A Need and a Demand for a Wisconsin Geographic Information Coordination Council

Wisconsin's geographic information - a shared state resource - has been maintained through whatever funding and staffing can be cobbled together, and often through ad hoc agreements between organizations. Currently, there is no systematic, institutionalized, statewide approach to developing, maintaining, and accessing this shared data infrastructure. This largely haphazard approach has resulted in organizations basing decisions upon geographic information that are not current or complete, and in redundant and uncoordinated efforts to create or maintain data. This lack of accurate, accessible and standardized geographic information hinders effective service delivery, limits options for developing operational efficiencies, and impedes the use of geographic information in priority setting and in responding to public needs.

Creation of a Wisconsin Geographic Information Coordination Council (WIGICC) provides a new opportunity for geographic information governance and sharing. While building on a long history of cooperative geographic information activities in the state achieved through the Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP), this effort will develop a new model that is appropriate for the times and mitigates some of the deficiencies of previous arrangements. The overarching objective for the creation of the Council is to give all stakeholder groups within the geographic information community a voice in the decision making process regarding statewide initiatives. WIGICC will facilitate the coordination of previously disconnected efforts at the state and local levels to provide data sharing, standardization, and collaboration. This statewide coordination will better situate Wisconsin for emergency preparedness and response, economic competitiveness, public health delivery, environmental management, educational opportunities, and efficient delivery of services to the public.

Federal Grant

This project is funded by a grant to the state Geographic Information Office (GIO), Wisconsin Department of Administration, from the U.S. Geological Survey under the Fifty States Initiative, a project of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). Support for this initiative also comes from the National Sates Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), of which Wisconsin is a member.

The project's activities reside under the state Geographic Information Officer (GIO), who functions as a single point of coordination within state government. The goal of this project is to create and establish the Wisconsin Geographic Information Coordination Council. The USGS grant has been used to retain the services of a consulting firm, Collaborative Initiative, which will facilitate most of the "Listening Sessions" as well as the "Governance Summit" for the project, in cooperation and coordination with the ad hoc WGICC Working Group.

Project activities include the following:

• Research and Report on other State's Councils - completed
• Solicit input from stakeholders through Listening Sessions
• Define scope, composition and function of Council
• Create a draft charter for the Council
• Promote Council concept
• Formalize Council via Executive Order or legislative action
• Formation and meeting

Wisconsin has received two previous CAP grants. The first (2004) aimed at coordination efforts and resulted in a workshop that served to educate and network the GIS community, identify goals, and obtain volunteers to work on next steps. Workshop presentations and results are available.

The second CAP grant (2005) administered through the Wisconsin Land Information Association (WLIA) was applied to develop a statewide GIS strategic plan for the State of Wisconsin. At the time of the award of the 2006 CAP grant, the statewide strategic planning effort was beginning. This effort culminated in the creation of the Statewide GIS Strategic Plan in January of 2007.