Montana Geographic Information Officer's Corner
April 2008
The GIS paradigm has shifted. Although the State of Montana has used spatial analysis in natural resources agencies for years, the viability of that model across all of State government is rapidly shifting. Google Earth, Homeland Security, pandemic tracking, network TV political analysis, GPS units in vehicles, and energy conservation are all inspiring ubiquitous public spatial services across all segments of society.
Given that environment, no longer is the concept of isolated pockets of spatial technologies and individual users acceptable. Organizations are moving to a federated approach, where data contributor and consumers alike work jointly in a collection of self-governing individuals and organizations that connect together through a central focal point.
This virtual federation can only be successful if there is the ability to locate (discover) data anywhere within the network and provide (deliver) that information to the consumer when, where and how they need it. There must be the capacity for all public and private information consumers to enter the network from any location and go directly to the 'best available source'. That is, the network must know exactly who has what data, the quality of that data, any restrictions on how the data may be used, and how to best acquire the information. The task of maintaining this metadata (i.e., registration, location, delivery, contents, etc.) is huge and provides the basis for the critical work of the State's GIS portal (Discovery Hub) operated by the State Library.
While the "where", "what does it look like" and "under what conditions" can be tackled via metadata and registration within the Discovery Hub, acquiring the information is best addressed through web-based services hosted by multiple Delivery Hubs - entities that pass the requested information from the data source (databases) to the front-end application requestors.
Therefore, the second fundamental building block is the use of Delivery Hubs to obtain data from the best available source(s) and deliver it to the front-end consumers. Each service must be registered, discoverable, interoperable, functional and scalable. Within the Federation, the State entity responsible for establishing Discovery and Delivery hub policies and standards, and for managing adherence to those directives, is the Base Map Service Center (Center).
So, what is the Montana Base Map Service Center? As stated previously, the concept of a federation allows data to be stored, retrieved and/or used from many locations; the role of the Center is to ensure that for State of Montana agencies this is accomplished in the most efficient and effective manner possible.
By designating one spatial focal point within State government with the GIO as its head, that part of the Federation begins to define and clarify roles and responsibilities, provide a decision-point for resolving issues, afford the State with a single contact point where individuals and organizations wanting information about GIS can go, and reduces costs while increasing information viability. The Center is the place where development of the State's long-term spatial direction occurs and is the primary statewide promoter for that vision, including facilitating the proliferation of spatial technologies to appropriate government business processes. It provides a central marketing arm for advocating the value of spatial tools to public issues, and is the group that can best advocate with public decision-makers for adequate, statewide geospatial funding.
Therefore, the Center is where the ultimate State of Montana GIS responsibility and authority resides; a single organization that sets State spatial policies and standards, has ultimate responsibility for the State's MSDI layers, brokers agreements between parties, is the primary advocate for spatial funding, resolves issues, and is the State of Montana's focal point for Federation activities.
Place Does Matter
- Robin Trenbeath, State of Montana Geographic Information Officer
