Advancing Statewide Spatial Data 

Infrastructures in Support of the National 

Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) 

Strategic Plan 

Guidelines 

For use by all stakeholders in the Geospatial Community

Produced for the Federal Geographic Data Committee 

(FGDC) to Support the Cooperative Agreements Program 

(CAP), Category 3: Fifty States Initiative 

Revised: May 2009 
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Advancing Statewide Spatial Data Infrastructures in Support 

of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) 

Strategic Plan Guidelines 

 For use by all Stakeholders in the Geospatial Community 

This document replaces the “Strategic Plan Template” (March 2006) that was produced 

by the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) under contract 

(05HQCN0034) to the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). This replacement 

version was produced under a contract: issued by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 

FGDC Secretariat 

Contract Number: 08HQCN0024 

Prime Contractor:

Subcontractors: 
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Foreword

Strategic planning is a critical process for articulating a shared vision, and for building 

the partnerships that are necessary for disparate organizations to work together on 

common goals. The key is to identify the business needs for geospatial data and 

services that are shared by many stakeholder groups. For instance, it is easy to 

envision that statewide orthoimagery acquired on a routine basis would be useful to 

almost all stakeholders in the geospatial community, as might be a widely accessible 

geocoding service. Effective planning is essential for moving collaborative programs 

forward and for gaining the required support for investments in your statewide spatial 

data infrastructure (SSDI). 

This project is part of the Fifty States initiative from the Federal Geographic Data 

Committee (FGDC), in close cooperation with the National States Geographic 

Information Council (NSGIC) and other stakeholders in the geospatial community. A 

core component of this Initiative is establishing more formal statewide geospatial 

coordination councils that will help to govern and complete the NSDI by enabling all 

stakeholders. The principal goals of this project are to: 

• Encourage implementation of statewide spatial data infrastructures through 

effective strategic and business planning efforts 

• Provide guidance on planning activities 

• Encourage the formation of partnerships and alliances that will improve planning 

process 

• Provide a uniform national framework for strategic and business plans, for 

comparative analysis to reveal national trends 

Several documents have been created to support the geospatial community in these 

planning efforts, including: 

• Strategic Plan Guidelines that provides a structure for “mapping” a clear path 

from present conditions to a vision for the future into a plan document. 

• Strategic Planning Process Map that divides the process of creating the 

strategic plan into five simple steps or phases that are each characterized by 

certain activities, tasks, and accomplishments. 

• Business Plan Guidelines that provides a detailed description of how goals and 

objectives will be achieved, along with the necessary justification for action. 

The Strategic and Business Plan Guidelines each include major section headings with 

key information and a series of questions that should be considered. Your planning 

team will determine which questions are applicable for their activities and use the 

answers to these questions to help draft an effective plan. This approach was 

developed, because “one size does not fit all” for these plans. However, the 

organizational structure of the main sections can and should be consistent with the 

Guidelines, even though the specific content of each section will vary for a variety of 

reasons, reflecting the differences in the organizations undertaking the plans. 

Using these Guidelines will help you navigate through the entire process of preparing 

high quality and effective strategic and business plans. By simply substituting terms 

such as “countywide” and “citywide” for “statewide,” the Guidelines should work well for 

most stakeholder groups. 
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Over the past three years, the states using these Guidelines have discovered that the 

“process” of working with people to create these plans, including the partnerships that 

are formed, may be more valuable than even the actual plans. Please make the process 

a valuable learning experience that leads to trust and new partnership opportunities. 
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STRATEGIC PLAN GUIDELINES 

A good strategic plan should provide a clear explanation of how one or more strategic 

goals are to be achieved by an organization or program. It typically outlines long-term 

goals and details the specific strategies and programmatic goals that are to be 

pursued. Areas of risk are analyzed and specific strategies for overcoming those risks 

are considered. The strategic planning process is iterative and maps a clear path 

between a present condition and a vision for the future. Revisiting the Strategic Plan to 

review accomplishments against documented objectives, establishes both a feedback 

loop that can then influence future planning and decision making, and a basis for 

performance measurement. 

HOW TO USE THESE GUIDELINES 

The Guidelines provide an organized approach and process for creating Strategic Plans. 

The plans take shape through an iterative process of facilitated group discussions, 

research, drafting, and review. The reader will find instructions in each section (in nonserif brown typeface). Under each section, a number of questions are included (in 

black serif typeface) that a facilitator should use to guide the creation of appropriate 

content for the plan. Not all questions will be appropriate for your organization’s 

circumstance, but the topic areas covered are all important when considering whether to 

establish or expand a statewide spatial data infrastructure (SSDI). It is important that 

you define what portion of your SSDI you intend to address by creating this 

strategic plan (e.g. statewide coordination, standards implementation, data production, 

common applications development, etc.) The questions incorporated into the Guidelines 

all pertain (in one form or another) to broad strategic concerns, though some are quite 

specific. The broader strategic concerns are: 

• Who are we? 

• Where are we? 

• Where do we want to go (or not go) and why? 

• How do we get there? 

• How do we know when we get there? 

