New York State Office of Cyber Security
Geographic Information Systems Clearinghouse
GIS Partnership Summary
New York Ocean and Great Lakes Atlas
Partnership Purpose and Goal
Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) Article 14 - the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act (Act) created the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council (Council) made up of nine state organization heads (Department of Environmental Conservation – Chair, Department of Agriculture and Markets, Department of Transportation, Empire State Development, NYS Energy and Research Development Authority, Office of General Services, Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, State University of New York and Department of State – Executive Director). Section 14-0111, part 4 of the Act calls for creation of "...an ocean and coastal resources atlas to make information available to the public and decision makers".
Recognizing that this task was too big to be tackled by one entity, Department of State, Division of Coastal Resources (DCR), acting as staff to the Council, established a Technical Working Group (TWG) made up of GIS representatives from Council member agencies. In coordination with the TWG DCR staff has been working on developing this Atlas since January 2007, including data collection efforts, application development and infrastructure to deliver the application via the internet.
Participants and Resource Contributions
- NOAA Coastal Services Center – expertise, contract administration, data creation (statewide land cover)
- NOAA Office of Coastal Resources Management - Funding
- NYS Department of Environmental Conservation* – Council member, active partner, guidance, portal code
- Department of Agriculture and Markets* – Council member, active partner, guidance
- Department of Transportation* - Council member, active partner, guidance
- Empire State Development* – Council member, active partner, guidance
- NYS Energy and Research Development Authority* - Council member, active partner, guidance
- Office of General Services* – Council member, active partner, guidance
- Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation* – Council member, active partner, guidance
- Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination* –expertise, application code, guidance
- State University of New York* – Council member, active partner, guidance
- Department of State* - Council member, active partner, project coordination and management, hardware, software & contractual services acquisition
- The Tug Hill Commission* – data portal pilot
- The South Shore Estuary Reserve Council – Coordination, fieldwork for data collection, beta testing
- The Nature Conservancy* – data, guidance, pilot portal
- Pitney Bowes-MapInfo – software
- ESRI – software, expertise
- Stone Environmental – Data collection, data improvement/preparation, portal developers, report writing, project implementors
- Troy Web – application development
- Light & Power Media – web application hosting
- PhotoScience – Data creation (benthic habitat mapping)
- Numerous data creators, custodians, providers - data
- Numerous Stakeholders – beta testing and feedback
*NYS GIS Data Sharing Cooperative Member
Time Frame
Date Partnership
Began: January 2007
Completion Date: On-going
Deliverables
A viable web mapping application that delivers information on ocean and coastal resources to the public and decision makers. Currently more than 200 data sets are available to the public and can be downloaded in formats suitable for MapInfo and ESRI products, or directly into GoogleEarth. Eventually over 1000 datasets will be available. Updated versions of the Atlas developed via continuing partnership will allow easier data searches, easier accessibility to information through open source formats such as WMS & WFS, and provision of analytical tools through Web Application Services WAS.
Brief Summary of Partnership
Council staff serves as project coordinators and managers, the Technical Working Group is the primary guiding group, and partners are reached out to for support based on projects needs and goals. Each partner serves a critical and defined role based on expertise.
OGLAtlas is an ideal example of working partnerships. Success seen with this effort is due to clear definition of:
- Roles. Partners are aware of expectations and responsibilities.
- Goal. There is a common, tangible goal that the effort is working towards.
- Single coordinating entity. While everyone has a voice in this effort, Council staff takes responsibility for coordinating the combined contributions by partner groups and therefore eliminating confusion in direction or process.
- Willingness to participate. Each partner sees the value and is willing to participate in the process, leading to a smoother and more successful process.
- Expertise. Partner’s willingness to share their expertise and knowledge enables this effort to push technological boundaries in order to create a better product.
Benefits resulting from partner collaboration include: collection and organization of data, increase in data sharing and availability, and ability to do more simply by sharing resources and ideas. Also, through these partnerships additional collaboration may occur as a result of an increase understanding of the skills, knowledge and expertise within different organizations.
Additional Information Available On-line
http://ww.nyoglecc.org
http://www.nyoglatlas.org
Primary Contact Information
Jeffrey L. Herter
Assistant Bureau Chief
Natural Resources Bureau
Office of Coastal Resources
NYS Department of State
1 Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Ave
Albany, NY 12231 - 0001Phone: (518) 486 - 7942
E-mail: jeff.herter@dos.state.ny.us
Primary Contact Information
Rebecca Newhall
Ecosystem-based Management Research & Development Project Coordinator
New York Ocean & Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council
99 Washington Street
Albany, NYPhone: (518) 486 - 7736
Fax: (518) 473 - 2464
E-mail: Rebecca.newhall@dos.state.ny.us