Building the Geospatial Future Together— The NSDI Strategic Plan 2025–2035
Introduction
As defined in the Geospatial Data Act of 2018 (43 U.S.C. 46), the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is—
During the past three decades, the Nation has made significant strides in establishing and advancing the NSDI to enhance its accessibility and value. Notable accomplishments include the establishment of policy and governance frameworks, coordination mechanisms, and a global standards framework; the development of geospatial datasets across various levels of government (Federal, State, Tribal, and local); and the creation of open data portals, searchable metadata catalogs, and geospatial tools and applications.
The NSDI has evolved from its initial conception as a top-down, federally led infrastructure to a collaborative model involving partnerships with State, Tribal, and local governments, as well as nonprofit and commercial organizations. During this evolution, significant progress was achieved through cost-matching grants from the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s (FGDC’s) Cooperative Agreements Program (CAP). CAP funding supported the implementation of data standards, training, strategic plans, and the development of geospatial data clearinghouse nodes across the Nation. It also played a vital role in the development of State, Tribal, and local government geospatial implementation plans, leading to the establishment of State-level spatial data infrastructures (SDIs).
The Nation faces serious challenges in the coming decade involving such issue areas as national security; extreme weather events; economic disparity; energy; immigration; infrastructure; community resilience; food, water and environmental security; and public health. Effectively addressing the current and upcoming challenges hinges on timely access to decision-ready geospatial data, information, and knowledge facilitated by the NSDI.
The rapid pace of change, advancements in technology, and the increasing use of geospatial information necessitate a shift in how data and services are delivered. It is no longer sufficient to simply publish data in catalogs. Geospatial data must seamlessly integrate with other applications—including those powered by artificial intelligence (AI)—enabling citizens and government agencies to use the data every day in the tools and applications they are already familiar with, such as digital assistants and smart phones.
The NSDI of 2035 will enable a national ecosystem consisting of trusted and curated geospatial data and services to which other data can be related using location-based attributes to deliver actionable information. This will allow the NSDI to deliver highly responsive, timely, current, and dependable geospatial information, services, and applications using a common foundation of geospatial data. This approach will enable users and providers across multiple sectors to use the NSDI to provide knowledge and actionable insights to address local, regional, national, and global challenges.
This NSDI strategic plan for 2025–2035 is a national plan anticipated to involve the broad participation of Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments and the private sector, including private industry, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations. It identifies the three goals—Governance, Data and Technology, and People—required to meet the NSDI vision of a seamlessly interconnected national geospatial ecosystem. Progress toward each goal outlined in this plan will depend on growth in multisector partnerships, technological innovation through the execution of pilot projects to improve the national ecosystem of interoperable and interconnected systems, and increased awareness of the importance of geospatial information through the creation of outreach and marketing campaigns with educational organizations and the public at large.
The future of the NSDI will be achieved through a new approach—by transitioning from monolithic systems to an integrated and interoperable geospatial ecosystem. This vision requires renewed commitment from all sectors, increased collaboration, new technologies, and adequate resources.
There are key dependencies between this strategic plan and other laws and policies, including but not limited to the Federal Data Strategy, the Privacy Act, the E-Government Act, the 2020 National Space Policy, National Plan for Civil Earth Observations, the National Spatial Reference System, U.S. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Policy, the National Cybersecurity Strategy, the National Research and Development Plan for Position, Navigation, and Timing, Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) of 2014, and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy Making Act.
The FGDC and its partners have been collaborating to implement the NSDI since 1994. Although substantial progress has been made, further efforts are crucial to meeting the demands of the 21st century and maintaining global leadership in next-generation SDIs. These efforts include forging innovative partnerships, leveraging new technologies, and streamlining the development, maintenance, and integration of geospatial datasets.