Hot News Items - October 2005

NSGIC Conference Sept. 24 - 29, 2005 (By Carol Ostergren and George White):
This year's California delegation to the NSGIC Conference included: Ray McDowell (CERES), George White (CGIA Chair), Carol Ostergren (USGS Partnership Liaison), Steve Grise (ESRI), Malcolm Adkins (Baker), and George Lee (USGS Orthophoto Program). Highlights:

• NSGIC restructured, and also adopted a strategic plan to guide their organizational direction. NSGIC Strategic Plan | Committee Restructuring Plan
• NSGIC adopted a new initiative, "Digital Aerial Imagery for the Nation," as a key framework element of NSDI. It includes multi-resolution products (6-inch, 1-foot, and 1-meter) collected in a 3-year cycle, with the federal government paying for the effort. States with statewide coordination councils will be the first option for management of their programs, and imagery would be freely available on the Internet. Development of statewide strategic/business plans will position states to obtain contract incentives that include federal funding incentives which will promote data sharing of base framework data layers.
• Fifty States Initiative: Blessed by FGDC; funded by USGS; $500k to 10 states; will become a category in the competitive CAP grant process, possibly in the 2005-06 fiscal year. It was stressed that states need to develop strategic and business plans to increase eligibility for CAP grant funding as well as include geospatial technology in emergency and homeland security plans. 50 States Initiative Strategic Business Plan Development
• RAMONA: NSGIC has sponsored the development of a new tool for data inventory and status to provide consistent state inventories for framework data at various originating levels (city, county); it will ultimately be integrated with the recently-revised Geospatial One Stop Portal to launch in 2006. PDF presentation (2.7 MB)
• FGDC Committee & the Proposed Governance Model: A review of governance models resulted in the development of a new model which raises many policy issues: Does the proposed model better serve the nation? What would FGDC responsibilities be? Do we still need FGDC if the new model is implemented? Are we moving toward a shift to facilitating data production rather than standards? NSDI Future Directions Governance Report

• The number of GIO and Statewide GIS Coordinator Positions continues to grow. Several states (AK, ME, NJ, OR, SD, TN, VA, WV) now have legislated funding and establishment of state GIO. Pennsylvania, which has GIS managed from within the Governor's Office, has had extraordinary success with obtaining DHS grants and HS efforts, and has offered to help other states and post information; most states have I-plans which are morphing into state strategic plans to mesh with future funding opportunities and initiatives.
• Geospatial Blue Book: There was an interesting presentation and discussion about the development of application-driven approach GIS implementation templates that would provide common specifications from a successful project.
• The Department of Homeland Security gave two briefings that are useful for anyone who may want to seek grant funding in the future, as the guidelines are changing to include requirements for geospatial technology to be part of emergency operation plans and homeland security plans. National Strategy Briefing | Grants Program Geospatial Guidance Briefing
• Hurricane Katrina Briefing (These highlights represent a digest of some key points from many hours of discussion.)
  
• URISA GISCorp: 3 teams sent (2 to MS; 1 to LA), supported Joint Field Operation (JFO) centers and MS EOC response in first 3 weeks; used MapQuest to locate 911 calls, groove collaboration, and then generated maps for rescue teams; most valuable datasets: roads, gas stations, cell towers, grids, orthos, water supply. More on URISA GISCorp
  
• GIS for the Gulf: regional datasets (HSIP "Gold") compiled into BAR-GC HSDS data model via ETL procedures by USGS/ESRI team in Redlands, 10 days start to finish, data delivered to JFOs, NGA Palanterra, State EOCs, EPA, FEMA, etc.); public version of data available here; Thank you, BAR-GC!
  
• Use of lat/long coordinate system may be necessary when streets have been flooded or destroyed.
  
• Develop a back-up communication system using Satellite telephone because cell and land lines may be destroyed.
  
• Develop off-site backups of your GIS datasets (e.g., at the state level or with a regional entity in or a mutual aid county) just in case your building is not useable after the disaster.
  
• Develop data-sharing Memorandums of Agreements (MOUs) before the disaster/emergency.
  
• Put the use of geospatial technology in emergency and homeland security plans to ensure better coordination and collaboration as well as makes states eligible for Department of Homeland Security grant funding.
  
• Take-Home Messages: Plan to share your data; share your geospatial datasets before the disaster; share your geospatial data to help with the search and rescue; share your geospatial data helps with disaster recovery; in short, sharing geospatial data is the right thing to do.
  

