February 26, 2009 -- The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program supported GeoMAPP project is a multi-agency partnership working to preserve significant geospatial data. A key part of this work involves engaging with the long-standing network among federal, state, and local geospatial agencies.
NDIIPP staff attended the Fifty States Federal Stakeholders Workshop held in Washington, DC, on February 3, 2009. The Fifty States Initiative is a partnership between the National States Geographic Information Council (external link) and the Federal Geographic Data Committee.
Designed to bring public and private stakeholders together, the Fifty States Initiative develops and implements statewide strategic and business plans that facilitate resource coordination for geospatial information. GeoMAPP objectives overlap with a number of initiative objectives and the two activities are interested in sharing information.
GeoMAPP also figures prominently in connection with the National Geospatial Advisory Committee, a federal body sponsored by the Department of the Interior, that held its bi-annual meeting in Alexandria, VA on February 4-5, 2009.
GeoMAPP principal investigator Zsolt Nagy of the North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis is a member of the committee, as is Dennis Goreham, the former Manager of the Utah Automated Geographic Reference Center, another partnering agency on the GeoMAPP project.
NGAC reports to the Chair of the Federal Geographic Data Committee, with an objective to provide advice and recommendations about sharing geospatial data. The committee also reviews geospatial policy and management issues and provides a forum to convey views representative of non-federal stakeholders in the geospatial community.
The meeting featured spirited discussion on current geospatial issues, including reports on the Federal government transition and updates on the National Map and the Imagery for the Nation initiatives. Nagy is planning to initiate a discussion on geospatial data preservation at a future meeting.
