New York State Office of Cyber Security
Geographic Information Systems Clearinghouse
NYS Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Coordination Program
Where we came from:In March of 1996, the NYS Temporary Geographic Information Systems Council issued a report that examined the issues regarding geographic information in NYS and made several recommendations to improve New York's competitive position through the use of GIS. The Office for Technology (OFT) was asked to implement the recommendations and to place emphasis on the needs of local governments. OFT began the process by meeting with local governments, state agencies and the private sector. Based on feedback from these meetings, a technology policy was issued in September '96 that established the NYS GIS Coordination Program. OFT ensured that the program had broad participation (120 volunteers from private sector, federal, state, and local governments from across the state) |
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Graphic
of GIS Key to Competitiveness
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Work groups met regularly and volunteers created the State's first GIS Clearinghouse. This clearinghouse grew from one page to an award winning "one stop" place to find GIS information composed of 1,600 files & 31,000 links and a metadata repository that allows users to search for GIS data both within NYS and around the world. A data-sharing framework was created called the NYS GIS Data Sharing Cooperative. The Cooperative is currently composed of over 300 members from government and not-for-profits and is the "center piece" of our methodology for data sharing in the State. |
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Graphic
of the GIS Clearinghouse Home Page
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In
1998, the first GIS datasets from the Cooperative were placed on-line.
That year 8,500 datasets were downloaded valued at $2,000,000. In 2000,
more than 300,000 datasets valued at over $12,000,000 were
distributed.
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Graphic
of the Increase in Data Sharing
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At the request of local government, the Education Work Group produced an Executive Briefing Paper. Additional papers were completed in 1998 on Cost Benefit Analysis and in 2000 on "GIS: The Wave of the Future for Information Analysis" by James Natoli. GIS metadata training was conducted for over 400 individuals in 10 cities across the State. (This training was also placed available on-line.) A GIS communication network was established through the use of an electronic List Serve. In 1998, GIS Legislation was drafted to encourage data sharing by permitting licensing of GIS data. In 2000 it was introduced in the legislature. |
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In 1999, the first NYS GIS newsletter was published. It is published twice a year and is available on-line. In 1999, an electronic GIS calendar of events was created. In 1999, the Finance Work Group completed a directory for local governments entitled "Sources of GIS Funding." This directory provided a listing and description of potential sources government and private sources for GIS funding. |
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Graphic
of the Fall/Winter 2000 GIST Newsletter
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In 2000, a GIS Internet mapping application was introduced on-line that provided easy on-line access to digital orthophotography. This was the first application of its kind in the country to deliver this kind of digital orthophotography. |
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Image
of the Digital Orthoimagery Application
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Where we're going:In December 2000, OFT opened the NYS Center for Geographic Information. Its primary functions will be to develop integrated GIS framework data; facilitate GIS use in State and local governments; and provide assistance to the GIS Coordination Program. Ultimately, its goal is to enable GIS use by government business managers in order to improve business processes and everyday decision-making. |
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Graphic
of the GIS Coordination Program
Organizational Chart |
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The Center will be responsible for upgrading and integrating GIS framework data to improve its quality and usability. Included in this will be updated Digital Orthophotography for New York; a dataset for local roads and addresses that will be tied to the statewide DOT roads files; digital soils information for the entire State; and other framework layers needed by all GIS users. |
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Graphic
of GIS Layers
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| The Center will also redesign the GIS Clearinghouse to improve its accessibility to users. Included in this will be the development of a spatial data warehouse to improve the delivery of GIS data for the State's e-Commerce/e-Government Initiative as well as to users across the State. The long-term direction will provide easy access to GIS data for government agencies and limit the need to purchase commercial or recreate existing data. The spatial data warehouse will also eliminate the need for government agencies to have to purchase storage capacity for large data sets while new e-Government applications make the technology easier to use for the average government decision maker. | |
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The Center will be responsible for developing the map-NY portion of the Governor's e-Commerce/e-Government. This will not only provide citizens with the ability to search for government services geographically, but it will also provide them with the capability of finding out more about numerous economic, cultural, educational and recreational opportunities that New York State has to offer. The Center will make GIS training available to State and local governments through workshops given across the State as well as on-line and distance learning training. The Center will also work to improve GIS communication by establishing network of GIS contacts in State and local government as well as academia and the private sector. In addition, it will provide a GIS liaison for State and local government to meet to discuss GIS issues relative to them. The Center will undertake a pilot project to provide an on-line GIS Help Desk to members of the NYS GIS Data Sharing Cooperative. In addition, it will provide a searchable database of respondents' questions and the respective answers that will be accessible to all visitors to the Clearinghouse. |
Significant GIS Initiatives:
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 Digital Orthoimagery of Nassau County |
 GIS Training on Long Island |
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NYS
Map NY Page
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