Host: Max Lockwood, BLM
Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC
Leslie Armstrong, FGDC
Alison Dishman, FGDC
Bill Wilen, FWS
Chris Clarke, USDA/NRCS
Carol Brandt, DOT
Mike Lee, DHS/GMO
Don Buhler, BLM
David LaBranche, DOD/DISDI
Doug Vandegraft, FWS
John Kochanowski, DOD/DISDI
Jon Sperling, HUD
Julie Maitra, FGDC
Charles Croner, DHHS/CDC
Randy Fusaro, Census
Bill Burgess, NSGIC
Bob Dahl, BLM
Monica DeAngelo, FERC
Alan Stevens, FGDC
Dave Ridley, DHS/GMO
Patricia Weir, NASA
Mario Lopez-Gomez, FGDC/DOJ
Bob Harding, GSA
Billy Tolar, FGDC
Bill Belton, USFS
George Rohaley, USDA/NRCS
Anne O’Connor, Census
Shirley Hall, USDA/FSA
Bob Bently, BLM
Brett Abrams, NARA
Leonard Gore, Jr, BLM
Tom Terry, HQMC
Milo Robinson, FGDC
Tricia Gibbons, LEAD Alliance
On the phone:
Nancy Blyler, USACE
Betty O’Connor, GSA
Alan Voss, TVA
Barb White, FWS
Tennille Williams, NPS
John Mahoney, USGS
Action 1: If you have not yet done so, please submit your agency’s annual report to Kathy Covert (kcovert@fgdc.gov).
Action 2: Subcommittees and Working Groups chairs, please contact Vaishal Sheth (vsheth@fgdc.gov) with the contact info of the person in charge of maintaining your webpage.
Action 3: Subcommittee and Working Group Chairs: please contact Alison (adishman@fgdc.gov) about giving a brief update at an upcoming Coordination Group meeting.
Action 4: Bill and Shirley will revise the wording of the Imagery for the Nation resolution and will get it back to the CG with the associated documents.
Action 5: Bill and Shirley will convene a conference call with the Coordination Group members on Jan 19 before the Steering Committee members are briefed.
Action 6: FGDC Subcommittees and Working Groups should review FGDC standards that have been in use for 5 years or more.
Action 7: FGDC Subcommittees and Working Groups should examine the standards they have in development and decide if they will advance or discontinue them.
Action 8: Please contact Julie Maitra (jmaitra@fgdc.gov) if you wish to participate on the Standards Working Group or serve as a reviewer.
Action 9: Please submit a short success story or status graphics of any of your geospatial data that you are responsible for under Circular A-16 to be included in the printed Annual Report.
Action 10: Please contact Mario (Mario.F.Lopez-Gomez@usdoj.gov) if you feel that the number of records he found for your agency is not reflected in Mario’s Metadata Records by Agency report.
Action Items – Leslie Armstrong, FGDC
The results of the FY 2005 Annual Report will be printed in a bound document.
Action 1: If you have not yet done so, please submit your agency’s annual report to Kathy Covert (kcovert@fgdc.gov).
The new FGDC website goes live on January 30.
Action 2: Subcommittees and Working Groups chairs, please contact Vaishal Sheth (vsheth@fgdc.gov) with the contact info of the person in charge of maintaining your webpage.
The Steering Committee and Coordination Group Charters were distributed for electronic vote on Nov 28 with results due Dec 16. We received 6 votes in favor, 1 vote against, and a couple requests for modification from OMB, DOE and DOI. We are lacking the quorum required for an electronic vote. The revised charters will have a final vote at the January 30 Steering Committee meeting.
From now on at every Coordination Group meeting there will be two briefings by Subcommittee and Working Group chairs. Brett Abrams will brief on February. We need more volunteers.
Action 3: Subcommittee and Working Group Chairs: please contact Alison (adishman@fgdc.gov) about giving a brief update at an upcoming Coordination Group meeting.
Recognition of Non Fed Authored Standards was adopted with minor changes from DOT.
Upcoming Steering Committee Meeting – Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC
The Steering Committee agenda will include FGDC business including the 50 States Initiative, CAP program, The Geospatial Profile, governance.
An action item from the last Steering Committee meeting – the creation of an executive team is in the works and a list of names has been submitted to DOI.
The Framework Standards will be submitted to ANSI next week.
Decision items include a vote on the Charters and a resolution for Imagery For the Nation.
Imagery for the Nation – Shirley Hall, FSA and Bill Burgess, NSGIC
[ Flyer ] [ Cost Estimate ]
Please see the linked documents for information on the Imagery for the Nation proposal.
Discussion:
Q: How did you come up with who is spending what?
A: This hasn’t been done because only OMB has the authority to ask that question.
Comment: We need to look at the advantages of this approach compared to our current mode of business. We must know our baseline investments before we can determine the cost savings.
Q: Even if Feds could come up with a ballpark number for what the federal government is spending, how would we determine the state’s expenditures? It would be difficult to get a real number.
At the Steering Committee Meeting we will let them know that everyone is in favor of this proposal and then ask the Steering Committee how to move forward. How can we find out how much money is being spent? Can they go back to the administration to make this a priority?
Comment: This proposal would need to get backing on the Hill.
Q: Has Bill gauged the States’ interest in combining revenues?
A: They are asking for base funding from the Feds, and then the states would chip in.
Comment: The whole idea is for the Feds to buy the whole boat. Then there would be some buy up options for States and locals.
Q: So what is the resolution?
A: It outlines the program and recommends that it be supported.
This is in the very early stages. It would be a fully funded federal program. We don’t yet have congressional sponsorship. A business plan is being developed by Dave Roberts (USGS).
