Geographic Information Systems: Challenges to Effective Data	 
Sharing (10-JUN-03, GAO-03-874T).				 
                                                                 
Geographic information systems (GIS) manipulate, analyze, and	 
graphically present an array of information associated with	 
geographic locations, have been invaluable to all levels of	 
government. Their usefulness in disaster response was recently	 
demonstrated during the Space Shuttle Columbia recovery effort.  
GIS provided precise maps and search grids to guide crews to the 
debris that was strewn across 41 counties in Texas and Louisiana.
The federal government has long been attempting to develop an	 
integrated nationwide GIS network. The information available	 
through such a network could significantly enhance		 
decision--making in myriad public--service areas, including	 
emergency response, national security, law enforcement, health	 
care, and the environment. Among GAO's objectives were to	 
describe the federal government's efforts to coordinate GIS	 
activities, the long-standing challenges of adopting and	 
implementing federal GIS standards, and the role of Geospatial	 
One-Stop.							 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-03-874T					        
    ACCNO:   A07119						        
  TITLE:     Geographic Information Systems: Challenges to Effective  
Data Sharing							 
     DATE:   06/10/2003 
  SUBJECT:   Data collection					 
	     Geographic information systems			 
	     Interagency relations				 
	     Redundancy 					 
	     National Spatial Data Infrastructure		 
	     Program						 
                                                                 

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GAO-03-874T

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy,
Intergovernmental Relations and the Census, Committee on Government
Reform, House of Representatives

United States General Accounting Office

GAO For Release on Delivery Expected at 10: 00 a. m. EDT Tuesday, June 10,
2003 GEOGRAPHIC

INFORMATION SYSTEMS Challenges to Effective Data Sharing

Statement of Linda D. Koontz Director, Information Management Issues

GAO- 03- 874T

For decades, the federal government has tried to reduce duplicative
geospatial data collection by coordinating GIS activities within and
outside the federal government. For example, in 1990, the Office of
Management and Budget established the Federal Geographic Data Committee to
promote the coordinated use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data
nationwide. In 1994, the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)
program was established by executive order to address the problem of the
redundancy and incompatibility of geospatial information on a national
basis. More recently, Geospatial One- Stop, a component of NSDI, was
initiated (see below).

Although efforts to build the NSDI are progressing, achieving the vision
of a nationwide GIS network remains a formidable challenge. Developing
standards that meet stakeholders* needs remains a challenging and
timeconsuming task, and achieving full participation across governments in
their development has also been difficult.

Geospatial One- Stop is aimed at promoting coordinated geospatial data
collection and maintenance across all levels of government. Among its
objectives are (1) deploying an Internet portal for one- stop access to
geospatial data; (2) developing data standards; and (3) encouraging
greater coordination among federal, state, and local agencies. While these
objectives are important, Geospatial One- Stop has focused on limited,
near- term tasks and was not intended to fully address the longer- term
challenges of implementing the NSDI. A much more substantial effort will
be required to attain the broader vision of seamless integration of GIS
data nationwide. Existing draft standards may need further revision, and
more extensive coordination efforts may be required to ensure broad
adoption at all levels of government. Further, the effort is likely to
require a continuing effort over an

extended period of time, due to the fact that significant investments have
already been made in existing non- standard systems.

Geospatial One- Stop Portal Concept

Geographic information systems (GIS) manipulate, analyze, and graphically
present an array of information associated with geographic locations, have
been invaluable to all levels of government. Their usefulness in disaster
response was recently

demonstrated during the Space Shuttle Columbia recovery effort. GIS
provided precise maps and search grids to guide crews to the debris that
was strewn across 41 counties in Texas and Louisiana. The federal
government has long

been attempting to develop an integrated nationwide GIS network. The
information available through such a network could significantly enhance
decision- making in myriad public- service areas, including

emergency response, national security, law enforcement, health care, and
the environment. Among GAO*s objectives were to

describe the federal government*s efforts to coordinate GIS activities,
the long- standing challenges of adopting and implementing federal

GIS standards, and the role of Geospatial One- Stop.

