WiscLinc subtitle

WIGICC Partners and Participants

Ad hoc WIGICC Working Group

Wisconsin's Geographic Information Officer (GIO) assembled the WIGICC working group to begin initial activities toward the establishment of a Wisconsin Geographic Information Coordination Council (WIGICC). Selection of the initial working group was based on involvement in the initial grant activities (States' GIT Governance Reports), knowledge and experience with previous GIS governance efforts in the state, and expressed interest to the GIO regarding coordination of council development. This working group will be expanded to include the state, county, municipal, tribal and private sector representation and be responsible for guiding the process culminating in the Council formation.

Ted Koch, Chair Wisconsin State Cartographer (SCO), Co-Chair Education/State
David Mockert Director - State and Local Practice, GeoAnalytics Private
Tony BellovaryGIS Coordinator, Bay Lake Regional Planning Commission Regional
David FodrocziPlanning and Zoning Director, Saint Croix County County
Jodi Helgeson
Land Information Officer/Register of Deeds, Adams County County
Lisa MorrisonGIS Coordinator, WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer ProtectionState
Kenneth Parsons Chief, GIS Service Section, WI Department of Natural Resources State
Lea ShanleyLAND INFORMATION & COMPUTER GRAPHICS FAC, UW-Madison Education
Steve Ventura Professor, UW-Madison Education
D. David Moyer D.D. Moyer & Associates/ Retired National Geodetic Survey/ UW-Madison Emeritus Education/ State/ Private
Brian JensenProject Manager, GeoDecisions Private
Dick VragaNSDI Partnership Liaison, US Geological Survey Federal

The working group recognizes that engaging a wide range of stakeholders is essential to the creation and operation of WIGIC. We believe that collaboration and participation fostered by this process will lead to enduring public and private partnerships, leading to improved coordination and efficiency of geospatial activities in Wisconsin.

We would like to encourage anyone who has comments on how a coordination council should be formed and structured to contact us throughout this project. If you have comments, insights, or stories you would like to contribute, we will be happy to receive them.

Partnering Organizations

Participant Organizations in this Council planning effort include:

  • Wisconsin Geographic Information Office (GIO). The GIO has the responsibility to coordinate Wisconsin’s geospatial information activities, to implement standards to facilitate interoperability of information related to homeland security, to make recommendations on awarding grants to fund geospatial data, and to create information sharing agreements with state, local and tribal governments.


  • Wisconsin State Cartographer's Office (SCO). The SCO is a unit within the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With an outreach mission, the SCO gathers, maintains and disseminates information about mapping activities and geospatial data in the state.


  • Land Information & Computer Graphics Facility (LICGF) - University of Wisconsin-Madison. LICGF provides research, training, and outreach in the use of land and geographic information systems while focusing on land records modernization, land and natural resource management applications, and the use of information for land-use decision-making.


  • National Geodetic Survey (NGS). The NGS, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has been an active participant in Wisconsin's land information system (LIS) modernization efforts since the mid-1980s. NGS serves as the lead federal agency for the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee that has produced the Multipurpose Land Information System (MPLIS Guidebook) that has been used by many local governments in Wisconsin to guide their LIS activities over the past two decades. Through their State Geodetic Advisor program, NGS continues to support Wisconsin's LIS activities in developing and maintaining the horizontal and vertical geodetic network, transfer of technology to state and local partners in the State, and in development of the Wisconsin Geographic Information Council whose duties will include guidance of Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP) activities.


  • United States Geologic Survey (USGS). The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Geospatial Programs Office (NGPO) is an active participant in the development of the Wisconsin Geographic Information Council. The USGS has realigned the geospatial programs for which it has a leadership responsibility into a NGPO to serve the needs and interests of the geospatial community throughout the Nation. The emphasis of the NGPO will be to engage partners throughout the community in its planning and in ensuring that its activities meet the needs of those on the landscape. By connecting the components of The National Map (integrated base data), FGDC (coordination, policy, and standards), and Geospatial One-Stop (information discovery and access), and by embracing and communicating the message of the importance of the NSDI, the geospatial community and the Nation will realize the vision of “current and accurate geospatial data will be available to contribute locally, nationally, and globally to economic growth, environmental quality and stability, and social progress.”