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To: MetroGIS Coordinating Committee
From: MetroGIS Staff Support Team
Contact: Randall Johnson (651-602-1638)
Subject: Information Sharing – MetroGIS Related Activities
Date: September 18, 2000
(For the Sept 28th meeting)
Professional Services Contract Proposal – 2001-2002
Preparations are in progress to secure a professional services contract with one or more consultants to help
staff accomplish the following tasks for MetroGIS: update the MetroGIS Business Plan, design and implement MetroGIS
participant satisfaction evaluation, assist with evaluation of the regional parcel dataset pilot project and implement
next steps, and assist with special projects, as needed. This contract is anticipated in the MetroGIS work plan that
was endorsed by the Coordinating Committee in June and by the Policy Board in July. Staff’s goal is to prepare a
RFP, under direction of the Policy Advisory Team, and complete the selection process by year-end.
County Users Group Update
A GIS users group is operational in each of the seven counties. A contact with each was asked to provide a
summary of their activities. The following comments were received:
Anoka County:
Hosted its first GIS Data Fair on September 13th.
Carver County:
We are working on many different fronts down here...Our biggest project that we are working on is Automated
Mapping for the Sheriffs vehicles using MapObjects 2.0 which they will run on their laptop computers. We also have met
with the sheriffs dept and health services and have established a data sharing agreement between the two departments so
that we can use the data available in both departments for analysis.
Ramsey County:
The group’s Internet site is operational at
http://www.ramseyconservation.org/gisgroup.html.
Three additional items:
- We have a new membership level- paying affiliate. In a nutshell, the paying affiliate pays dues, but does
not sign a joint powers agreement. This gives them access to the County parcel data, physical features data, aerial
photography, and other benefits. This allows neighborhoods and other non-profit organizations to join.
- Ramsey county switched to a new property database, and we have been working with the County on the most
user friendly data extracts from the database. That has gone very well and everyone seems happy with the products.
- We have monthly meetings (1st Thursday of the month except for Oct) and try to have at least one
presentation of GIS at each meeting. That has been very successful and our attendance is increasing. The group’s
next meeting is Nov 2nd.
Scott County:
Preparing for next meeting on Oct 25th. A speaker is being sought to provide a better understanding of data
practices rules relevant to geospatial data and practices.
Presentation at National URISA and State GIS/LIS Conferences
David Arbeit, Will Craig, Gary Stevenson, and Randall Johnson presented a panel session at the National URISA
Conference on August 21st. The paper, written by David Arbeit, and the PowerPoint presentation are available in the
"Presentations" section of this website.
The URISA presentation will also be presented by the same panel at the MN State GIS/LIS Conference on October
5th at 10:30 AM.
Invitation to Speak to Memphis Area Data Sharing Collaborative
An invitation has been accepted to speak about MetroGIS on November 17th to a group of university, government,
and non-profit officials in the Memphis area. The invitation was received as a result of information shared about
MetroGIS at a June 8th ACCRA (American Chambers of Commerce Research Association) National Conference on in
Minneapolis. The Memphis area data sharing initiative would involve a twenty-county area in portions of three states.
Policy Board Chairperson Reinhardt and Randall Johnson, MetroGIS Staff Coordinator, will be representing MetroGIS.
CB-Richard Ellis Demonstrates Regional Parcel Dataset at National Conference
On September 5th, Steve Lehr, with CB-Richard Ellis, was a speaker at the CB Richard Ellis World Conference
attended by 2500 to 3000 commercial real estate brokers from around the world. Steve used several queries against the
seven-county regional parcel dataset to demonstrate the power of GIS to a breakout session attended by over 100 of his
colleagues from across the county. According to Steve, the session was very well received and he found that, although,
this dataset was created as quick first cut for evaluation purposes it is clearly leading edge in his community. Steve
has expressed his gratitude to David Claypool for coordinating the approval to use the data among all seven counties
and to the officials with each of the other six counties who agreed to provide him with the regional parcel dataset, at
no cost, for this presentation. He believes the granting of this provisional authorization to use the data, without a
lot of red tape, is as much of an accomplishment as the presentation itself.
National GeoData Alliance Initiative: Phase I Completed, Next Steps
Hennepin County Commissioner and MetroGIS Policy Board member Randy Johnson; Randall Johnson, MetroGIS Staff
Coordinator; and Steve Lehr, CB-Richard Ellis and member of the MetroGIS Private Sector Parcel Data Workgroup, served
as members of a national working group charged with identifying a national structure for a "bottom-up" organization to
connect the GeoData Community and within which to foster fruition of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).
The initiative is known as the GeoData Alliance (www.geoall.net)
The working group completed its task and Phase I of the GDA initiative on September 6-9. Attached is the
group’s final report. It includes a preamble for the creation of the proposed new-age organization along with a
purpose statement, 18 principles, and the proposed organizational concept. Phase II will involve a strong emphasis on
outreach and explanation of the benefits of participating, implementing a "registry" to link members, sponsoring
several demonstration projects, preparing a constitution and recruiting the leadership. A press release, which
summarizes the accomplishments of the work group, is available at www.GeoAll.net.
The potential of emerging "relationship engine" technology, such as described at NetDeva.com, will be
investigated to implement the proposed registry. (Note: MetroGIS staff will also ask the Technical Advisory Team to
investigate the applicability of this technology to enhance connectivity of MetroGIS stakeholders.) A panel session is
planned for the Mn GIS/LIS Conference on Wednesday, Oct. 5th at 3:30 p.m. to present the GDA Alliance
concept for discussion and comment.
MetroGIS’ guiding principles are very similar to several of those the proposed principles for the GeoData
Alliance. MetroGIS is also viewed as an example of the self-organizing, self-governing entities anticipated throughout
the country that would comprise the GeoData Alliance.
ESRI’s Geography Network Challenge
See http://www.esri.com/news/releases/01_3qtr/gncwinners.html
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