www. gao. gov/ cgi- bin/ getrpt? GAO- 03- 874T. To view the full product,
click on the link above. For more information, contact Linda D. Koontz at
(202) 512- 6240 or Koontzl@ gao. gov. Highlights of GAO- 03- 874T, a
testimony

before the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy,
Intergovernmental Relations and the Census, Committee on Government
Reform, House of Representatives

June 10, 2003

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Challenges to Effective Data Sharing

Page 2 GAO- 03- 874T

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I appreciate the opportunity
to participate in the Subcommittee*s hearing regarding the challenges of
developing an integrated nationwide network of geographic information
systems (GIS). A GIS is a system of computer software, hardware, and data
used to manipulate, analyze, and graphically present a potentially wide
array of information associated with geographic

locations. GIS*s powerful ability to integrate different kinds of
information about a physical location can lead to better- informed
decisions about public investments in infrastructure and services*
including national security, law enforcement, health care, and the
environment* as well as a more effective and timely response in emergency
situations. However, long- standing challenges to data sharing and
integration need to be addressed before the benefits of geographic
information systems can be fully realized.

As requested, in my remarks today, I will discuss the many GIS activities
under way throughout the federal government, the federal government*s
efforts to coordinate these activities, and the long- standing challenges
of adopting and implementing federal GIS standards. I will also discuss
the role of Geospatial One- Stop, one of 25 high- profile e- government 1
initiatives sponsored by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). To

supplement my remarks, I have included an attachment that lists examples
of the numerous GIS activities led by various federal agencies.

The primary function of a GIS is to link multiple sets of geospatial data
and graphically display that information as maps with potentially many
different layers of information. Assuming that all the information is at
the same scale and has been formatted according to the same standards,
users can potentially overlay spatial information about any number of
specific topics to examine how the layers interrelate. Each layer of a GIS
map represents a particular *theme* or feature, and one layer could be
derived from a data source completely different from the other layers. For

example, one theme could represent all the streets in a specified area.
Another theme could correspond to all the buildings in the same area, and
others could show vegetation or water resources. As long as standard

1 E- Government or Electronic Government refers to the use of technology,
particularly Webbased Internet applications, to enhance the access to and
delivery of government information and services to citizens, business
partners, employees, other agencies, and other entities. Background

Page 3 GAO- 03- 874T

processes and formats have been arranged to facilitate integration, each
of these themes could be based on data originally collected and maintained
by a separate organization. Analyzing this layered information as an
integrated whole can significantly aid decision makers in considering
complex choices, such as where to locate a new Department of Motor
Vehicles building to best serve the greatest number of citizens. Figure 1
portrays the concept of data themes in GIS.

Figure 1: GIS Layers or *Themes*

The expansion of Internet connectivity in recent years has substantially
enhanced the potential value of GIS because now it is possible to locate
and harness data from many disparate GIS databases to develop very rich

analytical information on almost any topic that is associated with
physical locations. Data that were once collected and used only for a
single purpose could now have much broader applications. Further, the
community of GIS users has been broadened to include potentially anyone
with an Internet connection. For example, citizens can now use home
computers to obtain answers to specific questions about land use in their

Page 4 GAO- 03- 874T

state or local jurisdiction. Commercial entrepreneurs can combine GIS data
about zoning and tax- incentive areas to determine what parts of a city
are best suited for establishing a new business.

Federal, state, and local government agencies are using GIS today to
provide vital services to their customers. For example, local fire
departments can use geographic information systems to determine the
quickest and most efficient route from a firehouse to a specific location,
taking into account changing traffic patterns that occur at various times
of

day. Highway departments use GIS to identify intersections that have had a
significant number of personal injury accidents to determine needs for
improved traffic signaling or signage. GIS can also be an invaluable tool
in ensuring homeland security by facilitating preparedness, prevention,
detection, and recovery and response to terrorist attacks.

