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Fed CIO launches portal at GT event

Geospatial Web portal offers robust information and invites participation of state and local governments

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Mark Forman, administrator of E-Government and Information Technology at the Office of Management and Budget, accompanied by a team responsible for the development of the nation's first Geospatial One-Stop, launched the project's portal Monday at Government Technology's Intergovernmental Policy Congress in Washington, D.C.

"Nearly every government program uses geospatial technology in some capacity. However not every program needs to buy its own data and build its own systems," Forman said. "By promoting collaboration and streamlining programs across government jurisdictions, GeoData.gov is e-government at its best. By adopting the 'buy-once, use-many' approach of electronic government, the Geospatial One-Stop initiative is reducing duplicative spending while improving government effectiveness."

The geospatial Web portal will be a resource that all levels of government can both access for information and populate with geographic information system (GIS) data. Hank Garie, executive director of the Geospatial One-Stop for the Department of the Interior (DOI), added that the portal should create nationwide efficiencies. "Our hope is that it will support the business of government. It is a build-it-once, use-it-many-times approach," he said. "Geospatial is more than ... classic map data. It has information on all parts of government. We can capture information that lives behind the map." The DOI was one of many partners, including nonprofit organizations, associations and private industry, to contribute to the project.

Forman said the site was designed to get users to information within "two clicks." The menu of data available is wide-ranging, from visual maps of topography, demographics and weather events to roadways and recreational trails. He described the portal as highly interactive, as users in state, local and federal government will continually contribute and share content in an effort to avoid redundant work and leverage data already collected. The system is built with commercial off-the-shelf software and based on open standards. The site is equipped with security features and supported by 24/7 fail-over capabilities. Participants are encouraged to adopt standards for metadata that backs up the site's services.

With the goals of improved interoperability and access to geospatial data and resources, GeoData.gov is the first major milestone for the Geospatial One-Stop project. Although the portal is only a first step, Forman praised the initiative for the work that's been done and stressed the benefits of moving to more open, standards-based architectures that state and local governments are demanding. Work on a second iteration of the portal with enhanced functionality and alignment with the Federal Enterprise Architecture is already underway.

Information on how to access and publish data is at www.geodata.gov.