Ten BIG Pages of NSGIC News!

The Summer 2008 Edition of NSGIC News (PDF) has hit the newsstands!!!

Well, to the extent that you consider the NSGIC web site to be a news stand. It is public and NSGIC News is displayed there, so that's like a newsstand.

Never mind that... The Summer Edition of NSGIC News is out! It is ten big pages of news about NSGIC. And in it you can read about the latest efforts of NSGIC's leadership to help coordinate among state, local and federal agencies!

You can read about The National Map! And about a new addressing white paper! And about the Annual NSGIC Conference!

Learn more about COGO! (What is COGO? We refer you to the latest NSGIC News; page 4.)

But that's not all! Meet Katherine Kapo, NSGIC's newest state coordinator and the one-woman focus-group who bravely tested the new NSGC "webterview!"

But wait, there's more!

We also present the results of the first-ever NSGIC Six-Word "How-To" Challenge: How will we achieve a true National Spatial Data Infrastructure?

And we're not even telling you all that is found in the latest NSGIC News. It is really hard to maintain this breathless excitement while typing; but just you trust us, there's more!

And it is all for you in the Summer 2008 Edition of NSGIC News (PDF).

A Discussion of the Roles of the GIO and the State GIS Coordinator

The latest Directions on the News podcast features a discussion of the implications of the recent announcement of plans to appoint a GIO (Geospatial Information Officer) for the Department of the Interior. Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg explore two basic some questions about the idea: is there time to find the right person? And, what should be the role of a GIO for such a large agency?

Two models fro the GIO role were discussed. One is a CIO focused on geographic issues. Ms. Shutzberg noted that a CIO tends to be a technology leader, someone who focuses on the technology sides of things but not as much on coordination with other levels of government.

The other model is that of the GIS Coordinators who make up much of the NSGIC membership, whose role "tends to be more about ... being the champion for GIS in the state."

Ms. Shutzberg added that a State GIS Coordinator does have to have some technical savvy (and that some have a great deal of technical savvy) but that the coordinator role is broader.

"...unifying the troops. Getting the partnerships together. Creating the vision. Working with the Governor and other state agencies. And it is far more of a, dare I say, political sort of role."

Joe Francica added that the State GIS Coordinator also serves as a liaison between the local and federal levels.

Both agreed that the GIO for a large federal agency such as Interior will need to fit the political role, and be able to coordinate among agencies and levels of government, with strong technical know-how. They concluded that the new GIO will have to be a "high-powered individual" and that it is a real question whether or not there will be time to find and appoint the right person before the end of the current administration.

This podcast makes interesting listening for all of those who work with agencies within the Department of the Interior, for those who now work as GIOs and for those who are State GIS Coordinators. Our roles are growing and changing as we adapt the shifting geospatial industry and the rapid growth of the use and sharing of geospatial data and information.

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.

A Calendar of GIS Conferences

It started as a question: When do the various states plan to hold their statewide GIS Conferences? That question developed into a collection of items in an internal database at NSGIC HQ. That collection generated more questions about the different other GIS and Geo-related events that might conflict with those state conferences.

So we've started collecting a GIS Events Calendar at Google:



We hope to keep this going, and expand on it. We want to give it a home on the NSGIC web site. And a vacation place in the blog's side-bar? Maybe a pied-a-terre on some other blogs?

We'll see.

Meanwhile, if there's an event that you know about, but that we don't appear to know about (that is, it does not appear on this calendar), why not drop us a line?

UPDATE (8/8/08): Many thanks to those of you who have shared event ideas with us! We were also pleased to learn about the Wisconsin Geospatial Events calendar. Who else is using this sort of technology?

Also, we've added the events in list form to the sidebar to the right. Thanks to Jim Lacy for the suggestion!

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.

An Example of Dynamic Map/Data Visualization

The Flowing Data blog posted a nifty time-series map of the spread of the Walmart franchise: Watching the Growth of Walmart Across America. (Via Planetizen)

This map visualization of change over time draws on data from Freebase (an open source database of databases, I think) and uses the flash-based map-tile tool Modest Maps.

Is it GIS? It is certainly a good example of using map data to make a simple point.

And, if we're being honest with ourselves, it's fun to watch the little green lights flashing across the map.

An Interview With an NGAC Member

You might have caught this in the State GIS News portion of the NSGIC Blog sidebar, but I thought the recent interview with a member of National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) from the Wisconsin Mapping Bulletin interesting enough to call your attention to it here as well.

The NGAC membership includes Wisconsin's Don Dittmar, a county Land Information Manager, who was interviewed for the Bulletin by Ted Koch.