Attorney General Opinion on Parcel Boundary Map Data: The conclusions of the Attorney General's opinion are:

1. Parcel boundary map data maintained by a county assessor in an electronic format is subject to public inspection and copying under provisions of the California Public Records Act.
2. A copy of parced boundary map data maintained in an electronic format by a county assessor must be furnished "promptly" upon request of a member of the public.
3. The fee that may be charged by a county for furnishing a copy of parcel boundary map data maintained in an electronic format by a county assessor is generally limited to the amount that covers the direct cost of producing the copy but may include certain other costs depending upon the particular circumstances as specified in the California Public Records Act.

The entire opinion is available for download here.

LA County Assessor's Office Data Sharing Policy Forum - 9/15/05: CGIA was invited to the Los Angeles County Assessor's Office to make a presentation and lead the discussion around data sharing. A copy of the presentation by Bruce Joffe can be downloaded for your review here.

CGIA Awarded Cooperative Agreements Program (CAP) Grant: The goals of the CAP grant for Geographic Information Coordination are to:

• Promote development and adoption of appropriate data sharing policies that:
  • Identify sustainable public access methods to geospatial data purchased, licensed, developed and maintained through the use of public monies.
  • Foster an understanding among public agencies as to the value of geospatial data in providing better, more cost-effective services to California citizens.
  • Reduce long-term data development and maintenance costs.
  • Promote licensing of geospatial data consistent with public trust role of government agencies with an appropriate role for private enterprise.
• Investigate and pursue alternative fiscal models to address funding and equity participation for multi-agency geospatial initiatives
• Develop a repeatable process for determining California government needs for framework geospatial data with an annual implementation plan (e.g., priorities, partners, data stewards, funding, roles, responsibilities and delivery schedule)

The geographic area for the project themes will be: State of California; California government specific framework geospatial data including digital land records information, imagery, digital elevation/bathymetry, administrative boundaries, hydrography, transportation, land use, land cover, and survey and geodetic control.

CGIA will be working collaboratively with federal, state, and regional organizations to implement this grant from September 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006. PDF with more info

URISA Annual Conference - October 9-12 2005: URISA is holding its annual conference in Kansas City from Oct 8-12. The URISA web site has registration details. A copy of the November 2004 URISA Chapters map can be downloaded at http://www.urisa.org/chapters/chapters.htm. CGIA is promoting increased collaboration between California’s URISA chapters and Regional Councils/ Collaboratives. URISA's annual conference will feature, in addition to a full program of presentations and workshops, the 2nd National Geographic Information 3C Summit, which follows from the Summit held in May, 2003. This meeting brings Federal, state, and local agencies back together to track how the first Summit's recommendations have been implemented. The emphasis for this Summit is how local and state governments can more effectively contribute geodata to the NSDI, and how Federal agencies can more effectively provide resource assistance to do so. Please download the URISA Summit II PDF for more information.

California GIS Council Meeting - 10/19/05: The next meeting of the California GIS Council is scheduled for 19 October at Sacramento State University. Additional details are located at http://gis.ca.gov/council/events.epl. CGIA is the communications and collaboration arm of the California GIS Council, creating dialogue, networks, and building bridges that can increase support for regional and statewide initiatives supporting more effective use of GIS in decision-making processes leading to positive impacts for various communities within California.

Northwest Environmental Training Center presents the NEPA/CEQA Training Series in Sacramento, CA on November 1, 2005, 8:30 A.M. to 5 P.M. (schedule here) and November 2, 2005, 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. (schedule here). For more details on registration, go to https://nwetc.websitesource.net/reg_cpol-302-03_11-05_sac/registration.htm.

UC Berkeley GIS & Public Policy Forum: CANCELLED
The policy forum scheduled for November 3, 2005 has been cancelled. This forum will be rescheduled for early 2006; details will be posted as soon as they become available. The purpose of the forum, scheduled by CGIA, BAAMA, and the Goldman School of Public Policy, will be to demonstrate the usefulness of GIS for public policy making and encourage students and professors at the Goldman School of Public Policy to include the use of GIS in their curriculum and perhaps in the future get dual track graduate students who get a public policy degree with a GIS emphasis.

Take a look at our GIS in Action web site links. Let us know if you have any web sites to add.

Take a look at our Community Calendar. Let us know if you have any web sites to add.

Have you joined CGIA for the 2005-06 year? If not, what are you waiting for?

CALGIS Conference - April 5-7, 2006: The CGIA Board is collaborating with CALGIS planners to be involved in the hosting the leadership track for the 12th Annual CALGIS Conference in Santa Barbara from April 5, 6, and 7, 2006. A discount for early registration to the conference can be obtained by completing the registration form at http://www.calgis.org/registration.htm.

CGIA extends a special "Thank You" to the California Resources Agency for their hosting of our web site. This special arrangement reflects the close working relationship that exists between our two organizations and our mutual interests in using geospatial technologies to improve government services.