GeoData Policy

Roger Longhorn, in his editorial in this month’s GeoConnexion, asks the burning question: “What message are we sending to senior level decision makers about the importance and value of Spatial Data Infrastructure – SDI – if we keep misrepresenting what SDI is or is all about?”

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Barack Obama’s Technology Position

In his Technology position, U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama comments on need to ensure an open Internet and on the importance of creating a transparent and connected democracy. This includes:

Making goverment data available online in universally accessible formats to allow citizens to make use of that data to comment, derive value, and take action in their own communities. Greater access to environmental data, for example, will help citizens learn about pollution in their communities, provide information about local conditions back to government and empower people to protect themselves.

Establishing pilot programs to open up government ecision-making and involve the public in the work of agencies, not simply by soliciting opinions, but by tapping into the vast and distributed expertise of American citizenry to help goverment make more informated decisions.

Interactive, dynamic web-mapping anyone? Looks like a great opportunity for those in the field of participatory mapping and public participation GIS (PPGIS)!

Obama also commented on the need to protect our privacy in an age of increased computing power, decreased storage costs, and huge flows of information. Obama supports updating surveillance laws, and notably remarks on the need to protect our location privacy.

Obama will also work to provide robust protection against misuses of particularly sensitive kinds of information, such as e-health records and location data that do not fit comfortably within sector-specific privacy laws.

John McCain’s Technology Position

U.S. Presidential candidate John McCain’s Technology Position emphasizes the need to encourage investment in technological innovation, to improve high-speed Internet access for under-served communities, to ensure an educated workforce in science and technology – in which we’re lagging behind China and India, and to keep the Internet free from unnecessary goverment regulation.

McCain’s Personal Security and Privacy Position comments on the role of government and industry in protecting citizens’ personal security and privacy:

Government — Government must promote a culture of personal security through consumer education initiatives, incentives for the development of secure technologies, and stronger enforcement of laws to protect our citizens, particularly children.

Industry — American industry must continue to lead the world in the development of more secure technologies and responses to new threats. Among other things, industry must exert appropriate efforts to protect sensitive personal information and prevent unintentional loss or theft. Industry also must pursue effective self-regulation and continue informing and educating consumers about the collection and use of personal information.

Report on Presidential Science Advice

Also worth looking at is a new report on Presidential Science Advice, published by the Center for the Study of the Presidency, Study Group on Presidential Science and Technology Personnel and Advisory Assets.

The Center for the Study of the Presidency has completed its report Presidential Leadership to Ensure Science and Technology in the Service of National Needs: A Report to the 2008 Candidates. The report contains a number of recommendations intended to be seriously considered by the presidential candidates’ staffs before and during transition planning, in order to strengthen the S&T advice provided to the President and federal agencies.

Source: AAAS Policy Alert, August 20, 2008

 

Report to Congress on the Benefits of the President’s e-Government Initiatives – Fiscal Year 2008

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) asked agencies implementing e-gov initiatives, including the USGS Geospatial One-Stop, to measure actual costs for identified investments in order to estimate accrued savings. Based on agency-reported estimated costs for 2007 as compared to agency-reported actual costs for the 2007, estimated gross cost savings is approximately $508 million. OMB is continuing to work with agencies to identify additional legacy investments impacted by E-Gov and LoB initiatives.

Geospatial One-Stop

While costs savings for Geospatial One-Stop are not reported, the following summary is provided in the Benefits of the President’s e-Government Initiatives report (p. 22):

The Geospatial One-Stop initiative (GOS) promotes coordination and alignment of geospatial data collection and maintenance among all levels of government. By providing the building blocks for a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), GOS: Provides one-stop web access to geospatial information through development of a portal; Encourages collaborative planning across the government for future investments in geospatial data; Expands partnerships that help leverage investments and reduce duplication; [and]  Facilitates partnerships and collaborative approaches in the sharing and stewardship of data.

The availability of up-to-date and accessible geospatial information helps leverage resources and support programs such as economic development, environmental quality, and homeland security. The vision for GOS is to revolutionize E-Government by providing a geographic component for use in all E-Government activities across local, State, tribal, and Federal governments. GOS goals are: To provide fast, low cost, reliable access to geospatial data needed for Federal, State, and local government operations; To facilitate government-to-government interactions needed for vertical missions such as homeland security and to improve delivery of services to the public; To obtain multi-sector input for coordination, development, and implementation of geospatial (data and services) standards to create the consistency needed for interoperability and to stimulate market development of tools.

The Geospatial One-Stop Web portal continues to gain support from data providers and end users. The number of records in the system has grown from about 100,000 in FY 2005 to over 150,000 in FY 2007. The portal also features a “Marketplace” for information on potential opportunities to leverage resources and collaborate on data purchases. The number of partnership opportunities in the Marketplace grew from approximately 600 in FY 2005 to over 2000 in FY 2007. The number of visits to the site has increased from approximately 30,000 per month in 2005 to about 60,000 per month in 2007.

Overview of OMB e-Government Efforts

• In the fall of 2001, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Federal agencies identified 24 - (E-Gov) Initiatives, which the President’s Management Council approved.
• From 2004 to 2006, OMB formed nine Line of Business (LoB) task forces, identified through an analysis of “agencies’ enterprise architecture data seeking to determine common solutions and methodologies in order to improve service delivery to agencies, increase operational efficiencies, and decrease unnecessary duplication in common administrative areas.”
• In 2006, OMB issued Memorandum 06-22 (M-06-22), Cost Savings Achieved Through E-Government and Line of Business Initiatives.  Agencies must identify legacy investments impacted by agency use of an E-Gov or LoB initiative and develop baseline cost estimates for these investments.