Connecting Our World

U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)

Advancing the Geospatial Capabilities for the Nation
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The NSDI leverages investments in people, 

technology, data, and procedures to create 

and provide the geospatial knowledge 

required to understand, protect, and 

promote our national and global interests.

Our world is increasingly complex and 

interconnected. Humanity is challenged with 

understanding and adjusting to ever-changing 

economic, environmental, and social factors. 

Sustainable and innovative solutions depend 

on reliable information, understanding, and 

informed decision making.

Geographic information is a universal language 

that helps us intuitively understand and 

interpret conditions, events, relationships, 

and patterns. It provides key information and 

context that helps define, influence, and guide 

our decisions and actions.

Whether it is understanding unfamiliar 

environments, determining the best route 

to a destination, or performing long-term 

planning to enhance community resilience, the 

components of the NSDI are behind the scenes 

with the infrastructure to deliver data, tools, and 

information to people.

What is the NSDI?

The NSDI provides a place-based framework 

for connecting public and private data for 

understanding and decision making.

A national framework for sharing place-based 

information.

Our 

Connection

The evolution of the NSDI 

framework pioneers 

place-based innovation for: 

• Collaborative Partnerships

• Spatial Data Assets

• Shared Spatial Services 

and Tools

• Interoperable Infrastructure

NSDI – A Place-Based National Framework

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Using spatial data, tools, and models to 

understand our ever-evolving world provides 

a worldwide recognized value. Place-based 

information is stimulating a local to global 

trillion dollar industry, bringing new jobs, 

transforming organizations, and spurring market 

competition. Our Nation is a global leader in 

the creation and dissemination of place-based 

assets and information.

How will the NSDI shape our future?

Our Nation’s economic, social, and environmental 

future depends on the sound use of resources. 

The NSDI’s connective framework, provided 

by the NDSI Strategic Plan, implements a 

collaborative, community-based model for 

sharing knowledge, data, technologies, and 

standards that benefit our Nation. This aligns 

investments, coordinates acquisitions, shares 

tools, and drives innovation to support decision 

making. In turn, this increases opportunities to 

fuel economic growth and advantages for the 

United States.

The NSDI advances a future driven by 

place-based information services.

The NSDI’s 

Connected 

Vision

Public and private sectors, 

academia, non-profit 

organizations, and communities 

are working together to create 

and share data, knowledge 

and technologies.

Place-Based Services for an Evolving World

NGDA

Geospatial

Platform

Standards

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Social Networks
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Communities are made up of people brought 

together by common factors. These include:

• A physical community with a common place, 

such as a town

• A virtual community addressing a common 

issue, such as drought in the western states

• A service- or business-focused community 

with a common purpose such as emergency 

management or real estate parcel discovery 

that relies on addresses

Where does my community fit in?

NSDI stakeholders throughout the U.S., from 

government to academia and the private sector, 

can be both contributors and consumers of 

NSDI place-based data and information. A 

wealth of knowledge and data can be shared 

across these diverse user communities to solve 

complex issues and strengthen decision making. 

Individuals and organizations can access these 

shared resources through the Geospatial 

Platform by joining an online community, 

adopting standards, and by participating in 

data and information exchange.

Communities and organizations are 

engaging in collaboration and use of 

shared NSDI resources.

Stakeholders representing these diverse user 

communities and organizations collaborate 

to advance the NSDI. The National Geospatial 

Advisory Committee (NGAC) provides 

advice and recommendations to the Federal 

government on national geospatial policy and 

management issues, and provides a forum to 

convey views representative of non-Federal 

stakeholders in the geospatial community. The 

NGAC includes representatives from all levels 

of government, the private sector, nonprofit 

organizations, and academia. Information about 

the NGAC is available at: www.fgdc.gov/ngac

Society is interconnected and interdependent. 

Local to global activities, events, and decisions 

affect us all, and bring new opportunities and 

challenges. The components of the NSDI enable 

people to work together as communities, sharing 

place-based information and tools to understand, 

prepare for and respond to challenges, and 

seize opportunities. This is how the U.S. National 

Spatial Data Infrastructure advances the 

geospatial capabilities for the Nation.

How do people and communities use the NSDI 

to leverage place-based information and tools?

The NSDI provides a rich set of spatial data, 

tools, and a supporting framework to facilitate 

and enable people to work together and 

collaborate as a community. The NSDI is based 

on the concept of interoperability. This helps 

users easily leverage resources being made 

available by others, and enables them to provide 

their own information and tools for others to 

use. It is a national cooperative framework.

An effective NSDI requires developing 

and utilizing partnerships that promote 

collaboration, cost-effectiveness, and 

interoperable solutions. These components 

are the key underpinnings of the NSDI.

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 

works collaboratively with non-Federal partners, 

communities, constituents, and professional 

bodies providing the enabling foundation of 

standards, data catalogs, partnerships, and tools 

that make up the NSDI.

The NSDI ensures that place-based data from 

multiple sources (Federal, state, local, and tribal 

governments, academia, and the private sector) 

are available and easily integrated to enhance the 

understanding of our physical and cultural world.