Many federal departments and agencies use GIS technology to help carry out
their primary missions. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
develop E- MAPS, which combines information on HUD*s community development
and housing programs with EPA*s environmental data. The program provides
homeowners and prospective homebuyers with ready access to detailed local
information about environmental hazards that otherwise would likely have
been very difficult to obtain. In another example, the Department of
Health and Human Services uses GIS technology to analyze data on
population and topography (including roads, streams, and land elevation),
as well as information gathered from residents. These data are used to
track the spread of environmental

contamination through a community, to identify geographic areas of
particular health concern, and to identify susceptible populations, such
as children or the elderly.

The usefulness of GIS in disaster response was demonstrated recently in
connection with the Space Shuttle Columbia recovery effort. After the loss
of Columbia on February 1, 2003, debris was spread over at least 41
counties in Texas and Louisiana. Analysis of GIS data was critical to the
efficient recovery and documentation of that debris. The Texas state GIS
program provided authorities with precise maps and search grids to guide
field reconnaissance and collection crews. Officials in charge of the
effort used maps of debris fields combined with GIS data about the
physical

terrain to carefully track every piece of debris found. This information
not only contributed to an efficient recovery effort but also may help
experts to refine theories about why Columbia perished.

Page 5 GAO- 03- 874T

In developing this testimony, our objectives were to describe the many GIS
activities under way throughout the federal government and the federal
government*s efforts to coordinate these activities, the long- standing

challenges of adopting and implementing federal GIS standards, and the
role of Geospatial One- Stop. To address these objectives, we obtained
relevant documentation from the Department of the Interior and interviewed
Geospatial One- Stop project officials as well as representatives from
state agencies and private sector organizations involved in GIS activities
with the federal government. We also analyzed the accomplishments and
planned activities of the Geospatial One- Stop

initiative in light of identified challenges to geospatial data sharing.
We performed our work between May 2003 and June 2003, in accordance with
generally accepted auditing standards.

According to the Department of the Interior, about 80 percent of all
government information has a geospatial data component, such as an address
or other reference to a physical location. 2 It is not surprising, then,
that a wide variety of geospatial data collection efforts are ongoing
throughout the federal government, each established for a different
purpose but often collecting and maintaining the same or similar
information. In fact, according to the 2001 initial business case for
Geospatial One- Stop, about 50 percent of the federal government*s
geospatial data investment is redundant.

For every GIS application, federal agencies must manage the geospatial
data that are at the heart of that application. In many cases, agencies
maintain the same data that are referenced to the same geographic
location. For example, both HUD and the Census Bureau maintain essentially
the same geospatial data regarding congressional districts, city
boundaries, railroads, interstate highways, and state highways. The two
agencies maintain separate GIS systems for storing and analyzing this
information.

In many cases, agencies independently collect data that, while not
identical, is similar and potentially duplicative in many respects. For
example, both the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) collect and analyze information regarding 2 Geospatial
One- Stop, Office of Management and Budget Capital Asset Plan and Business
Case (Exhibit 300) (Jan. 27, 2003), p. 7. Many Federal Government GIS

Activities Overlap

Page 6 GAO- 03- 874T

uranium- milling facilities, and they both cover the same geographic
areas. DOE concentrates on tracking the status of former uranium
processing sites, whereas NRC gathers and maintains information on current
uranium milling facilities in the same mid- western locations. In cases
such as this, significant efficiencies may be gained by coordinating the
two collection efforts.

In other cases, data may be collected in different resolutions or with
different degrees of accuracy but still essentially cover the same theme
over the same geographic area. Local governments often possess the most
recent and highest resolution geographic data; however, these data often
are collected to serve specific missions and may be difficult to use for
other purposes. For instance, when the Forest Service created a
nationallevel GIS for the forest ecosystem, it was faced with reconciling
data from a variety of incompatible locally developed systems. Local
agencies had used a variety of standards for each forest and district. In
assembling these

data into a unified, coherent database, the Forest Service had to adopt
the lowest- resolution format in order to maintain full coverage of all
forests. As a result, much of the higher- resolution content of the local
data could not be used. Much of the effort in building this system was
spent reconciling data sets to make them usable in an integrated database.

