April 4 FGDC Coordination Group meeting

[Agenda]

Host:  Michael Sherman, NCPC

[Attendees

Action:  Grant language will be sent out for your comments soon.

Action:  If you would like to co-chair the Outreach and Communications Working Group, please contact Leslie Wollack (lwollack@usgs.gov).

Action:  Please participate in the Geospatial LoB Request for Information (RFI), open from April 6 through May 5.  To access the RFI, visit http://www.estrategy.gov/lineofbusiness/docs/geospatial_rfi.doc

Action:  Please respond to OMB’s request for agency information between mid April and June 15.

Action:  Subcommittee and Working Group chairs please send Alison Dishman (adishman@fgdc.gov) the name of the person who will maintain your group’s webpage on the FGDC site.


Farewells

This is the last FGDC meeting for both John Clark (GSA) and Chuck Croner (HHS/CDC).

John Clark (GSA) will be retiring this month and moving to Texas.  Ivan thanked him for all his hard work, including all the time he dedicated to the Future Directions activity last year.

Chuck Croner (HHS/CDC) stated that he goes back to the Fred Broome area – he began participating with the FICCDC, the FGDC’s precursor, in the late 1980s.  Chuck said that the thing that he feels is so powerful about the FGDC is a sense of family -- you get to know such wonderful people from so many agencies and you feel empowered in providing geospatial data to the nation. He stated that it has been wonderful being part of this group.

Ivan thanked Chuck for his service and commitment to the FGDC and said that Chuck will be sorely missed for his insight and comments.


Business Update – Leslie Armstrong

The 2005 Annual Report is coming along.  We have chosen a cover and the draft will be sent out to the Coordination Group in a couple of weeks for their review.

Maritime Boundary Working Group will be meeting in St Petersburg, FL on April 27.

Practitioner’s Day for the Geospatial Line of Business (LoB) will be on April 18. 

The Request for Information for the Geospatial LoB will be coming out later this week, please provide this information to your stakeholders

The FGDC Steering Committee meeting will be on April 17.

TED extracts are available from Census – for more information, contact Anne O’Connor (anne.v.oconnor@census.gov)

Julie Maitra is reviewing FGDC Standards program of work, available at http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/standards/projects/FGDC-standards-projects/index_html
The standards over 5 years old will need to be updated.  Julie completed a review of the Soils Subcommittee.  Wetlands will be reviewed next.  Subcommittee and Working Group chairs will hear from Julie soon.

The guidance for grants language will be sent to the Coordination Group for comment after OMB reviews it.  Stacie Boyd will have a discussion with the grants policy people at OMB first.

Action:  Grant language will be sent out for your comments soon.

Outreach and Communications will have their own page under working groups on the FGDC website.  Leslie Wollack needs a new co-chair, as John Clarke is retiring this month.

Action:  If you would like to co-chair the Outreach and Communications Working Group, please contact Leslie Wollack (lwollack@usgs.gov).



Geospatial Line of Business Update – Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC

[presentation]

OMB issued a memorandum on March 3 launching the Geospatial LoB, which aims to institutionalize coordinating mechanisms in the Federal sector to reduce duplication. 

This LoB is on an aggressive schedule.  FGDC member agencies have an opportunity to invest critical time and effort to ensure this is a success.  Senior level officials at OMB, GSA and the FGDC member agencies are providing oversight. 

The Geospatial LoB Request for Information (RFI), open from April 6 through May 5, is an opportunity for stakeholders to provide input.  Significant investments are being made by state and local governments and we need to leverage this data.

Action:  Please participate in the Geospatial LoB Request for Information (RFI), open from April 6 through May 5.  To access the RFI, visit http://www.estrategy.gov/lineofbusiness/docs/geospatial_rfi.doc

Next Steps: 
Practitioner’s Day, will be on April 18 from 10 am - noon
JW Marriot on Pennsylvania Ave

Request for Agency Information -
Mid April to June 15

Developing FAQs

Organizing CS/TAQ and JBC Subcommittees

Action:  Please respond to OMB’s request for agency information between mid April and June 15.

RFI will be on the E-gov website.  A market pool email list (all stakeholders – including newsletter list) will get advanced notice of this.  You can send in your responses softcopy.

There has been concern that this RFI might cause confusion for contractors so that people understand that this is a different effort and won’t change contracts already in place.


Imagery for the Nation Update – Ivan DeLoatch

Last action item from Steering Committee was to organize executive steering group to flesh this out.  The group was unable to schedule a meeting until April 14 due to scheduling difficulties.  The Geospatial LoB has overtaken a lot of the work we were doing for IFTN.  There has been a proposal to make IFTN a LoB pilot project, which we may do after we examine the results of the RFI.  There has also been a suggestion to put a description of the IFTN program in our various budgets as a placeholder -- USGS has the lead to develop this language for 08.

Comment:  There will be an article in Arc News regarding IFTN (600,000 circulation), a survey will be online on behalf of NSGIC.

Link to April 17 Steering Committee Meeting agenda


Governance – Ivan DeLoatch

A draft memo went to OMB regarding the formation of an Intergovernmental Subcommittee – it is at the DOI Solicitor’s Office now.  The Intergovernmental Subcommittee would be modeled after the GOS Board, which was found to be acceptable. 

This is the interim stage for the Intergovernmental Subcommittee – a chance to define its roles and responsibilities. The subcommittee will have an opportunity to shape its charter.

We made a proposal to OMB about an executive order but you need a champion at OMB and at the White House to make a case for the President to create a new executive order.


FGDC Website Demo and CAP Update – Alison Dishman

Alison demonstrated the capabilities of the new FGDC website.  Users can now login, post upcoming events on the calendar and also participate in various forums. 

Although Alison created the Subcommittee and Working Group webpages, she asked that the Subcommittee and Working Group chairs designate someone to maintain and update their page.

Action:  Subcommittee and Working Group chairs please send Alison Dishman (adishman@fgdc.gov) the name of the person who will maintain your group’s webpage on the FGDC site.

The 2006 CAP information is located here.