GeoJava

2024 NSGIC Lifetime Service Award Winner: Mr. Stephen Lewis (USDOT Retired)

Few people have made the impact on NSGIC as has Mr. Stephen (Steve) Lewis. Steve, recently retired from the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), has been a staunch supporter of NSGIC for many years and has been a champion of key initiatives for states. For example, he was THE driving force behind the creation and growth of the National Address Database (NAD) since its inception in 2016. His career spanned two federal agencies and 36 years, the majority of which was spent with the USDOT. Steve retired in December of 2023, leaving a legacy of fostering one of the deepest individual partnerships with NSGIC.

2024 NSGIC Geospatial Excellence Award Winners

Catalyst Awards:

• Pueblo of Sandia GIS Program
  • Pueblo of Sandia GIS Program – OverviewThe goal of the Pueblo of Sandia GIS Program (SPGIS) is to securely manage, maintain and update the Pueblo’s geospatial data efficiently and enforce data integrity. The primary objective was to adopt cutting edge geospatial technology toolsets and modernize the GIS infrastructure to organize and manage all geospatial data with a logical system to move towards building a comprehensive geospatial asset management system. These goals allowed the GIS team to track our spatial assets, maintain records and manage an accurate geospatial data inventory. ArcGIS Enterprise also facilitated access and data delivery to all authorized users including our non-GIS audience across all Pueblo of Sandia enterprises to data that is centralized and secure that they can adopt and use as a Pueblo-wide decision making tool for planning processes. Data could also be shared with private and public agencies that have data sharing/confidentiality agreements in place.
• The Minnesota Geospatial Advisory Council’s PLSS Remonumentation Legislation Subcommittee and PLSS Preservation Committee
  • After decades without statewide Public Land Survey System (PLSS) funding in Minnesota, 2023 legislation established the PLSS Monument Grant Program. This monumental accomplishment was led by the MN Geospatial Advisory Council’s (GAC) PLSS Remonumentation Legislation Subcommittee. Over $9 million in funds provides support for Minnesota’s PLSS preservation and enabled MnGeo to hire a Professional Land Surveyor position setting a new precedent for the MN surveying and GIS community. To advise MnGeo’s grant program implementation, a second GAC committee was established, the PLSS Preservation Committee. The work of the two PLSS committees and MnGeo culminated in May 2024 with $9.1 million in grants being awarded to 34 counties. The counties will use funds to restore, maintain, and update PLSS markers and records. The PLSS infrastructure investment will improve accuracy of core geospatial datasets, help ensure ongoing GIS data integrity, and support informed decision-making in Minnesota.
• Rachel Smith, Oregon Geospatial Information Officer
  • Rachel Smith, Oregon Geographic Information Officer (GIO), has worked tirelessly to create strong inter-agency and local-state government relationships. Rachel’s effort to build a solid foundation contributed to a significant cultural shift towards data sharing, allowing public bodies to build stronger relationships with each other and contribute to a shared vision for aggregating geospatial data.As incoming GIO, Rachel led successful implementation of Oregon’s Geographic Information Hub (“GeoHub”) initiative, expanding on Oregon’s successful Framework Data Program to develop higher quality data with fewer gaps and to provide resources and support to advance local government engagement in statewide geospatial data collection and aggregation. Rachel has been a strong, unwavering, influential voice in creating data sharing practices that encourage data sharing from local governments to state government with the goal of contributing statewide data into federal databases.

Innovator Award

• Katherine Kiyanitsa, New York
  • Kate Kiyanitsa has been a champion for smart geospatial data strategies and standards for many years. She is especially deserving of the geospatial excellence award because of her dedication and vision for a national parcel dataset. Kate’s extraordinary actions and focus to make the dataset a reality was revealed through advancements in the Geospatial Maturity Assessment criteria and subsequent creation of the feature service for the nation’s parcels. Kate is a leader and supporter of geospatial professionals across the country, through her ability to lift states and pave the path for our national spatial data infrastructure. She is proving that we can do difficult tasks and make progress taking incremental, meaningful, and strategic action.

For more information about NSGIC Awards, please visit the Awards page.