The biggest problem with collecting this duplicative geospatial data is
its cost. According to a recent study, up to 80 percent of GIS costs are
related to the collection and management of geospatial data. 3 In 1993,
OMB

performed a data call in which it estimated that $4.1 billion was spent
annually, at the federal level, on collection and management of
geographically referenced data. In addition, state and local governments
are estimated to spend twice that of the federal government on collection
and management of geographic referenced data. 4 3 Center for Technology in
Government, Sharing the Costs, Sharing the Benefits: The New York State
GIS Cooperative Project (2001).

4 Office of Management and Budget, Geospatial One- Stop Capital Asset Plan
and Business Case (Exhibit 300) (Jan. 27, 2003).

Page 7 GAO- 03- 874T

The federal government has tried for years to reduce duplicative
geospatial data collection by coordinating GIS activities both within and
outside the federal government. In 1953 the Bureau of the Budget first
issued its Circular A- 16, encouraging expeditious surveying and mapping
activities across all levels of government and avoidance of duplicative
efforts. More recently, the E- Government Act of 2002 5 directed the
Office

of Management and Budget to coordinate the development of standard
protocols for sharing geographic information to reduce redundant data
collection and promote collaboration and the use of standards. Although
progress has been made over this 50- year span, much work still remains to
be done.

Over the past several decades we and others, such as the National Research
Council 6 and the National Academy of Public Administration, 7 have made a
set of recommendations aimed at promoting the coordination

of GIS efforts and data. In 1969, we recommended that mapping by state and
local agencies under federal programs should be accomplished, where
appropriate, in a manner enabling such work to contribute to the national
mapping program. 8 In 1982, we issued another report recommending

interagency coordination to prevent duplicative computer- mapping
programs. 9 In response to this and other recommendations, OMB revised
Circular A- 16 in 1990, to, among other things, establish a Federal
Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), chaired by the Department of the
Interior, to promote the coordinated use, sharing, and dissemination of
geospatial data nationwide. Building on that effort, a program was
established by Executive Order 12906 in 1994 to develop a National Spatial
Data Infrastructure (NSDI) to address the problem of the redundancy and
incompatibility of geospatial information collected by many different
organizations and stored and maintained at many different physical
locations. Figure 2 provides a federal GIS coordination timeline.

5 E- Government Act of 2002, P. L. 107- 347 (Dec. 17, 2002). 6 National
Research Council, Mapping Science Committee, Toward a Coordinated Spatial
Data Infrastructure for the Nation (Washington, D. C.: National Academy
Press, 1993). 7 National Academy of Public Administration, Geographic
Information for the 21st Century: Building a Strategy for the Nation
(Washington, D. C.: Jan. 1998). 8 U. S. General Accounting Office,
Opportunity for Savings and Better Service to Map Users Through Improved
Coordination of Federally Financed Mapping Activities, 759 Un317o
(Washington, D. C.: Dec. 17, 1969).

9 U. S. General Accounting Office, Duplicative Federal Computer- Mapping
Programs: A Growing Problem, GAO/ RCED- 83- 19 (Washington, D. C.: Nov.
22, 1982). Many Attempts Have

Been Made to Coordinate GIS Activities

Page 8 GAO- 03- 874T

Figure 2: Federal GIS Coordination Timeline

As a result of these federal geospatial coordination efforts, the federal
government has begun to establish the NSDI through a number of component
programs. 10 These include the Geospatial Data Clearinghouse to promote
data sharing on a national level, a collection of voluntary *ITeams* to
foster community- level data collection and sharing, a Cooperative
Agreements Program to provide seed money for initiatives aimed at better
data integration and use, and* most recently* the Geospatial One- Stop
initiative, aimed at promoting coordination and alignment of geospatial
data collection and maintenance across all levels of government. Table 1
gives more details about the components of the NSDI. I will discuss the
Geospatial One- Stop initiative at greater length later in my remarks. 10
The FGDC is responsible for coordinating all of these components.

