U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure Douglas Nebert FGDC/GSDI Secretariat

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Foundation of US NSDI NSDI established as initiative under the interagency coordinating committee, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) FGDC has 17 member federal organizations, official liaison with 35 state councils, and other sectoral organizations Executive Order (1994) compelled federal government participation in NSDI

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Participation in NSDI through FGDC US Federal Government agencies (17) 35 state geo-information councils National States Geographic Info Council National Association of Counties National League of Cities Universities (UCGIS) Vendor community: OpenGIS Consortium

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Standards Clearinghouse Metadata Framework Working Groups Organization of FGDC Steering Committee Coordination Group Secretariat Staff TransportationWaterElevationOrthoimageryCadastreGeodeticGovernmental UnitsGeologyVegetation... Thematic Subcommittees

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Legal Framework FGDC constituted through the Executive Branch, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-67 for interagency coordination on geographic information Only federal members permitted to vote on adoption of FGDC standards and policies, but process open to all FGDC encourages standards and specification development in ISO, ANSI, and OGC by all NSDI participants

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Roles and Responsibilities FGDC Secretariat: staff of ~15, provides forum for policies and standards that integrate into a coherent NSDI Steering Committee: staffed by agency managers, meets 2-3 times per year, approval of policies and FGDC Standards Coordination Group: chairs of all WGs and Thematic Subcommittees and agency reps, meets monthly WG and TS members: volunteer domain experts

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee NSDI Funding Annual allocation to FGDC Secretariat of approximately $3.6M Cooperative Agreements Program allots between $1-2M per year from this for sustainable NSDI- building projects FGDC budget covers Secretariat expenses, interagency projects, and common-use infrastructure maintenance FGDC member organizations invest at least as much in SDI operations

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Standards OMB Circular 119 requires governmental bodies to work first through international and national standards bodies before developing government-specific standards FGDC participates in US National Standards for geomatics (ANSI INCITS-L1) and as part of US delegation to ISO TC 211 Data content standards and the Metadata Standard were developed through FGDC – will be migrating this process under ANSI

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee NSDI and Standards Advocacy OpenGIS Consortium, W3C Software interfaces (Implementation Specifications) ISO TC 211 Foundations for implementation. (Abstract standards) NationalStandards Content standards, Authority for data Endorsed practices and specification s NSDI Other NSDIs Regional SDI Coordination

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Intellectual Property Rights/Pricing NSDI founded on principle of “freedom of discovery” to promote awareness and access to all geo-information Encourage the publication of ALL metadata for data for free or for a fee with the metadata declaring access characteristics and asserter property rights Federal agencies must make all non-sensitive data available only at the cost of dissemination, but no standard fee schedule exists (per OMB A-130)

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Educational Aspects FGDC has published educational materials and reference implementations of software to promote competence in NSDI concepts FGDC underwrites local, regional, and national training opportunities through a cadre of on-call trainers Research grants provided to University Consortium for Geo Information Sciences (UCGIS) for NSDI curricula and evaluation

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Content: Core Data Core data are known as Framework and represent the most commonly used data in base mapping, collected by various agencies: – Elevation – Hydrography (Surface Water) – Governmental Units (Boundaries) – Orthoimagery – Transportation (multi-modal) – Cadastre – Geodetic Control

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Framework Data Federal agency leads defined for each theme Standardization of Framework representation non-existent until this year Multi-sectoral participation in ANSI-sponsored standards development teams for Framework underway to define Core representation Coordination of Framework data service providers to be formalized within each community

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Content: Other Data US NSDI encourages the documentation, publication, and service of all types of geo- information Abundant environmental, imagery, and other non-Framework data are documented and available through Clearinghouse Data content standards for non-Framework data are encouraged to promote exchange

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Semantic Interoperability Past FGDC Data Content Standards were not done using consistent modeling and implementation guidance, but provided, at best, semantic guidance on content Framework Data Content Standards now under development will include common core UML models, documentation, applying a feature cataloguing methodology, identifier systems, and define a single reference application schema for each theme to promote exchange

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Semantic Resources Because geographic data is so diverse in its discipline and usage, the development of a common set of Theme Keywords to be used across all disciplines has been a problem ISO Categories provides one high level classification of generic data International cooperation is sought to identify and endorse a single set of thematic keywords with codes for common use!

