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The Harlow Report - GIS
Volume 27 • No 03 • 2004
ISSN 0742-468X • Since 1978
On-line Since 2000

FGDC Wants to Listen

For 90 days, beginning on July 1, 2004, you can make your voice heard with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). If you are interested on the draft framework data standards, that is.

If you are involved in GIS to any extent, then you are already familiar with the Geospatial One-Stop e-government initiative. It is there to help create common geographic base data that are important to the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Got that? THE FGDC want your input for the Geospatial One-Stop e-government thingy that supports the NDSDI.

According to the people who make up these names, “The draft framework data standards are intended to establish common requirements to facilitate data exchange for seven themes of geospatial data that are of critical importance to the NSDI, as they are fundamental to many different Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. The seven geospatial data themes are: geodetic control, elevation, ortho-imagery, hydrography, transportation, cadastral, and governmental unit boundaries. These themes are known as NSDI framework themes. ”

Reality or blue smoke and mirrors?

It is hard to tell with the feds. One highly placed fed told me that this is all a make work project until yet another round of funding comes through the doors. Others insist that it is reality. I don’t know who is right, but history suggests that the bureaucracy operates more on the illusion of progress.

For example, at the GITA conference there was a great deal of excitement about the panel that was going to tell us how the federal government needed GIS for homeland security.

Without getting into the nuts and bolts of the panel discussion, if these guys do anything productive in my lifetime, I shall be surprised. Nothing but promises and big plans. Oddly, no one said “If we had just these 5 or 10 pieces of information on 9/11, we could have saved x more lives.”

End of editorial … back to the FGDC.

Framework data standards specify a minimal level of data content that data producers, consumers, and vendors should use for the interchange of framework data, including through Web services. Each of the framework data standards includes an integrated application schema expressed in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and guidance to implementers on the transformation of the UML information content into a specific encoding environment. The application schema specifies, as appropriate, the feature types, attribute types, attribute domain, feature relationships, spatial representation, data organization, and metadata that define the information content of a data set.

According to the FGDC “Framework data standards should have a positive impact on the overall Geographic Information Systems (GIS) community by promoting data exchange through common means of describing data content. The standards should decrease the costs of acquiring and exchanging Framework data among creators and users in Federal, State, local, and other governmental agencies, the private sector, and the academic community. The private sector (software developers and vendors) will benefit through development and marketing of software tools that exploit data based on these data content standards. ”

Your government asks, you can respond

Inquiries about the framework data standards and the FGDC public review should be addressed to:

  • Ms. Julie Binder Maitra
  • FGDC Standards Coordinator
  • c/o U.S. Geological Survey
  • 590 National Center
  • 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
  • Reston, Virginia 20192
  • Phone: 703Ð648Ð 4627
  • Email: jmaitra@usgs.gov

Your comments are an important part of this process. Comments that address specific issues/changes/additions may result in revisions to the framework data standards to ensure that the standards meet the broadest set of needs across the GIS community. This means, if you don’t comment, then later don’t like the framework, don’t complain. After the FGDC reviews the comments, the revised draft framework data standards will be submitted for further processing for approval by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). After ANSI approval and formal endorsement by the FGDC, which are expected in the second half of calendar year 2005, the published framework data standards and a summary analysis of the changes will be made available to the public. As you can see, the process is moving at the speed of government. I suppose that is better than rushing in where those angels fear to tread.

The Federal Geographic Data Committee Cooperating Groups in Partnership with the Federal Geographic Data Committee

End


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