Page 9 GAO- 03- 874T

Table 1: Components of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure Name
Description National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) A structure of
practices and relationships among data producers and users that
facilitates

geospatial data sharing and use throughout government, the private and
nonprofit sectors, and academia. As discussed below, key GIS initiatives
within the NSDI, which are coordinated by the Federal Geographic Data
Committee, include the Geospatial Data Clearinghouse, I- Teams,
Cooperative Agreements Program, and Geospatial One- Stop. Geospatial Data
Clearinghouse A decentralized system of Internet servers containing field-
level descriptions or metadata of available digital geospatial data. The
clearinghouse allows individual agencies,

consortia, and geographically defined communities to coordinate and
promote the use of their available geospatial data. I- Teams Voluntary
bodies of leaders representing all sectors of the geospatial community
that meet

in open forums to plan, steward, and implement the production,
maintenance, and exchange of community information resources. The I- Team
Initiative helps to address the institutional and financial barriers to
development of the NSDI.

Cooperative Agreements Program funds Funds intended to provide seed money
to engage organizations in building the NSDI

through metadata implementation, training and outreach, and clearinghouse
implementation of OpenGIS Web services. Geospatial One- Stop An initiative
to promote coordination and alignment of geospatial data collection and

maintenance among all levels of government by (1) developing a portal for
seamless access to geospatial information, (2) providing standards and
models for geospatial data, (3) creating an interactive index to
geospatial data holdings at federal and nonfederal levels, and (4)
encouraging greater coordination among federal, state, and local agencies
about existing and planned geospatial data collections.

Source: GAO. Although efforts to build the NSDI are progressing, achieving
the vision of a nationwide GIS network remains a formidable challenge.
Notwithstanding federal attempts to promote interagency and
intergovernmental collaboration, the difficulty in developing and
implementing effective standards remains a barrier to effective data
sharing and to achieving the level of integration that would lead to full
development of the NSDI.

Developing common geospatial standards to support vital public services
has proven to be a complex and time- consuming effort. The number of types
of geospatial data and the complexity of those data make developing
geospatial standards a daunting task. For example, 34 different broad
categories of geospatial data, called *data themes,* were identified in
OMB Circular A- 16 as a necessary foundation for the NSDI. These basic
themes relate to all types of services provided by the federal government*
including climate, flood hazards, federal land ownership, public health,
soils, and transportation. Each of these themes, in turn, may have any
number of subthemes. The transportation theme, for example, includes such
divergent subthemes as road, railroad, air, transit, and waterway, each
the domain of a different organization or group of organizations. For
Developing and

Implementing GIS Standards Have Posed Long- Standing Challenges

Page 10 GAO- 03- 874T

data associated with the NSDI*s themes and subthemes to be effectively
shared, standards must be developed that allow interoperability and
integration of the many disparate formats of data that are currently
collected for each theme and subtheme. Circular A- 16 further identifies
seven of the themes as the core set of most commonly used data, called
*framework themes.* 11 FGDC has been working to coordinate the development
of these themes as well as other standards since it was established 13
years ago. Although FGDC has developed versions of several of these
standards, it has not attempted to finalize a complete set of the seven
framework standards. These framework standards would define the simplest
level of geographic data commonly used in most geospatial data sets.

OMB Circular A- 16 calls for a well- coordinated effort among federal,
state, local, and tribal governments, academic institutions, and the
private sector to build an effective NSDI. 12 Yet in the capital asset
plan for the Geospatial One- Stop project published in January 2003, the
Department of the Interior noted that the risk was high that agencies
would be unwilling to adopt framework data standards. Given that most
federal agencies* including large agencies such as DOE, Justice, and
Health and Human Services* have not participated in the NSDI framework
standards development process, the risk is substantial that the proposed
standards will not meet their needs. In addition, agencies could be faced
with a potentially expensive effort at *migrating* to the new standard.
Substantial investments have already been made to independently develop
geospatial systems using formats and standards that meet the specific
needs of the

agencies that developed them. The potential for agencies to continue to
deploy agency- specific, noninteroperable geospatial systems was another
high risk identified by Interior in its January 2003 Geospatial One- Stop
plan.

Many states and localities have established Web sites that provide a
variety of location- related information services, such as updated traffic
and transportation information, land ownership and tax records, and

11 The seven framework themes are transportation, hydrography, government
units, geodetic control, elevation, digital ortho imagery, and cadastral
(relating to land ownership).

