Government Technology - October 2008 - (Page 44)

GIS j j Synopsis: The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) organizes a strategic plan for statewide GIS coordination. Florida is “lagging behind” other states’ efforts, but it has widespread regional efforts and a large base of GIS professionals. S TAT E | L O C A L | F E D E R A L Florida Division of Emergency Management spearheads new statewide GIS strategic plan. ometimes out of a crisis comes opportunity. The active Atlantic hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 — eight hurricanes impacted Florida, killing 208 residents — spurred government officials to improve everything from weather forecasting to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s chain of command. In Florida, post-storm data analysis illustrated how better statewide coordination of geospatial information during the hurricanes likely would have saved more lives and enhanced emergency managers’ efforts to evacuate part of the state’s 19,500 square miles of coastal zone. The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) initially took the lead in formulating a statewide GIS strategic plan. “Our director, Craig Fugate, has a pretty simple charge: In the absence of leadership, become one,” said Richard Butgereit, GIS administrator of the FDEM. In 2007, the Federal Geographic Data Committee awarded the FDEM a grant to develop strategic and business plans for statewide geospatial data coordination in support of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure’s (NSDI) Fifty States Initiative, an effort to mesh states’ coordinated efforts with the federal government. To put together the strategic plan, the FDEM hired Fugro EarthData Inc., a geospatial products and services company, which reached out to 1,000 Florida GIS professionals for input. The final version of the strategic plan was published in April. “I was surprised about the almost ubiquitous support for coordination activities because I expected some resistance from the GIS community,” said Fugro EarthData Vice President Martin Roche. B Y M A T T W I L L I A M S | A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R Agency: FDEM. Technology: GIS. Contact: Richard Butgereit, GIS administrator, FDEM, richard.butgereit@ em.myflorida.com. PHOTO BY MARK WOLFE/ FEMA S Together Right Playing Catch-Up If implemented programmatically, Florida’s statewide GIS coordination plan urges several major improvements, including: creating a new Geospatial Programs Office staffed with a full-time GIS coordinator; expanding upon geospatial data “stewardship” programs; and Though there’s broad support for cooperation, the state’s strategic plan indicates Florida still lags behind other states’ coordination efforts. In addition, the state won’t be able to implement the strategic plan’s recommended goals without sustained funding from the Florida Legislature. Come Now creating a statewide Geographic Information Council made up of respected professionals. In addition, the plan calls for sustaining and expanding the state’s public data clearinghouses that are currently located at the University of Florida and Florida State University. As it now stands, there’s confusion within Florida’s GIS community about where to find specific data layers, and the structure needs to be formalized and consolidated, Butgereit said. As he explained it, Florida should hang onto its existing resources and build “a new lobby” to access the data. “Some of the state agencies are providing data online,” Butgereit said. “Some universities are definitely working to provide data OCT_08 44 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - October 2008

Government Technology - October 2008 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Letters Cover Stories: Border Crossing The Australian E-Connection Easy Rider Northern Exposure Technology on the Cheap Ditching the Desktop Heightening the Experience Pipe Dream Falling Between the Cracks Come Together, Right Now... It's a ... Car? Digital State of the Art Spectrum Products Two Cents signal:noise

Government Technology - October 2008

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