July 28, 2009
Last week the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on "Federal Geospatial Data Management." The committee, led by Rep. Jim Costa, heard testimony from federal and state government agencies, private industry and professional organization representatives. Our editors look at what was said and what the hearing may mean for the future.
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Show Notes
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| I wanted to let you know that I very much enjoyed your recent podcast on the testimony last week. One point I would add though is that the lack of a legal and policy framework with respect to spatial data is another major reason why redundancy exists and the NSDI is proving so difficult. Unfortunately, it is often easier and safer for a lawyer to say "no" rather than "yes", when asked to agree to a licensing agreement for spatial data because there are so many uncertainties associated with issues such as data ownership (such as what constitutes a derivative product), privacy (the government just released a report in which it acknowledges that privacy laws and regulations with respect to public data are inadequate), liability and even national security. This is particularly true when many times the lawyer does not know what spatial data is and how it is used. Susan mentioned “governance” in her testimony. However, I believe that governance means more than just making sure the right bodies are at the table. It means having a framework that encourages, rather than prohibits sharing. I do not think that exists today, and I am afraid that if it is not developed, or if it develops in a disjointed fashion, the technology will never reach its full potential. For what it is worth ... |
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| There is a framework that encourages sharing between service organizations at the State/Local level - Mutual Aid compacts. Mutual aid works between Fire/Emergency Services organizations - whatever trucks I can spare are yours, my friend, if and when you need them, and I assume you'll be doing the same for me. We agree to sort out the costs later, based on mutual standard fees. Virtually every community in America has such a binding legal agreement between it and its neighbors - and in some states, there are de jure documents that provide compensation back to providers who journey further. Now, this almost broke in CA earlier this summer when the state started handing out IOU's, but they worked it out. Mutual aid might be a good starting point... |
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