12 OMB Circular A- 16, Coordination of Geographic Information and Related
Spatial Data Activities, Revised August 19, 2002. The Circular applies to
any executive agency that collects, produces, acquires, maintains,
distributes, uses, or preserves paper maps or digital spatial data to
fulfill its mission.

Page 11 GAO- 03- 874T

information on housing for the elderly. Existing commercial products using
a variety of formats are already meeting the needs of the states and
localities in providing this information. Hence these organizations are
likely to have little incentive to adopt potentially incompatible federal
standards that could require substantial new investments. According to
Arizona*s state cartographer, many local governments currently do not
comply with existing FGDC standards because most of their GIS applications
were created primarily to meet their internal needs, with little concern
for data sharing with federal systems.

Geospatial One- Stop is intended to accelerate the development and
implementation of the NSDI by promoting coordination and alignment of
geospatial data collection and maintenance across all levels of
government. Specifically, its objectives include (1) deploying an Internet
portal for one- stop access to geospatial data as an extension to the NSDI
Clearinghouse network (see figure 3); (2) developing data standards for
the seven NSDI framework data themes; (3) creating an inventory of federal
data holdings related to the seven framework themes; and (4) encouraging
greater coordination among federal, state, and local agencies about
existing and planned geospatial data collection projects.

Figure 3: Geospatial One- Stop Portal Concept

Geospatial One- Stop*s Objectives Are Limited

Page 12 GAO- 03- 874T

 Deploying an Internet portal. This task was to design and implement an
Internet portal to serve as a one- stop interface for users seeking links
to geospatial data that were already available and cataloged in the NSDI
clearinghouse. A demonstration version of the portal has been developed,
and the first publicly available version is expected to be implemented by

the end of June 2003. Plans are to begin adding new data to the portal,
now that it has been developed. Project officials are also considering
future enhancements to the functionality of the portal; however, no
milestones have been set for any specific enhancements.

 Developing data standards. The specific objective was to draft the seven
NSDI framework standards. Drafts of these seven framework standards, as
well as five transportation subthemes and a base standard have now been
completed. Project officials plan to submit these drafts to the American
National Standards Institute by the end of September 2003.  Creating an
inventory of federal data holdings. To meet this objective,

metadata 13 for all relevant federal data sets must first be collected and
made available in the NSDI Clearinghouse. Users need metadata to determine
whether a data set is useful for their purposes and to be aware of any
special stipulations about processing and interpreting the data.
Accordingly, OMB Circular A- 11 required that all federal data sets with a

replacement value exceeding $1 million be documented in FGDC metadata and
the metadata be accessible and searchable in the NSDI Clearinghouse
network by February 10, 2003.

 Encouraging greater coordination among federal, state, and local
agencies. To support this objective, a process has been established to
coordinate Geospatial One- Stop*s activities across these various
government levels. According to the project*s cooperating states
coordinator, eight federal agencies are participating in developing and
implementing the initiative. In addition, an intergovernmental board of
directors was established with two- thirds of the vote held by state,
local and tribal representatives. The purpose of the board was to help
ensure collaboration among potential stakeholders from all government
sectors. According to the National States Geographic Information Council*s
(NSGIC) representative, state, county, and municipal levels of government

13 Metadata is information describing the content, quality, condition, and
other characteristics of data.

Page 13 GAO- 03- 874T

are well represented and play a useful role in providing alternative views
about the direction of the initiative. 14 While Geospatial One- Stop*s
objectives are important, they do not

represent a significantly new or different approach to the GIS integration
problem that the government has been struggling with for more than a
decade. First, while developing and implementing an Internet portal may
offer users additional functionality over the existing Clearinghouse,
unless the underlying geospatial data offered through the portal are
standardized across data providers, the additional functionality offered
by the portal may be of limited value. Second, the objective of finalizing
the seven framework standards, while

important, is limited. As I discussed earlier, a total of 34 data themes
was identified in OMB Circular A- 16 as a necessary foundation for the
NSDI. Geospatial One- Stop*s objectives do not include plans to address
any of the remaining 27 themes. Before the broader vision of a unified
nationwide network of geospatial data and systems can be achieved,
standards for all of NSDI*s foundation data themes will need to be
established. Further, definition of the standards is only the first step
in gaining their benefits; Geospatial One- Stop has not yet addressed the
challenge of gaining consistent implementation of the standards across
government, which I have already discussed. In order to attain the broader
vision of seamless integration of GIS data on a nationwide basis, a
longer- term effort will be required.