The NSDI provides a national, cooperative 

framework that allows access to data, tools 

and services. 

Connecting 

People and 

Communities Place-Based Information Links Communities

NSDI components will enable 

individuals and communities 

to connect to and leverage 

place-based information 

through: 

• Engagement

• Awareness 

• Education

• Crowdsourcing

• Citizen Science

• Virtual and in-person 

community mapping efforts

Successful implementation of 

the NSDI depends on a wellcoordinated effort among:

• Federal, state, tribal, and 

local governments

• Academic institutions

• Private sector businesses

• Non-profit organizations

• Information and technology 

providers and users
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Our Nation and the global community are 

generating and integrating a variety of place-based 

information at a phenomenal rate. Place-based 

data and information is growing as a national 

asset with unlimited potential for societal use. 

How do we harness this valuable asset? 

The NSDI public and private partnerships are 

building, managing, and sharing a topical placebased information catalog of national assets 

ready for use. This robust collection of geospatial 

datasets, called National Geospatial Data 

Assets (NGDAs), need to be complete, current, 

and accessible to support the critical business 

and mission requirements of the Federal 

government, its partners and stakeholders.

The NSDI framework continues to advance the 

discovery and accessibility of NGDAs and other 

place-based information by providing data 

services that connect data with the people who 

need it. The NSDI data services link past, present, 

and future place-based information providing 

local to global context.

NSDI enables and supports use of place-based 

information by: 

• Identifying, publishing, and discovering 

metadata for data discovery

• Connecting users to a network of partnerprovided data 

• Encouraging publication and sharing of data

• Providing access to a rich and diverse catalog 

of place-based information

• Integrating and harmonizing data 

Share trusted, accessible place-based data.

Implementing 

at the National 

Level Place-Based Data – Local to Global

The NSDI is a global leader in 

linking and providing placebased information. The NSDI 

catalog of public and private 

data provides a rich and diverse 

repository of local to global 

datasets.

Stakeholders from 

multiple levels of 

government, academia, 

and the private sector 

collaborate on the NSDI. 
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The economic, social and environmental well-being 

of our Nation and the world depends on the 

sound use of all our resources. The NSDI plays 

a vital role in helping us organize and deliver 

place-based information services.

To advance place-based understanding, we 

need to connect people, data, technology, 

and services. This transforms the way all 

organizations and nations address complex 

issues facing us now and in the future.

The NSDI continues to advance and accelerate 

the use of emerging place-based solutions that 

connect people, data, and technology. 

Together we will:

• Build local to global partnerships

• Expand access to place-based data

• Provide a platform to deliver products 

and services

• Encourage collaboration and innovation

The U.S. NSDI and its connections span and 

influence the world including:

• GSDI – Global Spatial Data Infrastructure

• ASDI – Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure

• GEO – Group on Earth Observations

• OGC – The Open Geospatial Consortium 

• SDI Standards – Spatial Data Infrastructure 

Standards

NSDI 

Connecting 

US to the 

World Place-Based Understanding

Our ability to harness the power of placed-based 

information relies on having access to a reliable, 

sustainable infrastructure to connect, share, and 

use data with local to global participants.

How will we connect and share place-based 

information? 

To efficiently share and deliver this diverse 

information, the NSDI has developed the Geospatial 

Platform portal (www.geoplatform.gov). It allows 

online co-creation of place-based resources for 

discovery, access, and use in response to the needs 

of diverse communities. The Geospatial Platform 

delivers new services and tools to participants 

with a need for place-based information.

The NSDI enables integration of emerging 

technologies that connects people, data, and 

technology through the Geospatial Platform 

to provide: 

• Place-based education

• Audience-based products and services

• Place-based community collaboration forums

• Visual solutions for understanding and 

decision making

• Applications, tools, and services

The Geospatial Platform – shared access 

to tools, applications, services and 

communities of interest.

Connecting 

Capabilities Place-Based Services

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The Geospatial Platform links 

people and communities 

of interest, and provides 

applications, tools, products 

and services. These services are 

accessed by local, national, and 

global users every day.

Federal, state, and local 

response to a hurricane requires 

timely coordinated action. The 

NSDI infrastructure ensures 

non-redundant data sharing 

among organizations with a 

common requirement. Time 

sensitive data can be collected 

and shared without recreating 

foundational information.
Help shape the future. 

Be a part of the community that’s advancing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. 

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is the U.S. interagency coordinating body for NSDI-related activities. Led 

by the Department of Interior and Office of Management and Budget, the FGDC is composed of representatives from the 

Executive Office of the President, Cabinet-level departments, and independent Federal agencies. The FGDC develops policies 

and partnerships to advance the development of the NSDI and promote Federal and national geospatial initiatives.

Images in this document were provided courtesy of DOI, USDA, DOE, USACE, FEMA, DOC, and NOAA.

For more information on how you can participate, please visit fgdc.gov and geoplatform.gov