The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is pleased to announce that proposals are being accepted via Grants.gov for the 2010 National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Cooperative Agreements Program (CAP).  A total of over $1.3 million is available to award an estimated 31 innovative, geospatial-related projects that are spread across seven categories.  Each project will focus on ways to expand the geospatial data infrastructure that is necessary to effectively discover, access, share, manage and use digital geographic data.

The closing date for the 2010 NSDI CAP announcement is January 7, 2010.  The project awards are scheduled to be announced by USGS/FGDC contracts officer in Febrary 2010 with obligated work to begin on each project by September 30, 2010.  More information is available at 2010 NSDI CAP page.

In 2009, NSDI CAP awarded a total of 25 projects, totaling close to $1.3 million.   One of the 2009 categories is helping States develop strategic and business plans that will support the coordination of programs, policies, technologies, and resources related to all aspects of geospatial information.  See the full list of the 2009 NSDI CAP awards at:  http://www.fgdc.gov/grants/2009CAP/2009CAPDescriptions.

To date the annual NSDI CAP awards have supported metadata creation and service, outreach and coordination, standards implementation, partnership development, State strategic and business plan development, map and geospatial data services deployment, geo-enablement of data, and NSDI training.  All levels of government, academia, and private sector have participated in this national effort to implement the NSDI.  Since 1994 CAP awards have played a substantial role in advancing and propagating the tenets of the NSDI to thousands of practitioners.

The FGDC, which is hosted by the USGS, sponsors the CAP to promote the technologies, standards, best practices and organizational collaboration vital to data integration, partnerships and collaborations for data investment and speedy delivery of geospatial products to support government and other stakeholders.

For more information on this program, please contact Gita Urban-Mathieux: burbanma@usgs.gov or 703-648-5175.

For further information on FGDC NSDI CAP: www.fgdc.gov; contact the FGDC Secretariat, c/o U.S. Geological Survey, 590 National Center, Reston, VA 20192; telephone 703-648-5513; fax 703-648-5755.