of the status of the NSDI Framework Data Themes.

Another Social Media Tool for GIS Coordination

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:34:00 +0000

Actually, this is not about a new social media tool. Rather, this is about a new aspect of twitter, which has seen a sharp increase in use among GIS coordinators and others who (let's be honest) like to stay obsessively in the loop.

This week, twitter opened up all users to the creation of lists, a tool that was introduced slowly over the previous weeks to a smaller subset of users. Lists allow users to create and curate collections of "like" twitter accounts. It is an expansion, and focusing, I think of the "following" behavior that makes twitter such an active spreader of information.

And this new way of using twitter is going to shake things up for a time, as users find ways to use it. As a start, we're seeing several professional organizations start to curate self-focused lists. Here at NSGIC, for example, we have started a list of State GIS Coordination tweeters.

Here are a few other lists we've found in the first hours of the list-creation period:

This will be an interesting period. Even as I write this post, and poke around twitter for lists to list, things are changing. I expect that the "list of GIS lists" will change, continuously, over the next few days. So treat the list above as just a teaser.

We'll have to wait and see what the final collection of lists of lists will turn out to look like.

Standards Take Work

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:30:00 +0000

The blog Iconic Photos this week includes the shot at left of the International Meridian Conference, held in 1884 in Washington DC.

The very first resolution adopted by the Conference should seem familiar to those who work in GIS data standards:

...it is the opinion of this Congress that it is desirable to adopt a single prime meridian for all nations, in place of the multiplicity of initial meridians which now exist.

The Iconic Photos blog does a nice job of summarizing what the delegates went through to define 0° longitude. Maybe coming up with framework standards in my state won't be that bad.

Census Bureau Maps Its Challenges for 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:07:00 +0000

The US Census Bureau has released its map of "hard to count" census tracts in advance of the 2010 count.

The data behind this map were developed by studying factors that might suggest people's response to the Census count:

"We looked at what we considered 12 variables that are behind what makes a (Census) tract hard to count," says Steve Jost, associate communications director at the bureau. "Whether or not more people are living in the same housing, whether or not housing has a telephone, the poverty rate, high school graduation rate, linguistic isolation, mobility, unemployment."

The Census Bureau has been working closely with the State Census Data Center (SDC) network, with Governor's Liaisons for the 2010 Census, and with advocacy and partner groups to identify hard-to-count areas and, more importantly, approaches to overcome those challenges.

State Census Data Center contacts will likely have "hard-to-count" scoring at a smaller than tract level and may need to partner with their state GIS Coordinators to help expand on that data with additional information to help guide state and local efforts to ensure a complete count of the nation in 2010.

California's Selection of GIS as a Key Enterprise IT Strategy Featured in ArcNews

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:12:00 +0000

California GIO Michael Byrne joins NSGIC President Will Craig on the front page (PDF) of ESRI's ArcNews this fall. Mr. Byrne, who also serves on the Board of Directors of NSGIC, has written an article on the selection of GIS as a one of California's six key enterprise IT strategies.

What this effort really identifies is a set of unifying business examples that can be leveraged across agencies for increased economies of scale in technology service delivery. The fact that one of the technologies is GIS points to just how important GIS is as a solution for California needs. We need solutions that can tackle the large policy issues we face in this diverse state, and few technologies get us there—but GIS does.

Mr. Byrne notes that just under a quarter of California agencies projecting capitol investments in their IT plans include investment in GIS technologies. Including geospatial investments in the state's over-all IT plan allows the state to "analyze common business needs across departments and look for opportunities to align these investments."

He highlights two examples of GIS as IT infrastructure -- CalAtlas (www.atlas.ca.gov) and a Common Operating Picture (COP) effort in response to the state's need to fight major wildfires. And he explains that this is only the start of work to make geospatial data a key part of almost all of the states data assets.

NSGIC President Pens NSDI Goverance Article

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:23:00 +0000

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.

The Value Old-Fashioned Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:31:00 +0000

What follows is a story about a major innovation in water consumption measurement that can be directly traced to a meeting of two strangers at a NSGIC function in 2000. The story is told by Tony Morse, GIS Manager, Idaho Department of Water Resources (retired), to Idaho GIO Gail Ewart (GISP).

Toward the end of 2000, Hal Anderson, Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) chief of Technical Services, attended a NSGIC meeting. At the meeting banquet, he found himself sitting next to Rita Bergman of the Raytheon Company. During the dinner, Rita described to Hal a program called Synergy that Raytheon was managing for NASA. Raytheon had put out a call for proposals to Universities for remote sensing projects using NASA satellite data. The purpose of Synergy was to develop operational programs in states that used remote sensing data.

