October 7, 1997 FGDC Coordination Meeting Summary

Persons Attending
Fred Broome, Leslie Godwin (Cultural and Demographic); Bruce Spear (Ground Trans); Jan Morton (Geologic); MK Miles, Nancy Blyler (Facilities); Tom Palmerlee (UCGIS); John Spencer, Rich Yorczyk (Geodetic Control); Millington Lockwood (Bathymetric); Alan Gaines (NSF); Paul Bradford (Vegetation); Bruce Ambacher (Historical Data); Rick Pearsall (Base Cartographic); Gale TeSelle (Earth Cover); Nancy Lopez (Water Data); Angela Bottom (International Boundaries); Gene Thorley (Chair, Coordination Group); John Moeller, Denise Perecca (FGDC Secretariat)

Standards
In a review of the decisions and actions from the September meeting, several items were raised for further clarification These items relate to items from the September meeting and you may wish to reference the notes from that meeting. The clarifications are:

Assessment of standards and priorities - John Moeller distributed a format for responding to this request. After discussion it was agreed that responses would be provided as follows:

• Members would provide Subcommittee/Working Group and agency responses as appropriate. The response will state who it is from.
• Priority ratings will be from 1 (lowest) - 10 (highest)
• Responses are due to the FGDC Secretariat ATTN.: John Moeller by Oct 31, 1997
• After responses are analyzed the results will be brought back to the Coordination Group for further discussion and action as needed. Census Bureau will assist in the analysis.

To clarify which standards need to now include an informative annex and compliance definition, the Coordination Group agreed as follows:

• This requirement will apply to standards which are in the Draft State or Proposal Stage as well as to any future proposals.

The intent of this is to not impede the development of Standards that are already relatively far along in the development process, but to begin to make sure that implementation needs are addressed. For those Standards already approved or which are beyond the Draft Stage, implementation will remain an important issue requiring Subcommittee and lead agency attention.

The procedures for approval of a Standard by ballot were clarified as follows:

Changing the wording of " in order to approved by ballot at least 50% of the ballots must be returned with all votes in favor of approval" to:

• Vote must be received by at least 50% of the members.
• Vote by ballot must be by unanimous.

It was further clarified that if a Standard was not approved by a ballot, it would be brought forward for discussion and action at the next scheduled Steering Committee Meeting. The lack of approval by ballot would not mean that the Standard would go back for further work, but rather that it required discussion by the Committee.

Reporting on Federal Agency Implementation of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure.

As an action item from the September Coordination Group Meeting, John Moeller distributed a draft format for agency reporting. After discussion, it was agreed that the format would be organized according to the NSDI Strategic Goals, and would identify a number of topic areas for agency narratives. Agency narratives would address whether activities were implemented, planned, ongoing or achieved and could also discuss barriers that impede progress. The intent of the report is to capture Department/Independent Agency activities and to provide a vehicle for Steering Committee Representatives to discuss status of NSDI implementation within their organizations. This item was also identified as a topic for the October Steering Committee Meeting.

The focus of the remainder of the meeting was on discussing the agenda for the Steering Committee Meeting. John Moeller will prepare a final agenda for the which will be distributed later this week.

Tentative Topics for November Meeting

Privacy Issues - Briefing by Dan Metcalf of DOJ

UCGIS - Discussion of needs for participation on Research Working Teams

Follow-up from Steering Committee Meeting

Note: There will be an afternoon session to feature the following:

Clearinghouse Demonstration - This is intended to include a demo similar to one given the previous week by FGDC and OGC Members at the GIS/LIS Conference
Discussion of Web Browsers
Landview III Demo

Attendance at this session is encouraged for Coordination Group members as well as any other interested party.

Next Coordination Group Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for:
November 4, 1997

Coordination Group 9:00-12:00
Demonstration of Clearinghouse etc 1:00-4:00

US Army Corps of Engineers
Pulaski Building Room 8222D
20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

Directions:
2 blocks west of Union Station