The Arizona Geographic Information Council is circulating a draft Blueprint for Geospatial Data Sharing Policy in Arizona. Yeah, this is pretty geeky, but it's long overdue and could offer tremendous resources and opportunities for agencies, businesses, and the public.The policy addresses recent changes in state statutes that in my opinion, had hindered Arizona for the previous decade. Although well intentioned, laws passed early on to require agencies to collect fees for commercial use of government data, effectively stymied agencies because they couldn't figure out how to enforce the statutes, and businesses didn't know what the costs of data would be.
The Legislature changed the laws two years ago, putting Arizona more in line with the rest of the country, and industry. As for what innovators might be able to do with all this geospatial data (ie, any information with a location associated with it), think about what businesses are doing with Google Earth and Google Maps.
The draft policy addresses sensitivity (confidentiality) levels of data, data steward, integrator and custodian roles, metadata, configuration options for sharing geospatial data on the Web, and guidelines for sharing data on the Web.
"The mission of AGIC is to coordinate the development and management of geographic information in Arizona. The vision of AGIC is to facilitate the provision of credible, timely and accurate geographic information for widespread use by decision-makers and the citizens of Arizona. Sharing geospatial data reduces duplication of effort and cost among agencies, is necessary to fulfill public records requests and promotes good government."
This isn't geeky, it's fabulous! (OK, it is geeky, but fabulously so.) Great idea!
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