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The information need Lakes and
Wetlands was identified as one of thirteen original
priority business information needs of
the MetroGIS community. Click here to view
the Business Object Framing Model Fragment for this information need.
Click here for further information about
MetroGIS's Business Information Needs initiative.
On October 29, 1999, MetroGIS and the Hydrology
Committee of the Minnesota Governor's Council on Geographic Information (GCGI)
co-hosted a User Needs Assessment Workshop. Twenty-seven individuals,
representing both the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area and greater
Minnesota, participated in the all-day session to identify priority
hydrographic feature needs and data specifications based upon their needs. A
summary of the participants, topics discussed, and conclusions is presented in
the User Needs Assessment "Turnaround"
Document.
Little activity has occurred since direction was received from the
MetroGIS Coordinating Committee at its September 17th, 2003 meeting regarding
this information need. Currently, proposed state-level standards by the
Hydrology Committee of the Governor's Council on Geographic Information for
Watercourse and Basins have been adopted, and Watershed is been drafted.
MetroGIS solutions for lakes and wetlands should fit into the State standards.
At the same time, a partnership between the Metropolitan Mosquito Control
District (MMCD), The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Metropolitan
Council (MC) was established to update the U.S. National Wetland Inventory data
for the metropolitan region. Additionally, the Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources has updated their "Public Waters" inventory for the region with the
assistance of the MMCD and MC. At this time, the Committee has authorized the
creation of a workgroup to assess the
applicability of State standards and other regional data collection efforts for
a regional solution. The Metropolitan Council's Environmental Services has
stepped forward to help lead the review and develop strategies to accommodate
any desired modifications and assure that any changes will integrate with State
data.
- To be determined. No dataset has been officially endorsed by MetroGIS
to address this information need.
A central part of MetroGIS's work is to identify common information needs of GIS users in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan Area and facilitate the policy and data specifications needed to address each of these common information needs.
An investigation to understand these common needs was conducted by MetroGIS from September 1996 to March 1997. The result of this study was the identification of thirteen priority common information needs of the MetroGIS community. Since that time, a priority function of MetroGIS has been to facilitate the development and/or assembly of regional datasets needed to address each of these common information needs.
Each information need is addressed through a replicable process. In general, the process begins by assembling a team of content experts and through a facilitated group process (Peer Review Forum), the team begins with the business object framing model fragment to identify dataset(s) required to meet the information need. In some cases, this process takes place in a forum of content experts and in other cases it is not such a formalized process because the dataset(s) that meet the information need are intuitively recognized.
Once the dataset(s) required to meet an information need is identified, a working group of content experts is created to:
- Refine the desired specifications identified at the Peer Review Forum,
- Identify desired data standards and guidelines,
- Identify desired roles and responsibilities for the custodian organization(s) - organizations responsible for data creation, maintenance, documentation, and distribution; and,
- Identify candidate custodial organizations that have a business need and appropriate expertise to carry out the desired roles and responsibilities.
The process is complete when the Policy Board has adopted, as policy for the MetroGIS community, parameters defined through the stated tasks. The parameters are posted on a Web page for each “MetroGIS endorsed regional dataset”. Once an endorsed dataset is operational, MetroGIS monitors user satisfaction to continually enhance it.
To learn more, please see the About Information Needs page and the pages for each endorsed regional dataset.
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