Hal told Rita that had IDWR known about the Synergy program, IDWR would have submitted a proposal because IDWR has a robust remote sensing capability. He asked whether or not it was too late to apply. Rita replied that the proposals had already been evaluated, and the project was about to get under way. Nevertheless, Rita told Hal that if he could get a proposal to her within three days, she would consider it for the very small amount of uncommitted money.

Hal returned to IDWR and called me into his office Monday morning. He explained the Synergy situation and he and I kicked around a couple of ideas. We settled on exploring whether we could map evapotranspiration from LandSat, with the specific idea of mapping evapotranspiration in the Bear River Basin. The Bear River Basin is split among Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, and any additional irrigation is based on existing levels of evapotranspiration. In 2000, the states had a method of estimating evapotranspiration, but that method was relatively crude, and Hal was looking for a better one.

I called Dr. Rick Allen at the University of Idaho Kimberly Research Station. Rick is an internationally recognized authority on evapotranspiration. As luck would have it, he happened to have a proposal on his desk to use Landsat to map evapotranspiration in California’s Imperial Valley. I told him that if he wanted to trade the Imperial Valley for the Bear Basin, then he was in business. Rick emailed me the proposal, I modified it to specify the Bear Basin and to meet IDWR’s needs, and we sent the proposal to Raytheon.

Rita Bergman and her technical manager, Dr. Satya Killuri, readily accepted the proposal, and we were on our way. In September 2009, IDWR’s Mapping Evapotranspiration program won the 2009 Innovations in American Government Award from the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, which is part of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Between the NSGIC banquet and the Harvard award was a prolonged period of hard work. None of it, the hard work, the award or, most importantly, the ability to map evapotranspiration, would have happened without the forum of NSGIC.

NSGIC Elects New Board

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:35:00 +0000

The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) proudly introduces its newly-elected President and Board of Directors for 2009-2010.

Front Row (l to r): Barney Krucoff (DC), Jon Gottsegen (CO), Mike Van Hook (AL), Learon Dalby (AR), Will Craig (MN). Back Row (l to r): Ivan Weichert (KS), Tim De Troye (SC), Mike Byrne (CA), Bert Granberg (UT), Chris Diller (WI). Not pictured: Danielle Ayan (GA)

Will Craig, of the University of Minnesota, will lead NSGIC as President. Craig’s term as President comes on the heels of a successful Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio with nearly 300 participants. Despite challenging economic conditions, state representative attendance increased from last year.

Supporting Craig is a strong cabinet of officers including Immediate Past President Learon Dalby (AR), President-Elect Jon Gottsegen (CO), Treasurer Ivan Weichert (KS), and Secretary, Barney Krucoff (DC).

Tim De Troye (SC), Chris Diller (WI), Bert Granberg (UT), and Mike Vanhook (AL) were elected to the Board as Directors, joining Michael Byrne (CA), and Danielle Ayan (GA), who will continue their terms on the Board.

During his acceptance speech, Will Craig noted that he plans to continue and build on the progress made over the last year under the leadership of Learon Dalby.

"Now we need to walk through the doors that Learon has opened," he said.

What Are the Main Issues?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:06:00 +0000

Tuesday at the NSGIC Conference, Bill Burgess presented a provocative overview of where we are in our effort to create the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).

He posted a list of thirteen "main issues." People have been asking to review these even after that session, so here they are:

Definition of the NSDI
No measurement to gauge progress
Is the NSDI Federal or National?
Ineffective Governance/Management
No Congressional Mandate to Build the NSDI
No Consequences for Failure
No Consequences for Failing to “Play Nice”
Micromanagement
No Political Champion
Cumbersome Standards Process
No Effective Strategic or Business Planning
Unrealistic View of the Private Sector’s Role
Data Sharing v. Data Partnering

The full presentation will be posted to the NSGIC web site after the conference.

NSGIC Members Honored

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:18:00 +0000

Two long-time NSGIC members were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards (PDF) and five others received Outstanding Service Awards (PDF) at the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

Zsolt Nagy (left) and Dennis Goreham (right) were given Lifetime Achievement Awards by NSGIC President Learon Dalby (Arkansas). Mr. Nagy and Mr. Goreham have both recently retired from state service -- Mr. Nagy from North Carolina and Mr. Goreham from Utah.

