Historical Reflections Future Directions

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Historical Reflections Future Directions
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NSDI Components
Clearinghouse (catalog)
Metadata
GEOdata
Framework
Standards
NSDI
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Historical Reflection

• In 1993, 94, and 95, the National Research
  Council,
• Mapping Science Committee (MSC) issued reports
• on the concept, need for, and contents of the
  NSDI
• 1993 - The concept of a NSDI was first
• advanced by the MSC.
• 1994 Explored Federal/State partnership
• scenarios to advance building the NSDI.
• 1995 Called for the development of a common
• reference system (critical data foundation) for
• the generation, exchange, and integration of
• spatial data..

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Historical Reflection (cont.)

• March 1994, First Strategic Plan for the NSDI,
  crafted by the FGDC Building the Foundation of
  an Information Based Society. Articulated the
  vision for the NSDI and defined specific
  immediate and near-term activities to be
  accomplished.
•  
• April 1994, Presidential E.O. 12906, called for
  the nations development of the NSDI and further
  chartered the Federal Geographic Data Committee
  (FGDC) to lead and coordinate this effort,
  engaging the non-Federal sector in this
  challenge.

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Historical Reflection (cont.)

• Additional Calls for Action
• 1997,A Strategy for the NSDI, crafted by the
  geospatial community.
• 1998, National Academy of Public Administration
  Study Geographic Information for the 21st
  Century Building a Strategy for the Nation.
• 1999, National GeoData Forum.
• 2000, FGDC study Improving Federal Agency
  Geospatial Data Coordination.

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Actions from Studies

• Strengthening representation/participation/stakeho
  lder involvement in the FGDC
• Raising awareness and understanding of the NSDI
• Ensuring commitment to building the NSDI
• Building and distributing integrated national
  geospatial data assets
• Developing standards to achieve national
  consistency and multiple applications of the data
• Developing common solutions for discovery and
  access to data
• Raising international awareness of the NSDI
• Supporting alternative/complementary approaches
  for involvement in the NSDI
• Pricing Policies and Intellectual Property Rights

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Strengthening Representation/Participation/Stakeh
older Involvement in the FGDC

• Increase state, local and tribal government
  participation in the FGDC, and develop a process
  that allows these stakeholder groups to define
  logical and complementary roles in support of the
  NSDI.
• Seek ways to broaden private sector
  participation.
• Engage OMB at the highest level to become a full
  FGDC member.

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Strengthening Representation/Participation/Stakeh
older Involvement in the FGDC (cont.)

• NIMA and NASA need to become more actively
  engaged.
• Elevate the FGDC Secretariat to report to the
  Director of USGS.
• Focus FGDC staff role toward interagency
  non-partisan brokering with Federal agencies.
• Foster Federal agency collaboration by focusing
  on specific applications requiring interagency
  sharing of spatial data and budget initiatives.

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Raising Awareness and Understanding of the NSDI

• Articulate a clear vision of the NSDI that is
  understood by the policy makers.
• Develop strategic briefing packages for
  administration officials.
• Increase congressional, state legislature,
  county commission, city council, professional
  association, commercial, and public awareness.
• Encourage state, local, and private stakeholders
  to voice their support for the NSDI vision with
  legislators and other elected officials.

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Raising Awareness and Understanding of the NSDI
(cont.)

• Encourage development of a strategy for all
  states to have greater commonality of GI capacity
  and infrastructure.
• Federal agencies need to incorporate GIS and the
  NSDI concept into their overall IT strategies and
  plans.
• Promote other Federal agency support and
  testimony at FGDC-member agency budget hearings.
• Promote NSDI principles and practices through
  formal and informal education and training.

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Ensuring Commitment to Building the NSDI

• Establish through legislation a national goal to
  create and maintain a robust NSDI engage state
  and local governments in the process.
• Work with OMB to revise Circular A-16 to better
  define Federal agency roles and responsibilities
  for the NSDI.
• Develop an implementation plan of adopted
  recommendations add performance measures and
  review progress with OMB.

12
Building and Distributing Integrated National
Geospatial Data Assets

• Re-evaluate and redefine Framework, the Federal
  role in its development, and in the context of
  State and local needs.
• Develop a model of multi-agency data development
  and user participation that includes local, state
  and national players.
• Clarify individual agency responsibilities for
  national data stewardship.
• Identify meaningful ways for FGDC-member
  agencies lacking direct mapping mandates to
  contribute to national geodata initiatives.
• Develop a coordinated crosscut budget initiative
  to achieve the vision of integrated national
  geospatial data assets.
• Effect multi-agency collaboration by focusing on
  specific applications requiring sharing and
  coordination of spatial data and budget
  initiatives.