Third, creating a complete and useful inventory of federal data holdings
will require much more substantial work than is planned through the
Geospatial One- Stop initiative. For example, according to the FGDC
Metadata Coordinator, the extent to which agencies have posted metadata
about their geospatial data sets is unknown. In addition, obtaining

complete metadata from all federal sources is likely to be very
challenging. If the metadata were not created when the data were
originally captured, they could be expensive and time- consuming to
generate after the fact, and agencies may not have resources available for
the effort. Accordingly, unless Geospatial One- Stop devotes more
resources to working with

14 The National States Geographic Information Council is an organization
of states that promotes the adoption and use of geographic information
technologies, including the NSDI and GOS. Members include state GIS
coordinators, senior state GIS managers, and

representatives from federal agencies, local government, the private
sector, academia and other professional organizations.

Page 14 GAO- 03- 874T

agencies on generating and posting metadata, its objective of creating an
inventory of federal data holdings may be delayed. Finally, despite the
creation of the Board of Directors, questions have been raised about the
breadth of participation in Geospatial One- Stop. The chair of the board
acknowledged that the small group of nonfederal representatives on the
board may not be able to speak for all the states and thousands of local
governments. It is also not known how well these representatives are
disseminating information about the initiative and encouraging
collaboration among the states and localities that are not directly
represented. As with the initiative*s other objectives, limited actions
have been taken aimed at achieving near- term results that only partially
address the broader objective of building the NSDI. To fully achieve that
broader objective, Geospatial One- Stop will need to better ensure that it
has coordinated with all relevant governmental entities and that they
understand the initiative and their role in it.

In summary, a coordinated nationwide network of geographic information
systems offers many opportunities to better serve the public, make
government more efficient and effective, and reduce costs. As a
sophisticated decision making tool, GIS provides the capability to
strengthen national security, enhance law enforcement, increase public
health, and protect the environment. However, to date, the potential of
GIS has not been fully realized. While steps have been taken to improve
the coordination of government GIS efforts, much more work still needs to
be done to round out a comprehensive set of standards and to ensure that
they are being broadly applied. Geospatial One- Stop, in particular, while
addressing useful near- term tasks, has not focused on the need for a
longer- term strategy for facing the challenges of implementing the NSDI.

While it may be appropriate for many systems, especially at the state and
local level, to retain non- standard approaches to geospatial data
collection and analysis, priority should now be given to ensuring that the
federal government promotes common GIS standards wherever practicable,
facilitates participation by all stakeholders, and as a result reduces
redundant systems and data collection efforts. Adoption of a core set of
framework standards by the GIS community should lay the groundwork for
achieving the goals of the NSDI. However, additional work may be needed.
Existing draft standards may need revision to accommodate the needs of
major federal agency users, and more extensive coordination efforts may be
required to ensure broad adoption at all levels of government. Further,
the effort is likely to require a continuing effort over

Page 15 GAO- 03- 874T

an extended period of time, due to the fact that significant investments
have already been made in existing non- standard systems, and the task of
replacing those systems and migrating their data to new standards cannot

be accomplished overnight. Nevertheless, we believe that until these
challenges are addressed, the goal of a single, coordinated, nationwide
system of geospatial data will remain out of reach.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer
any questions that you or other members of the subcommittee may have at
this time.

If you should have any questions about this testimony, please contact me
at (202) 512- 6240 or via E- mail at koontzl@ gao. gov. Other major
contributors to this testimony included Shannin Addison, John de Ferrari,
Sophia Harrison, and Elizabeth Roach. Contact and

Acknowledgements

Page 16 GAO- 03- 874T

Agency Description

Natural Resources Conservation Service (Department of Agriculture)
Geospatial Data Gateway provides easy and consistent access to natural
resource data by geographic area such as county or state. Users can search
for data by theme, such as digital

ortho imagery, digital elevation models, or soils. National Cartography
and Geospatial Center (Department of Agriculture)

NCGC Internet Mapping offers Web access to view samples of hydrography,
digital orthophotography, digital topographic data, and other integrated
data layers.