Mr. Dittmar explains some of the workings of the group and some of the dynamics that he has seen develop in the first few meetings. He adds a note about the NGAC's purpose:

I think now our most important mission is to refocus the FGDC on building the NSDI with particular attention paid to building on local data, the data that is, for the most part, created at the source.

This interview is worth a read; I don't want to dilute it by just extracting the quotes that resonate with me. Head on over to the Wisconsin Mapping Bulletin and see what you think.

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.

Register Now for NSGIC 2008

Registration is now open for NSGIC's 2008 Annual Conference in Keystone, Colorado.

The conference is set to run from September 7 through 11 and will feature a wide-ranging discussion of issues of import to state GIS Coordinators, local and federal agencies, and their private-sector partners.

Among the major subjects tentatively scheduled to be addressed are:

• Progress on Imagery for the Nation
• Improving addressing and transportation data
• State/federal partnerships to manage hydrography data
  
• Factors for better coordination with and among federal agencies
• USGS "National Map" planning

Members of the NSGIC Corporate Leadership Council will offer panel discussions on subjects such as:

• Handling the large volumes of data now available from digital sensors and LiDAR projects
• Approaches to enterprise licensing of data and software
• QBS and Best-Value contracting

NSGIC conferences are traditionally fast-paced and very active, with meetings starting early in the day and running well into the evenings. State and local GIS coordinators mingle with federal agency staff, sponsors and vendors in an open and friendly gathering at which as much is learned in the hallways as in the meeting rooms.

Registration is $450 for NSGIC members and $650 for non-members before August 8. After August 8 it will be $535 for members and $735 for non-members. Late registration (after August 29) will be $635 for members and $835 for non-members.

Those in the geospatial industry who are interested in spending time with some of the top GIS executives in state governments should consider becoming one of the sponsors of the NSGIC conference. NSGIC sponsors are an integral part of the discussion at each NSGIC conference and can have input into the thinking that guides GIS policy among the states.

And, on a more personal note, the NSGIC crowd is open, welcoming and great group to get to know. Effective GIS coordination is a community-based endeavor; NSGIC models the sort of community-building effort that many states are working to achieve.

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.

NSGIC's Own Barney Krucoff Featured in Google Lat Long Blog

Barney Krucoff, GIS Manager for Washington DC and a valued member of NSGIC, has posted some thoughts on adding his city's data to Google Earth (Google LatLong: Our city in 3D).

As noted yesterday on the Lat Long blog, Washington DC is among the first group of cities for which 3D models have been added to Google via the Cities in 3D Program. The others are Amherst, Massachusetts; Greenville, South Carolina; McMinnville, Tennessee; Nanaimo, British Columbia; Jamestown, New York; and Nashville and Davidson Counties in Tennessee.

Barney's blog post today offers a some thoughts on why the District government's GIS team was eager to take part. He notes that it was the right thing to do, it is a benefit to district neighborhoods, the Google "cloud" is an effective ad free data distribution approach, and that it is a good way to communicate with District residents, the government's clients.

LiDAR as Rock Star?

The rock band Radiohead has released a new "video" made without video. The optical portion of the "House of Cards" single was created using two laser-scanning technologies. One for close-ups of the band and another, a more traditional-feeling LiDAR, for landscapes.

The band partnered with Google for the release and has included data set downloads to allow fans to remix the spatial data themselves.

This has been making something of a splash among the geo-bloggers and music press alike. At least one geo-blogger has some screenshots of playing with the singer's head.

This may be the start of Music Video for the Nation.

(NOTE: The final sentence of this post is a gentle form of self-parody. No offense was intended; none was taken.)

USGS Meets with Northeast States

The USGS held a "meeting among partners" in Albany, New York, this month. The meeting brought together USGS staff with GIS coordinators from northeastern states to discuss common interests and partnership opportunities. It was one in a series of USGS partnership meetings that included a meeting of the southeast states in 2007.

Among the states represented, either by a state GIS Coordinator or staff or by their USGS liaison, were New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Maine, Illinois, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Washington DC, Indiana and Delaware.

USGS staff spoke about efforts to update the National Map program, interactions and partnerships with the homeland security community, integrating GIS data in USGS science efforts, and the renewed interest by USGS leadership in printed topographic maps. Each state gave an update on its latest efforts and several states took the opportunity to outline challenges seen in the years to come in providing meaningful geospatial data.

The meeting featured frank, open and respectful dialogue. I hope to post more information from this meeting as I digest my notes.

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.