Both have long been leaders among the state GIS coordinators and have given years of service and knowledge to NSGIC. Zsolt Nagy has moved on to join AECOM and remains a part of NSGIC as a corporate partner. Dennis Goreham will continue to repesent the states on the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC).

Diane Schafer, who serves as Director of Meetings and Member Services for NSGIC as a part of the management company KSG, was given an Outstanding Service Award as "the glue that holds this organization together." Her friendly, smiling face (or voice on the phone) is what defines "NSGIC" for many of us. She is supremely helpful and simply as nice as can be.

A group of three were given Outstanding Service Awards for their work to help all of the states respond to the broadband service mapping grant opportunity that arose this year. Jon Gottsegen, of Colorado (left), Michael Byrne, of California (right), and Christian Jacz, of Massachusetts (not pictured), joined former Outstanding Service Award winners (one only gets the one) Bill Johnson (NY) and Dave Brotzman (VT) to "determine the issues, find answers, and share information with the remaining states."

And Learon Dalby was given an Outstanding Service Award for his tireless and inspiring advancement of the NSGIC agenda. In his year as NSGIC President, Mr. Dalby, of Arkansas, has provided a clear and challenging vision for NSGIC, communicated that vision within the organization and to the rest of the GIS Community, and turned us loose to achieve that vision.

Frankly, we were surprised that he had not been honored already.

2009 NSGIC Annual Conference Program!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:01:00 +0000

The official, final program for the 2009 NSGIC Annual Conference (#NSGIC2009) is now available on-line. You can read it here or download the PDF itself.

Potential highlights include (in no particular order) presentations on:

The fusion of Fusion Centers with GIS staff in the states
The Geospatial Revolution Project, a public media and outreach initiative from Penn State Public Broadcasting
Broadband mapping initiates
Government transparency and Government two-point-O
The 2010 Census (fill it out, please. It is easy and it is safe!)
Imagery and Transportation for the Nation

Of course there will be the usual business meeting and caucus meetings, open-mic sessions, and more intense networking and knowledge exchange than should be legal in polite society.

GeoTools to Enable Big Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:58:00 +0000

Google has opened voting for its Project 10¹⁰⁰ which launched a year ago as a search for ideas to "change the world by helping as many people as possible." There were some 150,000 suggestions, from which 16 "big ideas" have been developed.

As we reviewed these submissions, we started noticing lots of similar ideas related to certain broad topics, and decided that combining the best aspects of these individual proposals would produce the most innovative approaches to solving some very pressing problems.

What struck me, in reading through the 16 big ideas, is how many include some aspect of geospatial data, either as a major focus or in a supporting role among the suggestions that led to these ideas. For example:

Create real-time natural crisis tracking system includes both the collection of data via geospatial remote-sensing tools and the use of on-line mapping as a user-interface.
Make government more transparent includes calls for map-based issues reporting and legislative updates.
Collect and organize the world's urban data is in and of itself a geospatially-based initiative.
Create genocide monitoring and alert system includes the use of map-based reporting and monitoring "to track, predict, and prevent genocides."
Promote health monitoring and data analysis includes suggestions to use a geospatial component to health data to "spot community trends."
Create real-world issue reporting system is another suggestion that calls for a largely map-based interface and monitoring system.
Build real-time, user-reported news service includes suggestions for location-based reporting and news services.

And several of the other nine ideas are ones that may include a geospatial component.

My purpose in reporting these ideas is not to promote voting for any of them. Rather, I was struck by the extent to which geospatial data and tools are fundamental to nearly all of the big ideas now being discussed, whether as part of social-media driven initiatives such as Google's or among government leaders at all levels.

It suggests to me that geospatial data is not the end in itself -- not the "big project." But it is essential to almost all other big projects and must be reliable, widespread, and accurate.

NSGIC Releases Broadband Database Model TEMPLATE

noreply@blogger.com (Learon Dalby) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:03:00 +0000

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a Federal Register Notice for the State Broadband Data and Development Program in July, 2009. The program provides grant funding to States for preparation and semi-annual updates of broadband mapping. This notice included requirements for data describing the availability and technical characteristics of broadband services that are inherently spatial. Deliverables are required to be provided in specific formats (ASCII records according to a defined schema or GIS file formats for certain data).

