Progress of the NSDI: Geospatial Data Access in the US John Moeller, Staff Director Federal Geographic Data Committee United States of America

Today’s Presentation US National Spatial Data Infrastructure NSDI Clearinghouse NSDI Community Demonstration Project Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Future Activities Summary

The NSDI n Established by Executive Order in April 1994 to: l Advance goals of the NII l Reduce duplication of effort l Promote effective management by all levels of government l Improve the acquisition, distribution and use of geographic information

The Vision of the NSDI A Geographic Information Resource for the 21st Century Current and accurate geospatial data are: – Readily available: locally, nationally and globally – To contribute to: economic growth, environmental quality and social progress

The NSDI Partnerships Metadata GEOdata Clearinghouse (catalog) Framework Standards

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 17 Cabinet and Executive Level Agencies Numerous Stakeholder Members Chaired by Secretary Babbitt FGDC Staff provides support

VI A Network of NSDI Organizations UCGISOGC NLCNACoICMA IGC Federal Geographic Data Committee NSGIC

The NSDI Clearinghouse

Distributed service to locate geospatial data based on their characteristics expressed in metadata Clearinghouse allows one to pose a query of all or a portion of the community in a single session Like a spatial AltaVista What is Clearinghouse?

Clearinghouse Method Metadata preparation Metadata validation/ staging Metadata publication User access

Metadata and Data Discovery The Clearinghouse is a distributed network that includes a registry of servers, several WWW-to- Z39.50 gateways, and many Z39.50 servers A primary goal of Clearinghouse is the ability to find spatial data throughout the entire community, not one site at a time Clearinghouse will not operate without Metadata

Defined by Executive Order in April 1994 as formal format for Federal use To be applied to all new data sets, effective January 1995; all legacy data on a schedule To be used as vocabulary for search in National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse FGDC Metadata

Metadata Transition FGDC Metadata Version 2 approved in August (minor modifications) ISO TC-211 convened to work on International Metadata Standard ISO Metadata Standard is nearing completion FGDC endorses ISO metadata and will develop implementation strategy and training

NSDI Clearinghouse Growth Jun-95Jun-96Feb-97Dec-97Sep-98Mar-99Jun-99Sep-99 InternationalDomesticGateway Number of Sites

NSDI: Clearinghouse Nodes FGDC CAP Awards Clearinghouse Nodes VI

NSDI Community Demonstration Projects Tijuana River Watershed (Commerce) Tillamook County, OR (Interior) City of Baltimore (Justice) Upper Susquehanna/Lackawanna River Watershed (EPA) Gallatin County, MT (Interior) Dane County, WI (Agriculture)

City of Baltimore

Crime Mapping and Analysis Baltimore Police and Dept of Justice Uses GIS for crime analysis, police accountability, and community-based police

Dane County, Wisconsin Focus on citizen involvement in planning decisions Partners include Department of Agriculture, Dane County, and University of Wisconsin

Gallatin County, Montana Smart growth project Developing first comprehensive county plan

Tijuana River Watershed Environmental restoration Focus on Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve Partnership with Mexico

Tillamook County, Oregon Flood mitigation and fish habitat restoration GIS to help solve location issues for mitigation and restoration efforts

Upper Susquehanna/Lackawanna Watershed Flooding and environment Pennsylvania GIS Consortium and EPA are partners American Heritage River

Global Spatial Data Infrastructure

SDI’s Around the World Over 30 nations have or are planning national Spatial Data Infrastructures Wide variations exist: -Economic- Organizational -Legal- Scale Common themes: -Core geospatial data- Standards -Metadata- Clearinghouses Source: Onsrud, University of Maine, 1998

Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Why? Collaboration at the global level is critical to SDI success Issues extend beyond political boundaries Common principles and guidelines to address: –Interoperability- Data sharing –Policy Awareness, acceptance, and support Needs of developing countries

Expanding the GSDI Grow membership, awareness, support Support international standards to promote interoperability and exchange –ISO/TC211 - Data discovery, access –Open GIS Consortium - Spatial referencing Address policy, legal, licensing issues Partnerships –Build on the successes of nations already engaged in SDI –Help nations to establish / develop their SDI’s –Encourage public/private collaboration

–Losses due to disasters average $1 billion dollars weekly in the US, $10 billion a week globally. Dr. Eric Andersen, USGS, 21 July 1999 –“Without the infrastructure, there is isolation” Santiago Borrero, IGAC, Columbia, 20 June 1999 Why Expanded International Coordination ?

GSDI Relationships Organizational Remits Data Policies Technologies Standards Delivery Mechanisms Finance/Human Resources Digital Earth ISO/TC211 APSDI ICDE NSDI ASDI CGDI EGII NaLIS Corine NSIF HUNAGI NSDIPA SNIG NGDF Global Map Open GIS Consortium

Global Coordination and Communication FGDC Perspective Assure the integration / sharing of data for local, national, regional, and global use Encourage nations to develop compatible NSDIs Support coordinating processes Identify and build on common interests and needs Many crucial building blocks are already in place (standards, clearinghouse, metadata)

Some Future NSDI Activities

Develop strategy for action on “12 BOLD STEPS” Work with Congress on possible NSDI Legislation Seek ways to continue to broaden private sector participation Pursue the development of “chaordic” organization GeoData Forum Follow-up

FGDC International Areas of Focus Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) –Business Case / Marketing –SDI Implementation Plan (TWG) –Organization Structure Regional Permanent Committees for SDI Americas Nation to Nation Agreements - Netherlands/RAVI and USA/FGDC

Areas of Focus (cont’d) Support to Global Projects –Global Map (ISCGM) –Digital Earth Survey of SDI’s around the world –Maintain initial data –Extend survey –Analysis –Web site

Web-Mapping Testbed Users easily and rapidly search, retrieve, access & exploit geospatial information from multiple locations on the WWW Better address the vast opportunities to utilize geodata and tools via the WWW Protocols that enable interoperable web-based exploitation of geodata and sharing of processing services DISTRIBUTED MULTI-VENDOR

Data Server Web Client Standards, Interfaces Web-Mapping Testbed Bring web mapping technology providers and technology users together (industry/govt/univ.) Develop multi-use technology International sponsorship of a collaborative development environment. * “Standards-based commercial off-the-shelf” (SCOTS) technology.

SUMMARY

Spatial data is critical to building livable communities Local and regional planning Law enforcement Natural disaster response Environmental monitoring and restoration Economic development

US Perspective - NSDI progress Strong growth in membership –Federal - State & Local –Associations- Industry & Academia Rapid Expansion of Clearinghouse Geodata and Metadata Standards Training Programs Funding Support Continues Growing Executive and Congressional support

Strive for balance Keep our goals foremost - Many working for a common purpose Promote new ways of thinking & working Look for real results Far too late for pessimism DREAM BIG DREAMS Some Observations

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