Fort Sill (Department of the Army) Integrated Training Area Management GIS
program provides training area maps, contour maps, and environmental
coordination maps at a desired scale to installation personnel for use in
management and training activities. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (Department of Commerce)

NOAA makes extensive use of a GIS to store the large quantity of data it
collects. For example, the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and the
Alaska Fisheries Science Center collect a wealth of data about the
physical and biological characteristics of the Bering Sea and the Gulf of
Alaska, which are then stored in a GIS. U. S. Census Bureau (Department of
Commerce) Provides online maps based on Census data that can be
manipulated in many different ways. National Aeronautical and Space
Administration & National Imagery and Mapping Agency (Department of
Defense)

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission employs a specially modified radar system
to capture the elevation data, synthetic aperture radar, and single- pass
radar interferometry. The objective of this project is to produce digital
topographic data for 80% of the Earth*s land surface.

National Imagery and Mapping Agency (Department of Defense) Provides
timely, accurate, global aeronautical, topographical, and maritime,
geospatial

information in support of national security objectives. National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (Department of Energy) GIS site provides dynamically
generated maps of renewable energy resources that determine

which energy technologies are viable solutions in the United States. These
maps include GIS Clean Cities Map, Wind Map, Transportation Technologies
Map, Map of Indian Lands, Solar Maps, and Federal Energy Management
Program Maps. Los Alamos National Laboratory (Department of Energy) GISLab
supplies geospatial information for internal and external users of
geospatial data. Current projects include fire- related spatial data,
floodplain mapping and hydrological

modeling, field mapping for forest management, and mesoscale climate
change modeling. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Department of
Health and Human Services)

Uses GIS to provide maps and data on public health issues in the United
States. Federal Emergency Management Agency (Department of Homeland
Security)

Provides a full range of GIS services to all FEMA program offices which
include storm tracking and damage prediction maps, remote sensing maps,
maps of federally declared counties in an affected state, basic census
demographics about an affected area by county and census block, street
locations, and summaries of teleregistered and service center applicants,
housing inspection numbers, Help- line calls, disaster unemployment
claims, Small Business Administration applicants, etc. Department of
Housing and Urban Development & the Environmental Protection Agency

E- Maps combines information on HUD*s community development and housing
programs with EPA*s environmental data to provide location, type, and
performance of HUD- funded activities in every neighborhood across the
country and select EPA information on brownfields, hazardous wastes, air
pollution and waste water discharges. US Geological Survey (USGS)
(Department of the Interior) Provides a site that serves as a node of the
National Spatial Data Infrastructure for finding and

accessing USGS spatial data related to hydrography. Bureau of Land
Management (Department of the Interior) Uses GIS to store and analyze
public land and administrative jurisdiction information. U. S. Forest
Service (Department of Agriculture) Uses GIS to provide information on
vegetation, water, fire, and soil for specified forests. National Park
Service (Department of the Interior) Strives to have a comprehensive
automated information system for each national park that will

integrate spatial (geographic) and tabular data from a variety of sources
to enable modeling of real and theoretical situations for managing all
park resources. Justice Programs Office for Victims of Crime (Department
of Justice) Uses GIS to map crime victim services.

Attachment I: Examples of Federal Geographic Information System (GIS)
Activities

Page 17 GAO- 03- 874T

Agency Description

Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Department of
Transportation) Uses GIS to identify data such as county boundaries,
roadways, and railroads, measure ambient noise levels, search for
locations such as historic beacon sites and environmental

data. The Environmental Protection Agency The EPA provides a wide variety
of spatial data such as information regarding air, water, land,

deposition, emissions, climate, sensitive resources, and demographics to
support environmental analysis and uses GIS to aid decision- making.
Tennessee Valley Authority Provides an interactive map of the entire TVA
power system, a network of reservoirs and

power plants. (310370)

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