The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) provides a unified voice of the States on geographic information and technology issues, advocates State interests, and supports its membership in their statewide initiatives. The Council actively promotes prudent geospatial information integration and systems development. As such, several NSGIC state representatives formed a workgroup to develop a data model template for ESRI Geodatabase (v 9.3) to support the requirements of the NTIA broadband mapping program.

“NSGIC leadership felt the NTIA Broadband Mapping effort would be most successful if a common data model is used, specifically one with table schemas. It should be noted that this is not the only means to provide the required data to NTIA. The data model is intended to assist states with their data organization and submission.” – Learon Dalby, NSGIC President

The ESRI 9.3.1 Geodatabase model includes metadata and table domains for all required deliverables. The file can be downloaded as a zipfile from the NSGIC Homepage.

Another Travel Guide to Cleveland (#nsgic2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:28:00 +0000

Hard on the heels of the New York Times post about Cleveland, below, we're starting to get more information about this city in which NSGIC will hold its annual conference (#nsgic2009 for the cognoscenti). So let this post serve as an update-able semi-perma-post about that fair city.

In it, we can post information such as...

From Dan Widner (VA):
If you would like something fun to do on Sunday, consider a multi-modal transportation experience! The Cuyahoga Valley National Park contains the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath. You can combine the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad with a bike rental from the Peninsula store of Century Cycles to take your bicycle onboard the train and ride back to your starting point.

From the National Park Service website:

Discover the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park by walking, bicycling, or running on the Towpath Trail. You can travel the historic route of the Ohio & Erie Canal on the same path that mules walked to tow canal boats loaded with goods and passengers. From the trail, you can make connections to many natural and historic sites, as well as to Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (CVSR). Beyond the park, you can continue your journey on the Towpath Trail further along the Ohio & Erie Canalway.

What else should we know about coming in? Where, for example, are the best golf courses?

From Mike Mahaffie (DE):
Why not try using some mapping tools to note where fun things are?

View What to Do In and Around Cleveland in a larger map

This is a simple, open, crowd-sourced map of stuff mentioned above (so for). Feel free to add to it.

A Travel Guide to Cleveland (#nsgic2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:05:00 +0000

We're getting close to travel time for the 2009 NSGIC Conference, in Cleveland, Ohio. Craig Niedig, who has some sort of USGS software that lets him read ahead into the near future, sent along a link to a Cleveland Travel Guide in this coming Sunday's NY Times travel section: 36 Hours in Cleveland.

It makes good reading and should be a useful resource for those wise enough to plan to join us along the Cuyahoga River in a city that, after some tough years, is bouncing back:

...instead of abandoning the city, local entrepreneurs and bohemian dreamers alike are sinking roots; opening a wave of funky boutiques, offbeat art galleries and sophisticated restaurants; and injecting fresh life into previously rusted-out spaces.

Bob Marx, GIS Pioneer at the US Census, Has Passed Away

noreply@blogger.com (Will Craig) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:27:00 +0000

I just got this sad note from Tim Trainor at the Census Bureau. Bob was a friend and colleague. We gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award from his home state of Minnesota in 2001.

Will Craig
University of Minnesota
=============================

It is with a sad heart that I inform you of the passing of Robert W. Marx, former Chief of Geography Division. Bob succumbed to an illness on Monday, September 7, 2009 with his family at his side.

Bob served as Chief of the Geography Division from 1983 to 2003 (interrupted by a 3-year period as Associate Director in the 1990s to prepare for Census 2000). He was the architect of the Census Bureau’s TIGER System which began in the early 1980s as a collaborative effort with the U.S. Geological Survey. Bob was a visionary who sought ways to advance the importance of census geography through new technological developments that were made practical through useful applications. By making spatial data for the nation available, the TIGER effort opened the way for GIS development and created an entire new industry which continues to grow. Bob was a friend to all and will be sadly missed by his colleagues.

During his more than 36-year career at the Census Bureau, he received several awards for exceptional performance, including the Department of Commerce’s Gold and Silver Medals, and the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award.

Bob Marx is survived by his wife of 44 years, Jan. They have two grown sons and eight grandchildren. On Saturday, October 10, there will be a memorial service celebrating Bob at the Springfield Christian Church in Springfield, VA. More details will follow prior to the event.

Tim Trainor
Chief, Geography Division
U.S. Census Bureau

In-Coming NSGIC President to be Honored by URISA

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:40:00 +0000

The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) has announced that it will induct NSGIC President-Elect Will Craig to its GIS Hall of Fame at its Annual Conference & Exhibition, starting September 29, in Anaheim, California.

