Subject: [NEXTEL-1] MAPPS Urges Reform of Federal Geospatial Structure; An End to Government Duplication and Competition

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 21:37:38 -0400

MAPPS Urges Reform of Federal Geospatial Structure; An End to Government
Duplication and Competition
Written by MAPPS

Thursday, 24 June 2004

WASHINGTON, DC – In a Congressional hearing on, “Geospatial Information:
Are we headed in the right direction or are we lost?," MAPPS Executive
Director John M. Palatiello said, “the short answer is we are not
proceeding with a good map”.
In testimony before the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy,
Intergovernmental Relations and the Census of the House Committee on
Government Reform, Mr. Palatiello said there are “areas in which
improvement has been made in the past year, as well as areas where
further action is needed.”

“We are pleased that steps have been taken to ingest private data in
Geospatial One-Stop and data one can find metadata on several of our
members’ holdings. We commend Geospatial One-Stop, and Mr. Cameron
(Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Scott Cameron) in
particular, for bringing this about. However, a much more aggressive
outreach program must be implemented so that the entire assets resident
among commercial data providers is accessible via Geospatial One-Stop,”
Palatiello said.

“One of the shortcomings of both the Federal Geographic Data Committee
(FGDC) and Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) is their limited structure and
participation. FGDC only includes Federal agencies. Neither state and
local government nor the private sector has seats at the table. The GOS
Board includes state and local government representatives, but not the
private sector. Broader participation by private sector interests in
setting policy and strategy for FGDC and GOS will result in a stronger
offering that better represents the interests of the American public and
American business, and will engage all stakeholders.”
“Under the current structure, for Federal agencies the FGDC and GOS
processes are essentially voluntary and secondary. Agencies are focused
on their own missions, not a broader national strategy. Coordination,
data sharing, interoperability and duplication-avoidance are secondary
to meeting the agency’s own program needs. They are after-thoughts or
low priority items. For all agency employees, other than the very small
staffs at FGDC and GOS, these goals are no one’s full time
responsibilities. There is neither a carrot nor a stick to incentivize
or mandate conformance. A change in the charter and implementation of
FGDC in particular must provide either incentives or penalties to assure
compliance.”

We believe a stronger OMB (Office of Management and Budget) role must be
established to make coordination, inter-operability,
duplication-avoidance and data-sharing a reality, Palatiello told the
Subcommittee. Prior to 1943, the old Bureau of the Budget (now OMB) “had
a much stronger role in coordinating Federal geographic information
activities”. The budget office’s “Board of Surveys and Maps of the
Federal Government (had as its mission to) coordinate and promote
improved surveying and mapping activities by Federal agencies. The Board
was abolished by Executive Order 9094, on March 10, 1942 and functions
were transferred to the Bureau of the Budget. An office in the Bureau of
the Budget coordinated Federal geographic information activities. Those
responsibilities were devolved to voluntary coordination activities of
the agencies when Circular A-16 was issued in 1953. We believe the
reestablishment of an OMB office should be considered by OMB and the
committee,” the MAPPS chief executive said.

Palatiello added, “There are dozens of Federal agencies engaged in
geospatial activities. Neither the agencies, nor OMB, have a
comprehensive understanding of what agencies are involved in geospatial
activities. No one in the Federal government has a current, accurate
accounting of the annual geospatial expenditures. It is virtually
impossible to determine how many Federal employees are involved in these
activities. There is no balance sheet, performed to accepted cost
accounting standards, of the capital investment made in equipment and
plant (office space, etc.). There is no accurate database on the amount
of geospatial work performed in-house and by contract.”

“There are far too many Federal agencies operating geospatial production
capabilities that are expensive, inefficient, and which duplicate and
compete with the private sector. There is in the geospatial structure,
no uniform application of the federal policy that the government will
not compete with the private sector. There is no accurate record of the
extent to which the Federal government utilizes (or duplicates or
competes with) the private sector (including the dollar amount and
percentage contracted to the private sector and whether than has
increased in the recent past and can increase in the future. Federal
agencies provide grants or other Federal financial assistance to
non-Federal entities (including but not limited to State, local and
foreign government) to perform surveying and mapping activities. Many of
these activities could be performed by the private sector.”
“Mr. Chairman, the title of this hearing is: ‘Geospatial Information:
Are we headed in the right direction or are we lost?’ The short answer
is we are not proceeding with a good map. Numerous studies have been
conducted which detail the lack of coordination of Federal mapping and
geospatial activities, and the government's duplication of and
competition with the private sector. These studies date back to the
1930s. The time for action is long overdue. We hope this hearing will
help stimulate that action. We commend you for your interest and
leadership and we stand ready to work with Congress and the Executive
Branch to better serve the geospatial needs of the American people in
economic development, resource management, environmental protection,
infrastructure, construction and maintenance and homeland security.”

The Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS)
the nation's oldest and largest national association of private sector
firms in the mapping, spatial data and geographic information systems
field. The more than 170 member firms of MAPPS are engaged in mapping,
photogrammetry, satellite and airborne remote sensing, aerial
photography, hydrography, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS and
GIS data collection, integration and conversion services. For
information, visit the association’s website at www.mapps.org.
 http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/2209/

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