13
Developing Standards to Achieve National
Consistency and Multiple Applications of the Data

• Promote common classification systems, content
  standards, data models, and other common models
  to facilitate data development, sharing, and use.
• Clarify standards needs and increase the
  effectiveness of the FGDC standards process.

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Developing Standards to Achieve National
Consistency and Multiple Applications of the Data
(cont.)

• Concentrate FGDC standard setting activities on
  data content standards for the Framework layers.
• Develop performance measures for agency
  development and compliance with FGDC standards.
• Provide for stronger FGDC-NIMA coordination on
  international standards.

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Developing Common Solutions for Discovery and
Access to Data

• Rapidly grow the NSDI Clearinghouse to identify
  as much data as possible, including state, local
  and private sector data.
• Re-evaluate clearinghouse technology to provide
  a more user friendly on-line access to data and
  to stimulate development of metadata records for
  important national data themes.
• Demonstrate interoperability
• and integration in test beds.
• Develop open geoprocessing
• interfaces.
• Establish a data requirements registry.

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Raising International Awareness of the NSDI

• Participate with the international geospatial
  data information community in the development of
  a global geospatial data infrastructure.

17
Supporting Alternative/Complementary Approaches
for Involvement in the NSDI

• Pursue development of chaordic organization,
  or create a private nonprofit National Spatial
  Data Council, modeled on the current FGDC NSDI
  charters, with appropriate representation by all
  levels of government and the private sector.

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Pricing Policies and Intellectual Property Rights

• Continue to promote open access for all data
  used in public policy decision-making.
• Articulate a clear policy or draft legislation
  that allows the government to work cooperatively
  with the private sector to protect intellectual
  property rights for GI, particularly private and
  value-added GI data sets.

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Accomplishments

• The NSDI is on the radar screen of the
  Administration.

• Geospatial data and the NSDI have become
  recognized as foundations for electronic
  government.
• High-level Federal agency officials are involved
  in the FGDC.

• OMB Circular A-16 has been revised to strengthen
  Federal agency roles and responsibilities for the
  NSDI.
• Policy-level officials at other levels of
  government are becoming aware of the NSDI.

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Accomplishments (cont.)

• Many non-federal organizations are actively
  engaged in building the NSDI in partnership the
  FGDC.

• The NSDI is viewed internationally as a model for
  emulation.
• The FGDC has played a major role in the emergence
  and evolution of the Global Spatial Data
  Infrastructure.

• The establishment and maintenance of a grant
  program has encouraged organizations to get
  engaged in NSDI activities.
• Performed many public outreach activities and
  capacity building endeavors such as national
  forums, workshops, and publications.

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Accomplishments (cont.)

• Adoption and promotion of policies that support
  principles of full and open access to federal
  geographic data.

• The formulation and adoption of the FGDC Metadata
  Standard, and its impact on international
  metadata standards development.
• The establishment and continued expansion
  (nationally and internationally) of the NSDI
  Clearinghouse network.

• The conception and promotion of collaboratively
  building a Framework of geospatial data
  nationwide.
• Establishing national standards that provide the
  basis for interoperability and efficient data
  sharing.

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Future Directions

• NDSI is on the radar screen of this
  Administration.
• Its time to take a fresh look at strategic
  directions for the NSDI and chart our future
  flight plan.

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Drivers for Planning

• Cultural change is slow, spatial data and
  technology are still secondary in agency
  planning. NSDI is still an under appreciated
  asset.
• E-Gov is the future. Federal enterprise
  architecture effort will be pursued.
• Technology is surging ahead of our ability to
  culturally adapt.
• Homeland Security will remain a paramount
  application driver for the data.

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Drivers for Planning (cont.)

• Intergovernmental (Federal, state, local)
  collaboration is needed to build and maintain
  integrated national data assets.
  Institutionalizing stewardship responsibilities
  is key.
• The altruistic movement does not appear to work
  to get agencies to work together. Mission-driven
  efforts tend to keep agencies apart. Money
  drives cooperative spirit.
• There is inconsistent implementation of the
  common practices and standards developed for the
  NSDI.
• Open access/community right to know vs.
  privacy/security concerns.
• Pricing policies and intellectual property rights
  will remain important.
• Data overload ahead quality,
• accuracy, and liability issues.
• Others

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Next Steps

• Form a Planning Team to craft an updated NSDI
  Strategy.
• Broad stakeholder involvement is essential.
• Thinking outside the box is needed.
• July 4 timeframe for completion.