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Data Documentation FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) published in 1994 and revised in 1998, US contribution to ISO metadata standardization effort Over 130 government, commercial, and academic data catalogs exist in the US with hundreds of thousands of data sets described using CSDGM US will transition to adopting ISO Metadata Metadata points to direct data download in about 20% of the records

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Community support Provide reference implementation software to promote adoption of common standards: – Collaborate with UNEP to maintain Enraemed ISO metadata collection software – Collaborate with FAO to modify data documentation and publishing framework Spatial Knowledgeware to support ISO and OGC specifications – Host and share metadata search “gateway” software

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Discovery Services FGDC coordinates a network of six official search Gateways for accessing international content held in Z39.50 (ISO 23950) “GEO” Profile collections (includes non-FGDC metadata)

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Discovery Services FGDC operates the GSDI global directory of servers to help selection of servers to target a full, distributed query NSDI/GSDI Discovery portals use searchable metadata fields, including spatial and temporal, and full text

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee API UI Metadata DB/Index Metadata DB/Index Data Catalog Service Data Catalog Service GEOdata Access Service GEOdata Access Service Web Mapping Service Web Mapping Service Registry/ Catalog Service Registry/ Catalog Client Catalog Client Data/File Management System Data/File Management System Geoprocessing Service Geoprocessing Service Symbols current Interface UI Software/Service Information Spatial Data Spatial Data Metadata Function are derived from are loaded to or stored in is exposed to the Internet through a Metadata contains queries for relevant collection targets queries stored in is exposed to the Internet through a may reference instances may be coupled to or integrated with planned API draws layers from makes maps from UI managed through managed through Gateway interacts with distributes to and collates from multiple Thesaurus Gazetteer enhances query with enhances query with UI feeds server info to 1. builds query screens for 2. submits queries/requests to 3. returns search responses 123 UI enter/update UI managed through may send data to now: planned.: are derived for each managed through API provides application access through API synchronize

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Objectives of the Infrastructure To promote use and re-use of spatial data for multiple purposes by government and citizens To encourage participation of self-disciplined providers or data and services To establish baseline services that support community discovery and access to geo- information (directory of services, semantic registry, search gateways, gazetteer, reference software implementation)

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee E-government: Geospatial OneStop OMB has established 24 e-government initiatives across the U.S. Government to seek savings of scale by formalizing re-usable G2G services Geospatial OneStop accelerates implementation of the NSDI by: – Rapid development of Framework schema/standards – Reiterating asset management in Clearinghouse – Establishing G2G needs-based access via the Clearinghouse – Implementing high-grade federal map and data services online for Framework themes

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Review State and E-Gov User Requirements Target 22+ e-gov initiatives and other e-gov Face-to-face Town Hall Discussions Call for business requirements of portal Develop consolidated use cases Compose/ convene 7 MATs Extract data requirements Who? To whom? When? How? Initial Portal Functional Design Calls for requirements and participation Extract common data requirements Construct Draft Model Write draft std docs Construct Draft Standard Public Review Under ANSI INCITS L1 Vote at ANSI INCITS L1 Vote at ANSI Public Review FGDC Endorsement revise e.g. transportation Prototype specific G2G functions Establish portal interface to services Prototype map/data services Finalize map/data services refine Document existing and planned data Service and Data Clearinghouse Augment portal functionality refine Draft process diagram of Geospatial OneStop revised 01Mar02 register time (not to scale) Prepare Questions, Organize Portal Team Requirements Team Standards Teams

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee What is the Geospatial One-Stop Portal? Middleware that integrates access to distributed community data services Community-wide access point for all participating data and map services Employs standard software interfaces to connect to catalog, map, and feature services set up by providers Generic user interface that could be adapted by other communities

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Portal Concept Clients WFSWMSWCSCatGaz GNIS Internet Geospatial One-Stop Portal User InterfaceWidgets AnalysisSymbolsHelp Web Browser (Thin Client)Applications (Thick Client) Services Provider Organizations Data

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI): An initiative to promote the development of a common spatial data infrastructure that is globally consistent An organization dedicated to the promulgation of current knowledge on the state-of-the-art with respect to standards and practices Interested in articulating the coordinating architecture relevant to implementing SDI

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee GSDI is facilitating the construction of a common infrastructure on which tangible applications are built and communities co-exist NOT a collection of data NOT one software solution or portal NOT a standards body NOT a government organization

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee GSDI as Organization Steering Committee – Technical Working Group – Legal and Economic Working Group – Decision Support Working Group Being incorporated as non-profit organization with a permanent secretariat; formal membership terms being defined

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee spatial datametadata catalog transformation data access web mappingdata fusion lookup symbolizationoverlaydata integration user interface generation authentication service chainbroker Integrative Services Access Services registered information Data Sources browser clientapplication clientother User Interfaces registrationvalidation

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee Chapter Cookbook Design Concept Data Meta data Catalog Online Mapping Access Other Services Outreach Case Studies Terms Context and Rationale Organisational Approach Implementation Approach Through hyperlinks the user will be able to traverse the Cookbook at different levels of detail and link to external information resources

Douglas Nebert GSDI Secretariat U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee