Draft strategic plan for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)

Thanks Paul Caffrey and Chad Kopplin for recognizing the importance of the draft strategic plan for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Even though the public comment period closed last week, these items are relevant to the direction NSDI is going. See below for links to the draft plan. Let's talk about it at the gecowest. 

Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is seeking public comment on the draft strategic plan for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).  The draft plan, which has been developed through collaboration with partners and stakeholders in the geospatial community, describes a broad national vision for the NSDI and includes goals and objectives for the Federal government's role in continued sustainable development of the NSDI.
I encourage you to review the plan and offer any comments for improvement.  The strategic plan, along with instructions for providing comments, is posted at the following address:  www.fgdc.gov/nsdi-plan<http://www.fgdc.gov/nsdi-plan>.  Comments may be submitted electronically to: nsdicomments@fgdc.gov<mailto:nsdicomments@fgdc.gov>.  Comments are due by August 21, 2013.

The new NSDI plan is important and timely for several reasons.  First, while the FGDC community has engaged in a series of strategic initiatives over the past several years, including the Geospatial Line of Business and Geospatial Platform initiatives, the current NSDI strategic plan has not been revised for a number of years.  Second, geospatial technologies, industries, and applications have seen tremendous growth and change over the past several years, and our strategies need to be modernized to align with and leverage these changes.  In addition, the recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), "OMB and Agencies Need to Make Coordination a Priority to Reduce Duplication" (GAO-13-94), reaffirmed the importance of improving coordination and reducing potential duplication and recommended the development of an updated NSDI strategy.

As we have developed the plan, we have provided multiple opportunities for participation and input. These opportunities have included forums for leaders of key geospatial organizations, workshops for Federal leaders, sessions at geospatial professional conferences, and public meetings of the FGDC Coordination Group, the FGDC Steering Committee, and the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). Our goal has been to engage leaders of key geospatial organizations in the early stages of the planning process, gather initial input, and seek continuing involvement. The input and suggestions we received from our partners, both within and outside of the Federal government, has been instrumental in shaping the new plan.  The NGAC, in particular, has provided extensive and thoughtful input into the plan.

Following the public comment period, a revised draft of the plan will be prepared for final review and adoption by the FGDC Steering Committee.  Following completion of the strategic plan, the FGDC community will develop more detailed project plans for the goals and objectives in the strategic plan.

We appreciate your long-standing involvement and support for the NSDI, and we look forward to working with you and your organizations as we finalize and implement the new NSDI strategic plan.  Additional information about the NSDI planning process is posted at: www.fgdc.gov/nsdi-plan<http://www.fgdc.gov/nsdi-plan>.  We will post additional information on the webpage as the planning process advances.

Please contact Ivan DeLoatch (ideloatch@fgdc.gov<mailto:ideloatch@fgdc.gov>, 703-648-5752<tel:703-648-5752>) or John Mahoney (jmahoney@usgs.gov<mailto:jmahoney@usgs.gov>, 206-220-4621<tel:206-220-4621>) if you have any questions about the plan.

Regards,
Anne J. Castle
Chair, Federal Geographic Data Committee
Assistant Secretary for Water and Science
U.S. Department of the Interior

Now's your chance to be a Moderator at the GeCo West Conference!

WyGeo Members,

Are you going to GeCo West? If you're not, why not? (http://gecowest.org)

If you are, would you consider volunteering to be a moderator of one of our presentation sessions? http://gecowest.org/conference-tracks-presentations.aspx

Your duties would be simple enough, welcome everyone to the session, introduce presenters, keep track of time allotted to each speaker, make conference announcements if necessary.

Get in touch with me if you would like to be a part of GeCo West.

Cathy
Gecowest.org<gecowest.org>

More reasons to attend GeCo West - Presentations have been posted!

Greetings all geospatial fans in the West!

Have you been waiting to see more of what you will receive when you attend the Geospatial Conference of the West before you make the decision to be at the most important conference of the region this year?

Go to www.gecowest.org<http://www.gecowest.org/> and check out the schedule of presentations<http://www.gecowest.org/conference-tracks-presentations.aspx> that have just been added to the conference page. Click the arrow to see the presenters within each tract. And be sure to check out the vendor demo theater for expanded vendor presentations.

What is your interest? Data Modeling? Geodetic Reference Systems? Mobile GIS? Remote Sensing? Enterprise GIS?
Gotcha covered and then some!

Don't miss out on this opportunity!

More reasons to attend GeCo West - Presentations have been posted!

* State Coordinators - please distribute to your respective communities *

Greetings all geospatial fans in the West!

Have you been waiting to see more of what you will receive when you attend the Geospatial Conference of the West before you make the decision to be at the most important conference of the region this year?

