Planning for the Iowa Geospatial Infrastructure
The goal of this project was to develop a business plan for the Iowa Geospatial Infrastructure (IGI), Iowa’s contribution to the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). IGIC contracted with the Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA) to provide expertise for completing the business case and financial analysis for IGI. This combined effort assessed the needs of county governments that are not currently using geospatial technology, as well as those trying to maintain existing investments, and further support and promote the creation of high quality local datasets compatible with the IGI and NSDI.
The multi-agency financial analysis incorporated spreadsheets describing costs and benefits for all 99 counties of Iowa, 11 state agencies, three utilities plus Iowa One Call, and consulting firms. Many additional organizations were interviewed during the project but not all were able to provide quantifiable benefits. The 20 year analysis shows Net Present Value of $271M and Return on Investment of 24.21%. Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the effect of a delayed implementation of GIS over 20 counties and the effect of Imagery for the Nation contracting capabilities not being available. Neither of these analysis resulted in severe detriment to the project. However, sensitivity analysis on the effect of a county attempting to implement GIS in standalone mode, not using the resources of IGI, showed that such a project may have difficulty breaking even. Overall, the financial analysis shows that the IGI is a good investment for the state.
The IGI business plan is essential documentation to justify investment of resources in a statewide spatial data infrastructure in Iowa.
Final Report -- Business Plan -- Fact Sheet -- PowerPoint Presentation -- Framework Data Status
Iowa Geographic Information Council
Contacts:
Jim Giglierano
319-335-1594
jgiglierano@igsb.uiowa.edu
Herb Kuehne
712-279-6148
hkuehne@sioux-city.org
Patrick Brown
515-294-7312
patrickb@iastate.edu
Bob Lemen, USGS Geospatial Liaison for Iowa
573.308.3736
rlemen@usgs.gov
Link to more information about the 50 States Initiative