GeoPlatform | Frequently Asked Questions
Here you will find information on frequently asked questions about GeoPlatform.gov
What is the Geospatial Platform?
The Geospatial Platform will be an Internet-based capability providing shared and trusted geospatial data, services, and applications for use by government agencies and partners to meet their mission needs and by the public.
What Will the Geospatial Platform Offer?
The Geospatial Platform provides access to trusted geospatial data, services, and applications maintained in the Federal Geospatial Portfolio to support government agencies in meeting their mission objectives, and provide efficiencies and cost savings through shared infrastructure and enterprise solutions.
The Geospatial Platform provides:
- A “one-stop shop” to deliver trusted, nationally consistent data and services.
- Tools for the centralized discovery, access, and use of data and services managed and maintained in multiple agencies, locations, and levels of government. Tools that enable data to be displayed in a visual context - a fundamental way in which humans process information.
- Problem-solving applications that are built once and reused many times across multiple Federal agencies and other organizations.
- Services based upon common, secure, and scalable open-standards, ensuring interoperability between components.
- A shared cloud computing infrastructure to cost-effectively host data and applications, and handle increased service demands quickly without additional hardware investments.
- Shared geospatial capabilities (hosting, services, analytical tools, etc.) for Federal agencies that do not have the financial or human resources to leverage geospatial tools to help them fulfill their mission requirements with little or no additional cost.
- The tools and infrastructure to enable decision makers to quickly and efficiently determine what geospatial data, services, and application assets can be brought to bear to address priorities, solve problems, and identify solutions.
- The opportunity to leverage complementary efforts such as Data.gov and the Federal cloud computing initiative.
- The means to implement the Federal Geospatial Portfolio Management processes described in the November 2010 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-16 Supplemental Guidance.
- A set of user-friendly tools to support key initiatives such as the Administration’s Open Government Initiative and Place-Based Policies Initiative.
Why is the Geospatial Platform Needed?
- To Address Issues of National Importance: The Geospatial Platform can effectively support problem solving and policy formulation for the complex issues facing our Nation. Assessing and solving issues and events that affect the economy, employment, the environment, public health and welfare, security, and quality of life will benefit from the decision support tools, shared applications, visualization, and trusted geospatial data made available through the Geospatial Platform. Best practices from organizations across the United States can be brought to bear through the Geospatial Platform capabilities as agencies address local and national issues.
- To Support Decision Making: Federal agencies and their partners invest significant resources in geospatial data, services, technology, and expertise to support their business operations. Data and information resources are among the most valuable assets any agency possesses. However, policymakers and executive managers alike observe that oftentimes the data and tools they need to make decisions are not readily available in useful or intuitive forms. This can result in delayed responses, lost opportunities, and higher costs. In addition, current practices have not yielded consistent data publishing methods, leading to gaps in the availability of current and relevant geospatial data for informed decision making.
- To Meet Common Business Needs: Geospatial data and tools inform day-to-day Federal agency management activities, including administering grant programs, regulatory oversight, emergency preparedness and response preparations, environmental impacts analysis, facilities and asset management, human resource management, financial and performance management, and others. Data and tools to support these cross-government functions frequently exist within multiple agencies, when they should be shared across agencies and levels of government, thereby saving money and promoting consistent approaches. The Geospatial Platform will provide a framework by which agencies can connect publically available data and resources, and it will leverage existing investments and avoid unnecessary costs associated with duplication of efforts.
How Will the Geospatial Platform Promote Effective Management of Federal Geospatial Assets?
OMB Circular A-16 Supplemental Guidance 1 directs Federal agencies to adopt a Portfolio Management approach for geospatial information and defines the Portfolio Management process. The Geospatial Platform will use Portfolio Management to ensure the quality of data assets delivered through the Geospatial Platform. Federal Geospatial Portfolio Management is the management and monitoring of geospatial data assets and investments to most effectively and efficiently utilize geospatial data to meet and address the business needs and priorities of the Nation. An effective portfolio is achieved by inventorying, evaluating, and monitoring assets, and aligning geospatial asset investments in order to ensure that the right data, for the right place, at the right time is part of the portfolio. The Geospatial Platform will function as the service and delivery mechanism for the Federal Geospatial Portfolio and provide the tools required to inventory, track, and report on its assets.
The Portfolio Management approach provides:
- An accurate and accountable inventory of Federal Geospatial Portfolio assets.
- Improved government accountability and transparency, by assessing existing assets and investments to reduce duplication.
- Improved data quality through lifecycle evaluations for content quality and fitness for use.
- Data management practices to ensure national data is high quality, dependable, consistent, and available to agencies.
- Increased return on existing geospatial investments by promoting the reuse of data, applications, and tools.
For more information, contact
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Roxanne Lamb
Email: rhlamb [at] fgdc.gov or fgdc@fgdc.gov