National Spatial Data Infrastructure Partnership Programs: Rethinking the Focus (2001)

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FUTURE PARTNERSHIPS AND THE EVOLUTION OF NSDI ACTIVITIES 53 private sector data are involved (this may be particularly appropriate for Framework data). In addition, there may be added data features or attributes supplied via the private sector (or NGOs or even local governments) that require payment but are fully integrated with the NSDI. This information source, rights, licensing, and payment architecture must be defined and then implemented. Partnership programs with private- and public-sector organizations can help greatly in moving towards this goal by using real-world examples of data sources whose introduction to the NSDI will require these issues to be addressed. Policy guidelines, technology solutions, and organizational structures should each be addressed in partnership projects dealing with this issue. THE GEODATA ALLIANCE—AN INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE NSDI The committee is encouraged by the efforts of the FGDC to seek creative ways for expanding the participation in the NSDI initiative and to develop a sustainable organizational structure that can build on federal efforts. In addition to the OMB Initiative to establish regional I-Teams to develop the NSDI, the FGDC has also been advocating the establishment of the GeoData Alliance. The GeoData Alliance stems from a presentation at the 1999 GeoData Forum by Dee W.Hock, founder and CEO of Visa International, and Coordinating Director of the Chaordic Alliance. The development of Visa International was based on the need to develop a functional operating organization amongst an extensive set of loosely linked activities in the marketplace. Similarly, a GeoData Alliance could create a more structured organization within what is presently a fairly chaotic and disorganized set of players in the geospatial data arena. The FGDC played a lead role is creating and supporting a broad-based drafting team to develop an organizational design for the alliance. In September 2000, the drafting team generated a report that lays out a detailed blue print for a nonprofit organization with the stated purpose to foster “…trusted inclusive processes to enable the creation, effective and equitable flow, and beneficial use of geo 

FUTURE PARTNERSHIPS AND THE EVOLUTION OF NSDI ACTIVITIES 54 graphic information…” (GeoData Alliance, 2000). The overriding concept of the GeoData Alliance is “…to create contexts in which diverse individuals and institutions can come together to pursue common interests, collaborating when appropriate and competing vigorously in other ways….” (GeoData Alliance, 2000). An integral aim of the Alliance is to collaboratively develop strategies and plans for the realization of the NSDI. It is interesting to note that one of the recommended practices is to create or support transactional systems that would focus on framework data. At the same time, one of the guiding principles in the creation of the GeoData Alliance is that “Geographic information has inherent value and the creators of that value should be equitably compensated.” This raises perhaps the most difficult obstacle that the NSDI concept faces. Increasingly, equitable compensation takes the form of a licensing agreement for the restricted use of the data from a private vendor or a license from a public agency that is trying to recoup its capital investment. Such licensing agreements are generally in conflict with policies of the U.S. government agencies that traditionally have acquired outright ownership of data. By acquiring ownership, government is able to offer broad access to citizens and the commercial sector to the data it acquires, as well as access to any derived public records. If government licenses rather than purchases data from the private sector, many of these benefits are threatened. Once government begins to acquire information resources by license, it will be forced to license out or contractually limit dissemination of the data. Therefore, the principle of equitable compensation to data creators becomes thorny. The GeoData Alliance is open to individuals, organizations, and other alliances, and is governed by a council of 32 trustees. In the committee’s view, the creation of the GeoData Alliance is a significant step in the evolution of the NSDI and the role of the federal government. It is not clear how the concept of the GeoData Alliance will be reconciled with the OMB-supported I-team initiatives that have already proven to be extremely popular. Although the FGDC has played a significant role in fostering the development of the GeoData Alliance, the committee foresees that the creation of such a nonprofit organization could surrender the preeminent role that the FGDC has played in NSDI activities to date. Since the concept is 

FUTURE PARTNERSHIPS AND THE EVOLUTION OF NSDI ACTIVITIES 55 still in its infancy, it is not clear how the different sectors would interact within such an organization. For example, considerable attention should be paid to the balance of power. If it is dominated by the private sector, such an alliance could disrupt the sharing of data that has been a cornerstone of the NSDI concept. It is also important to note that the FGDC has been playing a major role in promoting global data sharing. It has participated in all five Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) conferences, and serves as the organization’s permanent secretariat. Although the GSDI is still a fledging concept, is significant that 43 countries recently sent representatives to Cartagena, Columbia, to the Fifth Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference. The FGDC staff provided considerable assistance in the development of a “cookbook,” The Spatial Data Infrastructure Implementation Guide, and support for the GSDI website (GSDI.org). This cookbook provides extensive guidance and recommendations regarding policies, organizational principles, and standards. Indications are that the FGDC involvement in the GSDI setting will lead to a more coherent organization of several of the nation’s international spatial data efforts such as Digital Earth, Global Map, the Global Disaster Information Network, and the United Nations Environmental Programme. 

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