November 4, 2008 Coordination Group Meeting

  1. Home

[Agenda]


Summary of Action Items


Action 1: Come to the Steering Committee with ideas on transition.

Action 2: Folks who are interested in reviewing 2009 NSDI CAP proposals should contact Gita Urban-Mathieux  at burbanma@usgs.gov with their category of interest.

Action 3: The FGDC Standards Working Group is to evaluate the FIPS 10-4 to ISO 3166 proposal contained within the PowerPoint presentation and provide recommendations to the FGDC Coordination Group.

Action 4: Contact Jeanette Archetto at  Jeanette.archetto@gt.com  if you intend on participating on the A-16 conference calls.

Action 5:  Agencies should support the SmartBuy application and get the word out to as many folks as possible.
 
Action 6: The Geospatial Applications Registry (GEAR) is in need of additional nominators. Submit GEAR nominators names to Vaishal Sheth at vsheth@fgdc.gov

Action 7: Submit Coordination Group agenda items to Pat Phillips at paphillips@usgs.gov

Welcome and Introductions – Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC

Ivan welcomed the participants to the November Coordination Group meeting, took roll call and provided an overview of the agenda.

Announcements:

The next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for December 16 at the American Institute of Architects. 

  • The Steering Committee Members are working on a number of activities for the Administrative Transition.
  • Leslie Cone, Bureau of Land Management, will present a NILS briefing. We will be looking for a holistic approach with cadastre and land parcel data.
  • Mark Myers, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, will give a presentation on Lidar for the Nation.


The FGDC Executive Committee will meet on November 5.

The FGDC Secretariat has received many comments and suggestions for the 2008 annual Report.  The comment period has now closed; the document is in the printing stage and will be available for distribution on November 19. Thank all of you for providing input.

The FGDC is continuing to move forward on the A-16 Supplemental Guidance documentation.

National Geospatial Advisory Committee Update – John Mahoney, FGDC

[presentation]

John presented a summary of the October 15-16 NGAC meeting. The NGAC focused on the work from the following subcommittees:

  • Changing Landscape White Paper
  • Transition White Paper
  • National Land Parcel Data Study
  • Imagery for the Nation
  • GeoLob products
  • Refinement of the NGAC Plan of Action


Additional information is available on the following website: www.fgdc.gov/ngac

The subcommittees will be working off line on tasks between meetings.
The major discussion items for the next meeting will focus on the draft A-16 Supplemental Guidance Document and The National Map.

Q. What are the plans for the Administration Transition?
A. the Executive Committee will discus this tomorrow and the topic will also be on the agenda for the Steering Committee. We are asking all of the agencies to appoint a new SAOGI if the current SAOGI is a political appointee. All are welcome to submit your ideas on this topic.

Action 1: Come to the Steering Committee with ideas on transition.

Cooperative Agreement Program – Gita Urban-Mathiuex, FGDC

[presentation]

The amount of funds available for 2009 CAP is 1,310,000.

The FGDC is seeking volunteers for the 2009 NDSI CAP review panels.  The reviews will be held in mid- to late-January 2009.  The goal is to have the awards announced in February. The proposals will be in hand on January 7 or 8.

Action 2: Folks who are interested in reviewing 2009 NSDI CAP proposals should contact Gita Urban-Mathieux  at burbanma@usgs.gov with their category of interest.
For more information, see http://www.fgdc.gov/grants/2009NSDICAP/2009CAP


County Codes FIPS PUB 10-4 & ISO 3166 - Rick Pearsall, NGA

[presentation]

The FIPS 10-4 is a coding system for entities used primarily by the US government. On September 2, 2008 through a federal register notice, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) withdrew the FIPS 10-4 in favor of ISO 3166.

Rick strongly recommends to transition to the 3-character country codes used by ISO 3166-1 for both the civilian and military communities. For the civilian community, Rick proposes:

  • Civilian – Profile ISO 3166-1 trigraph
  • Profile includes only those Countries recognized by the US State Dept.
  • Includes USA Reserved Codes (geopolitical entities)
  • Includes USA International Partner reserved codes (GSDI?)