Will, or Dr. William J. Craig as we should probably start calling him, will join such geo-luminaries as Edgar Horwood, Ian McHarg, Roger Tomlinson, Jack Dangermond, Nancy Tosta, Gary Hunter, Don Cooke, and Michael Goodchild in the hall of fame. He will also take over as NSGIC President at the 2009 Annual NSGIC Conference, starting October, 4, in Cleveland, Ohio.

URISA will also induct Dr. Carl Reed, the CTO and Executive Director of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Standards program, into the hall of fame. Dr. Reed "is a recognized geospatial technology visionary and evangelist."

Of Will, the URISA web site says, among other things:

In summary, Will Craig has made an outstanding lifetime contribution to the promotion and application of geographic information to deliver better outcomes for society. Over the past four decades his activities have been such that he has developed a network of professional colleagues around the world who hold him in the highest regard. He has always had the ability to provide insightful and thoughtful comments when offering his views and he is considered to be a true gentleman of our discipline. For young professionals there could be no better role model than Will Craig and as such he is a thoroughly deserving nominee to the URISA GIS Hall of Fame.

Speaking certainly for myself, and I think for many others in the NSGIC community, I heartily agree. We'll no doubt tease Will unmercifully about this, but we're pleased to see him get the recognition he deserves, and we're proud to know him and work with him.

GovTech Scores the Gov 2.0 Summit...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:34:00 +0000

...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.

FGDC Announces Plans for the 2010 NSDI CAP Grants

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:11:00 +0000

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) has announced plans for the next round of Cooperative Agreements Program (CAP) grants for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).

The official solicitation is due next month, but the plans are for seven CAP grant categories in 2010:

Metadata Trainer and Outreach Assistance
Framework Data Exchange through Automated Geo-Synchronization
Fifty States Initiative: Strategic and Business Plan Development
Fifty States Initiative: Business Plan Development and Implementation
Return on Investment (ROI) Methodology and Business Case Development for Multi-agency NSDI Projects
FGDC Standards Development and Implementation Assistance and Outreach
Demonstration of Geospatial Data Partnerships across Local, State, Tribal, and Federal Government

Grant submissions will likely be due in January, with projects to commence by September of 2010.

URISA Honors "Exemplary Systems"

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:15:00 +0000

The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) has announced its 2009 Exemplary Systems in Government Award winners.

The winner in the Enterprise Systems category was Virtual Charlotte (City of Charlotte, NC) which uses a map-based front-end to organize city services:

Virtual Charlotte effectively provides a wide range of users with important real-time information from diverse data sets in a familiar (Google-like) interface that is easy to understand and simple to use.

There were two other systems that were honored as "Distinguished" in this category:

The Regional Land Information Database (RLID) of the Lane Council of Governments, in Oregon, and
SewerView, from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, in Wisconsin. (This, by the way, is now my all-time favorite system name).

There were two winners in the Single Process Systems category.

One was City of Airdrie's Online Census in Alberta (Canada), which is "a secure, real-time, virtually paperless data collection process that simplifies the city’s census process for clerks, enumerators, and citizens."

The other was the GIS Mobile Emergency Response System (ERS) in Forsyth County, Georgia, which uses GIS data and technology to support first-responders and emergency management officials.

Additionally, the County’s use of the Homeland Security data model was forward thinking and will allow the system to be easily integrated into wider emergency response situations if needed. This application can certainly serve as a good example for other entities wishing to create an emergency response system that keeps people in the field and back in the control centers ‘in the know’ during critical situations.

Learon Dalby Looks Back on a Year in NSGIC

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:17:00 +0000

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

NSGIC is a great organization because of its people. NSGIC has been busy this year and you might be surprised to hear I had very little to do with it. I believe good people do good things -- as long as you get out of the way. A lot of good folks have done some extraordinary things for this organization this year.

Stu Davis institutionalized the use of a committee/workgroup structure during his presidency. Each committee has a chair and a charter which is revised each year. The committee chairs report to the Board each month. The Board, in turn, sets direction as needed. This process ensures the workload of the volunteer organization is spread across a number of participants.

The great thing about this structure is it encourages people to engage in specific areas that match their interests. I encourage you to get involved; there is plenty of opportunity.

A group of NSGIC Leaders participate in a "president's call" on Fridays. This call is an informal telephone gathering of past-presidents, committee chairs, and board members, schedules permitting. The purpose of the call is to provide advice to the president on a variety of hot topics. This call also serves as a mechanism to ensure the leadership is fully engaged and aware of critical activities.

