196
March 2015
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
ASPRS
NEWS
COALITION OF GEOSPATIAL
ORGANIZATIONS (COGO) ANNOUNCES
THE RELEASE OF THE “REPORT CARD
ON THE U.S. NATIONAL SPATIAL DATA
INFRASTRUCTURE”
T
he Coalition of Geospatial Organizations
(COGO) announces the release of its
Report Card on the U.S. National Spatial Data
Infrastructure (NSDI)
that depicts the condition
and performance of the nation’s geospatial
“infrastructure” which includes surveyed,
mapped and remotely-sensed information.
The report card was developed by an expert panel chaired by The Honorable
James E. Geringer, former Governor of Wyoming, with Dr. David J. Cowen, John J.
Moeller, Dr. John D. Bossler, Susan Carson Lambert, The Honorable Tom D. Rust,
and The Honorable Robert T. Welch. COGO initiated this effort in 2009 by securing
the commitment of the expert panel members who worked on a volunteer basis to
produce this report.
As stated in the report’s foreword, COGO “recognizes the individual contributions
of all Federal, state, regional, tribal, and local government agencies that have
worked in concert with the private and academic sectors to develop the National
Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) as it exists today. This work has spanned entire
careers, and COGO applauds the sincerity of their efforts and the value of their
contributions.”
ASPRS is a member organization of COGO, with an overall representation of
approximately 170,000 individual geospatial practitioners. Together, the coalition
is delivering this assessment to help Congress, the Administration, Federal agency
executives, and others understand the importance of geospatial data to the nation, as
well as shortcomings of the NSDI.
Michael Vanhook, COGO Chairman, stated “Federal agencies have worked
for many years to improve their geospatial programs, but the COGO member
organizations believe that the national data sets and delivery systems (the NSDI)
generally need improvement. It is time for the Federal government to more
effectively engage the entire stakeholder community to ensure that America has the
highest quality geospatial infrastructure. Doing so will allow us to more efficiently
and effectively deal with society’s needs, and to reduce duplication of effort.”
The Report Card on the U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) may be
found here –
A coalition of 13 national professional societies, trade associations and membership
organizations in the geospatial field, COGO represents more than 170,000 individual
producers and users of geospatial data and technology. The stakeholder groups that
make up COGO speak with one voice wherever possible on geospatial data and policy
issues. In accordance with its operating procedures, COGO only takes public policy
positions with a unanimous vote of its member organizations.
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