GeoData Policy

Will Craig, President of NSGIC, Governance of the NSDI, ESRI ArcNews Online, Fall 2009

http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall09articles/governance-of-nsdi.html

The Circular A-16 Supplemental Guidance [PDF 1.8MB] was endorsed by the FGDC Steering Committee in December, 2008 with 21 agencies voting in favor.

Circular A-16 Supplemental Guidance provides the foundation for a portfolio management approach to nationally significant geospatial data themes and associated datasets under the auspices of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-16. It sets the framework for a lifecycle-based portfolio management and reporting process intended to increase the transparency of the development and maintenance of nationally significant datasets. It provides a standard lexicon for use in this process. It offers a decision process for adding, modifying, or deleting specific themes or datasets from Appendix E of OMB Circular A-16 based on alignment with long-term national strategies or goals, specific business requirements, benefits, and costs. The product has been transmitted to OMB for final review.

The portfolio consists of the available geospatial assets that can be brought to bear to address a business need. These assets include data, funding, infrastructure, hardware and software applications, personnel, services, and products. Geospatial portfolio management is the process of tracking, maintaining, expanding, and aligning or realigning these assets to address the business needs of an enterprise.

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.