The draft A-300s would need to be ready by March for FY 08 funding.
On top of highlighting the current level of duplication of effort and waste the proposal should also highlight how the current method doesn’t work and is dysfunctional. You also might want to go into how it could improve National Security.
Comment: Need to show current situation and the need. Show the “so what” - what’s in it for me and how do I contribute. Let them know what are we expecting from Census, DOI, etc.
Comment: What percentage of the agency imagery needs could be met by this program? It would probably not meet all TVA’s needs, but it would meet some. It would be interesting to look at what other needs the agencies have and how they could be met. Sometimes TVA needs data within 60 days, that can’t be done through a federal program.
Suggestion: Take plugs around the nation and see how many times they’ve been shot in the past years. That duplication of effort is what we need to put an end to.
The industry will lose duplicate sales in some areas but it will bring them more business because this will cover the whole country on a regular interval – it will level the playing field.
DoD is in the process of developing their awareness of the amount of imagery acquired for business. NGA is going through their holdings and identifying what they’ve bought and know a fair amount of their imagery holdings. Maybe the other agencies can inventory their imagery holdings this way.
This proposal is broken out into 2 components – new funding would go to USGS for high resolution leaf off programs, and to USDA for the leaf on 1 m collection (NAPP). It would be new money but if one agency gets enough money to fund the 1 m leaf on then everyone can share the data. That’s the point of this.
We will ask the Steering Committee how we get this authorized and funded.
Further discussion on the business model is needed. We need to know the actions required for the business proposals. They want new consistent money to go straight to USGS and USDA to run this program. It wouldn’t be passing the hat to all the agencies, because that money would disappear over the years and the program would fall apart.
The Steering Committee members need to ratify this and say it’s a good idea but then NSGIC would need to beat the bushes with MAPPS, etc to get new funding. There isn’t anything more that the agencies can do, they can’t lobby for new money.
The Steering Committee members need to go on record saying that they are in favor of this proposal. There needs to be a level of commitment to using this program.
Comment: NOAA has limited needs that would be met by this program and they would need a buy up. Do they need to assess what agency requirements can be met by the program?
We need to be very clear about why we need this program and have clear examples that make this a compelling argument. We need to be sure that the business case addresses the “as is” and shows that we are going to create new benefits.
If we can’t make this happen we will never be able to make any of the other base layers happen, because everyone wants imagery.
Action 4: Bill and Shirley will revise the wording of the Imagery for the Nation resolution and will get it back to the CG with the associated documents.
Action 5: Bill and Shirley will convene a conference call with the Coordination Group members on Jan 19 before the Steering Committee members are briefed.
BLM Support for the National Energy Policy Act - Max Lockwood, BLM
[ Presentation ]
BLM has been given responsibility for implementing the President’s Energy Policy Act of 2005. The goal is to get the petroleum engineers, oil and gas inspectors and field offices the GIS-based land record and resource management information they need for enforcement and inspection.
Homeland Security Working Group Update – Mike Lee, DHS
[ Presentation ]
Standards Working Group Update – Julie Maitra, FGDC
This year’s work plan includes:
FGDC endorsement for Digital Cartographic Standard for Geologic Map Symbolization and FGDC Public review of the Street Address Data Content Standard and the Shoreline Data Content Standard. The Working Group will support INCITS Technical Committee L1 standards work, which includes Framework Data Standards, North American Profile of ISO Metadata standards, Hydrologic Unit Codes, Transfer of FIPS to INCITS L1
Action 6: FGDC Subcommittees and Working Groups should review FGDC standards that have been in use for 5 years or more.
Action 7: FGDC Subcommittees and Working Groups should examine the standards they have in development and decide if they will advance or discontinue them.
Action 8: Please contact Julie (jmaitra@fgdc.gov) if you wish to participate on the Standards Working Group or serve as a reviewer.
National Grid Implementation – Tom Terry
[ Presentation ]
Progress continues with the implementation of the National Grid. There are no technical problems in the way. Policy consistency is needed – it is a force multiplier and it can make up for a lot of money. We need a standard map grid – one that works with GPS, GIS, etc. A standard grid is a communications enabler and provides a geoaddress. It allows more effective emergency response in diverse metropolitan and rural areas.
The DC Atlas has implemented the standard and the next edition of DC’s street map produced by DC DOT will have the grid on it. National Grid is not in GOS. The National Map has the National Grid as the default map format.
National Grid is now implemented in consumer GPS receivers. It is now in Delorme and National Geographic digital map applications. For paper maps several vendors are awaiting Fed, state and local government policy implementations. It has not yet been implemented by ESRI. They need a consistent message from us that we are using this, that it is one of our standards.
Q. How can the federal agencies get the grid on their server?
A. Contact Tom Terry. (terryme@erols.com)
Annual Report – Mario Lopez-Gomez, DOJ
We are missing the annual reports from many agencies. Be sure to submit your report so that it may be included in the printed and bound report.
Action 1: If you have not yet done so, please submit your agency’s annual report to Kathy Covert (kcovert@fgdc.gov).
Action 9: Please submit a short success story or status graphics of any of your geospatial data that you are responsible for under Circular A-16 to be included in the printed Annual Report.
The CG will have an opportunity to review the draft report before it is printed.
Mario met with ESRI and GOS and extracted all the metadata records from GOS. They selected all those identified as federal records. This version of Metadata Records by Agency will be included in the printed report. Results of Mario's exercise are available here.
Action 10: Please contact Mario (Mario.F.Lopez-Gomez@usdoj.gov) if you feel that the number of records he found for your agency is not reflected in Mario’s Metadata Records by Agency report.