Action 3: The FGDC Standards Working Group is to evaluate the FIPS 10-4 to ISO 3166 proposal contained within the PowerPoint presentation and provide recommendations to the FGDC Coordination Group.

For more information:

There are huge data bases and millions of records that currently exist with FIPS 10-4 that will have to be assessed in how to move the codes to the new standard to become compliant.


Comment: The FGDC Coordination Working Groups should have representation from all agencies.

Draft A-16 Supplemental Guidance - Ken Shaffer, FGDC

[presentation]

The purpose of the draft A-16 Supplemental Guidance Document is to:

  • Provide additional clarity and detail to enhance the ability of the Federal agencies to carry out their geospatial data responsibilities as assigned under authority of:
    • Executive Order 12906 section 2(a)
    • OMB Circular A-16 section 8(e)
  •  Clarify the roles and associated responsibilities of the Federal entities in relation to the management of the A-16 Appendix E data themes of national significance
  • Further define a common framework within which agencies can fulfill these responsibilities
  • Establish a repeatable process for adapting the A-16 Appendix E data themes to address current national and federal priorities


The Coordination Group held a conference call on October 31 in a first cut effort to review the Draft A-16 Supplemental Guidance Document. It was agreed by the participants to pull the Executive Summary and the Authority and Applicability sections for further refinement before sending the document to the NGAC for review. The document has an ambitious review schedule before a pre-endorsement by the Steering Committee on December 16.

Q. Many of the Coordination Group members did not receive this document and were not informed about the document review meeting.

A. The meeting notice went out to the federal agency representatives only.

Action 4: Contact Jeanette Archetto at  Jeanette.archetto@gt.com  if you intend on participating on the A-16 conference calls.

Geospatial Line of Business - Lew Sanford, FGDC

[presentation]

The SmartBuy had a successful Industry Day conducted on October 21. There were over 110 folks that attended and 88 firms involved. The final Request for Information (RFI) will be issued in December 2008. The SmartBuy was expanded to include state, local and tribal governments.

Action 5:  Agencies should support the SmarBuy application and get the word out to as many folks as possible.
 
Action 6: The Geospatial Applications Registry (GEAR) is in need of additional Nominators. Submit GEAR Nominators names to Vaishal Sheth at vsheth@fgdc.gov

For more information see www.fgdc.gov/geospatial-lob


2008 FGDC Annual Report – Ken Shaffer, FGDC

[presentation]

The 2008 FGDC Annual Report is currently being published and will be available for distribution on November 18, 2008. The FGDC received tremendous response from the agencies. The report will be distributed to the Steering Committee, stakeholders and at conventions throughout the year.

Comment: FGDC is looking for a 2009 Executive of the year to add to next years  report.  We are trying to develop a strategy for the financial component of the Annual Report so that the results will be productive and informative.


National Land Parcel Data - Don Buhler, BLM and David Downes, DOI

[presentation] [Mortgage Crisis Response Approach - handout]

Don and David presented an update on the National Lands Parcel Data study. The four action items are:

  • Address the NRC recommendation #1 by examining the statutory and policy authorities of BLM to coordinate federal and national parcel activities.
  • FGDC Cadastral Subcommittee will convene a stakeholders group to address parcel data issues related to the mortgage crisis and the economic recovery bill.
  • The FGDC Cadastral Subcommittee in coordination with DOI, the FGDC Secretariat, and others will review the budget assumption in the NRC report recommendations.
  • The FGDC Steering Committee will receive a briefing on the BLM National Integrated Lands (NILS) System at the December 2008 meeting.


Don has assembled a work group for addressing the mortgage crisis response. Stakeholder participants so far include the International Association of Assessment Officers, the Cadastral subcommittee, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  

Financial support is needed from Treasury and HUD.

Adjourn