This year has provided a number of opportunities for NSGIC to provide input into national efforts. The use of social media tools (ie this blog, the NSGIC twitter account, etc.) has allowed us to expand our reach and, just as importantly, receive input from the GIS community. I am convinced now more than ever we, as a community, must come together with a common goal.

I hope you are making plans to attend the 2009 NSGIC Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, in October (if you are tweeting, that's #nsgic2009). This will give us a chance to fill you in on all of the activities NSGIC has been involved in and a chance to get you involved in a committee.

Because NSGIC is a great organization because of its people. And you are, or can be, one of those NSGIC people.

Howard Veregin Named Wisconsin State Cartographer

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mahaffie) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:54:00 +0000

The Wisconsin Mapping Bulletin reports that Howard Veregin has been named as that state's new State Cartographer. Mr. Veregin, who is now the Director for GIS for Rand McNally, replaces Ted Koch, who retired earlier this year after a distinguished career, as head of the Wisconsin State Cartographer's Office.

Prior to joining Rand McNally, Mr. Veregin taught at the University of Minnesota where NSGIC President-Elect Will Craig is associate director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.

"I knew Howard when he taught here at the University of Minnesota," said Mr. Craig. "It has been a while, but I remember him as a thoughtful guy, a solid head, and smart as a whip."

Mr. Veregin received his PhD in Geography from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He did his undergraduate work, and earned a masters degree, at the University of Manitoba. He has also worked at Kent State University.

Zsolt pulls up the stakes...enters new phase of career!

noreply@blogger.com (Learon Dalby) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:19:00 +0000

Announcement
After 2.8 decades of extremely rewarding service in North Carolina State Government, Zsolt Nagy has decided to pull up the stakes and begin a new phase of his career with AECOM.

Zsolt's contribution to NSGIC spans many years, beginning with the NSDI Framework workshops and as the eastern representative on the FGDC Cadastral Committee in the mid 90's. He is a past President, a past member of the Board of Directors, and served on numerous committees, including co-chair of the Outreach/Legislative Committee since 2006. He received the prestigious NSGIC Outstanding Service Award in 2002. Of many accomplishments with NSGIC, Zsolt says a few favorites include hosting the first NSGIC group Capitol Hill visit during his Presidential term in 2005, initiating the process to build an annual advocacy agenda, building the Digital Coast caucus, and serving on the National Geospatial Advisory Committee. That initial Capitol Hill visit, fondly referred by some as the "high school dance" showed how "not ready" we were as a group to tackle opportunities in Washington, but now serves as a reminder of just how far we've come in shaping national geospatial policy in just 4 years.

At the NC Ctr. for Geographic Information and Analysis, Zsolt led numerous GIS projects and federal grants in a handful of positions, starting as a Technician in 1982, and then in roles as Project Manager, Production Manager, and Database Administrator through the 90's. His primary role since then has been as State GIS Coordination Program Manager which included much emphasis on SSDI and NSDI, and included support of the Statewide GIS Council and its members on best practices, standards, and on collaborative implementations such as NC OneMap and GeoMAPP (the Library of Congress Multi-state geoarchival project). He also served for a short time as GIS Coordinator with NC Emergency Management during the initialization of the Statewide Floodplain Mapping Program.

Zsolt's last day with state government will be August 31. He has accepted a position with AECOM, in their Cary, NC office. AECOM (NYSE: ACM) is a global provider of professional technical and management support services to a broad range of markets, including water, transportation, facilities, environmental and energy. With more than 44,000 employees around the world, AECOM is a leader in all of the key markets that it serves. AECOM provides a blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation and technical excellence in delivering solutions that enhance and sustain the world’s built, natural and social environments. AECOM is a NSGIC Gold Corporate sponsor and Zsolt looks forward to catching up with everyone in Cleveland at the Annual Conference.

From the NSGIC President
Zsolt’s service to the NSGIC community has been invaluable. He has personally assisted with promoting NSGIC’s core values and many of our accomplishments can be attributed to his energy. More than that, Zsolt has and will remain a friend as we continue to work together to reach our common goals. I have asked Zsolt to continue his NSGIC Outreach co-chairing responsibilities leading up to the annual conference. This is a process Zsolt is well versed in and I believe his knowledge of the process required to create the NSGIC Advocacy Agenda is important. Please join me in congratulating a friend and colleague as he starts a new adventure.