NSDI | A Place-Based National Framework
Our world is increasingly complex and interconnected. Humanity is challenged with understanding and adjusting to ever-changing economic, environmental, and social factors. Sustainable and innovative solutions depend on reliable information, understanding, and informed decision-making.
Geographic information is a universal language that helps us intuitively understand and interpret conditions, events, relationships, and patterns. Geographic information provides key information and context that helps define, influence, and guide our decisions and actions. Whether it is understanding unfamiliar environments, determining the best route to a destination, or performing long-term planning to enhance community resilience, the components of the NSDI are behind the scenes with the infrastructure to deliver data, tools, and information to people.
Our Nation and the global community are generating and integrating a variety of place-based information at a phenomenal rate. Place-based data and information is growing as a national asset with unlimited potential for societal use.
How do we harness this valuable asset?
The NSDI public and private partnerships are building, managing, and sharing a topical place-based information catalog of national assets ready for use. This robust collection of geospatial datasets, called National Geospatial Data Assets (NGDAs), need to be complete, current, and accessible to support the critical business and mission requirements of the Federal government, its partners and stakeholders.
The NSDI framework continues to advance the discovery and accessibility of NGDAs and other place-based information by providing data services that connect data with the people who need it. The NSDI data services link past, present, and future place-based information providing local to global context.