Go to www.gecowest.org<http://www.gecowest.org> and check out the schedule of presentations<http://www.gecowest.org/conference-tracks-presentations.aspx> that have just been added to the conference page. Click the arrow to see the presenters within each tract. And be sure to check out the vendor demo theater for expanded vendor presentations.

What is your interest? Data Modeling? Geodetic Reference Systems? Mobile GIS? Remote Sensing? Enterprise GIS?
Gotcha covered and then some!

Don't miss out on this opportunity!

Regards,
Cathy

GeCo West: summary agenda and an enticement!

Greetings members of the Geospatial Community,

I wanted to make sure you all were up to date on the Geospatial Conference of the West so I am passing along a summary of events. But be sure to go to www.gecowest.org<http://www.gecowest.org> and check out more details. The agenda of user presentations is almost ready to be posted, so if you are interested in those details, check back soon. (Should be available by next week.)

Monday, September 16th will have an offering of 6 pre-conference workshops, the WyGeo annual meeting, and two afternoon technology tours on the campus of the University of Wyoming (CAVE and the UW data center).

Tuesday, September 17th is the opening plenary with speakers from across the industry sharing their insights on what is new and exciting from their perspective. Lunch keynote speaker will be Learon Dalby, Vice President of Geolocation Services at Sanborn. An opening vendor reception and a lightning talk styled Tech Expo will wrap up the day.

Wednesday, September 18th is the first day of user and vendor presentations. The Esri Hands on Learning Lab will also be available concurrently. The lunch time speaker will be Dr. Melinda Laituri of Colorado State University Ecosystem Science and Sustainability Department and her student, Steve Chignell - who was featured at the Esri Education UC. The end of the day will be a barbeque and dance (with Jalan Crossland and his band) at the historic Wyoming Territorial Prison.

Thursday, September 19th is the last of the user and vendor presentations. The end of the day features a panel discussion on STEM and GIS. And we wrap up the conference with a guided walking tour of historic downtown Laramie and a reception at the old Laramie Train Depot.

And now for the enticement. If you register for the conference and you Like Us on Facebook www.facebook.com/gecowest2013<http://www.facebook.com/gecowest2013> or mention us (#gecowest) on Twitter, you will win one of 25 cool 4 GB bamboo flash drives.

So what are you waiting for?

GeCo West! Only 5 weeks left

Why did you enter into a geospatial career? Could the love of maps have something to do with it? The folks at Wired magazine have some thoughts on the love of making maps and have shared them with us. Reprinted with permission. Please read and then consider joining your colleagues at the Geospatial Conference of the West. Share the love.

Why Do So Many People Love Making Maps?

* By Betsy Mason<http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/author/betsymason/>
* 07.18.13
* 1:37 PM

When we launched Map Lab<http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/07/map-it/> last week, we were surprised by how much reaction it got, and especially by how overwhelmingly positive the response has been.

We hoped expert mappers would eventually find us and maybe even chime in with ideas and tips. Instead, many of you found us immediately and offered help and encouragement (Thank you!). We hoped readers would join in somewhere down the line and try to learn how to map along with us, but many of you are already here and waiting to see how you can participate.

All the excitement from readers got me thinking about why so many people love maps, and particularly why they love making maps. I'm not even sure why I love it. As a kid, I would find any excuse to make a map. I made maps of our house, of my school and neighborhood. I also made maps of the house, school and neighborhood I wished I had. This usually involved a lot of stables full of horses, fields full of frogs and praying mantises, direct paths from my house to the park and everywhere else I liked to go, swimming pools, forts, swing sets, bunk beds, entire rooms for storing stuffed animals...

I'm sure one of the reasons I became a geologist is that we got to make our own maps in Geology 101. These maps involved several different kinds of information conveyed in different ways all at the same time: lines to convey topography, more lines to convey boundaries between rock layers, yet more lines for faults, colors for different ages of rock, patterns for different rock types, annotations for the strike and dip of stratigraphic layers. I loved the end result, but I loved making these maps even more.

Sometimes I think it's the order of things on a map that appeals to me, putting everything precisely where it is supposed to be. Or maybe it's more about taking a bunch of data and methodically turning it into something tangible, maybe even useful. I think part of it is the physical act, the drawing of the lines and symbols and coloring of the terrain.

Perhaps it's because maps help me think about things in relation to each other in a way my brain isn't always good at doing on its own. Or maybe instead of the order, it's the possibilities. In the same way maps help me think spatially about things that exist, they can help me imagine things that don't. They seem to help me make sense of my thoughts and ideas and even inspire more thoughts and ideas.

Maybe the answer to why I love making maps is that there are so many different appealing aspects. Or maybe that explanation is just my way of not actually figuring out the answer.

What are your reasons?