In completing this strategic planning process, your organization(s) will have a 

consistent framework for articulating its purpose, values, roles, objectives, strengths, 

and weaknesses. This effort is intended to provide a roadmap to a geo-enabled future 

where the needs of the organization and its constituents are better served. For each 

section, a list of questions is provided to facilitate the planning process and yield 

content for the plan itself through the answers and discussion. As previously mentioned, 

not all of the questions need to be answered, as the situation may vary from state to 

state. 

A Strategic Planning Process Map has been developed as a separate flow chart and 

check list for facilitating the planning process, and is available as a separate document 

on both the NSGIC and FGDC websites. The purpose of this approach is to establish a 

consistent framework for strategic planning related to SSDI matters across all states. 

The approach outlined in these Guidelines will help you to develop a strategy for your 

own situation; but also, it will assist in the development of the NSDI.
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The Strategic Plan Guidelines are broken down into sections. For recipients of Fifty 

States Agreements, the main section topics are considered “mandatory.” This does not 

make everything within each section mandatory, but rather, requires that each of the 

main sections be addressed in a reasonable fashion. The following table is a summary 

of “mandatory” and “mandatory if applicable” elements within each section: 

Table of Mandatory Elements 

Mandatory Main 

Section 

Mandatory Element Mandatory if Applicable 

1. Executive What do you want to do? 

Summary What stakeholders were engaged in 

the planning process (briefly), and 

how was their input solicited (e.g., 

surveys, workshops, interviews, 

etc.)? 

Who is coordinating the planning 

process? 

Table of Stakeholder Participants 

 Status Table on Framework 

Layers 

 Status Table on Nine Criteria 

Do you have a Clearinghouse? 

List top three strengths 

List top three weaknesses 

Top opportunity 

2. Current 

Situation 

Top threat 

Include a vision or mission statement 

Include strategic goals 

3. Vision and 

Goals 

Include programmatic goals for your 

most important (highest priority) 

strategic goal 

4. Requirements What is your overall estimate of 

costs? 

Provide a breakdown of proposed 

phases and a timeline of major 

milestones 

5. 

Implementation 

Program 

 What opportunities exist for 

alignment and cost-sharing 

with Federal agencies that are 

collecting geospatial data? 

6. Appendices Include appendix on how you 

organized and conducted your 

planning process (i.e. “Strategic 

Planning Methodology”) 
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Table of Contents 

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................... 11

2 CURRENT SITUATION ................................................................................................................. 11

2.1 WHO ARE WE?............................................................................................................................ 12

2.2 WHERE ARE WE NOW?................................................................................................................ 14

2.3 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES.................................................................................................. 16

2.4 OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS .................................................................................................. 17

3 VISION AND GOALS...................................................................................................................... 18

3.1 STRATEGIC GOAL(S) .................................................................................................................. 19

3.2 PROGRAMMATIC GOALS ............................................................................................................ 20

3.3 MONITORING AND MEASURING SUCCESS................................................................................... 21

4 REQUIREMENTS............................................................................................................................ 21

4.1 ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS .......................................................................................................... 21

4.2 EXECUTIVE SUPPORT ................................................................................................................. 22

4.3 COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT PROCEDURES ......................................................................... 22

4.4 POLICY....................................................................................................................................... 22

4.5 STAFFING ................................................................................................................................... 23

4.6 COSTS ........................................................................................................................................ 23

4.7 OUTREACH AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................... 23

4.8 ASSESSING RISK......................................................................................................................... 24

5 IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM ................................................................................................ 24

5.1 IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMMATIC GOALS .......................................................................... 24

5.2 PHASING AND MILESTONES........................................................................................................ 25

5.3 BUDGET PLAN............................................................................................................................ 25

5.4 LESSONS-LEARNED FROM OTHER STATES OR PRIOR EFFORTS ................................................... 26

5.5 MARKETING THE PROGRAM ....................................................................................................... 26

6 APPENDIX: STRATEGIC PLANING METHODOLOGY........................................................ 26
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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Executive Summary should be an executive level presentation of the more detailed 

Strategic Plan contents. This section should provide a clear, cogent presentation of 

how this particular strategic plan aims to support the broader strategic goals of the 

organization, the benefits to be realized by adopting it, a realistic timeframe for its 

implementation and the associated costs. Though this section should be brief, it should 

include sufficient detail to allow the targeted reader to quickly understand what it is you 

want to do, what are the benefits, and what resources you need to accomplish the 

objectives? If the strategic goals are broad in scope and impact, then a simplified 

timeline should be included indicating anticipated milestone achievements during the 

lifecycle of the current plan. The stated goals should clearly support the broader 

organizational mission objectives. 

These Guidelines will help you flag the key items that should be succinctly 

encapsulated into the Executive Summary. For example, the envisioned “Programmatic 

Goals” for implementing your strategy could be listed. The length of this section as part 

of the Strategic Plan document should be short, but a longer version of the Executive 

Summary can be developed as a companion piece to the Strategic Plan. A tight 

narrative of several paragraphs, followed by a list of key bulleted items, would be 

appropriate as an executive summary. 

a. Briefly, what stakeholder groups were engaged in the planning process 

(briefly – the details belong in the Appendix on “Strategic Planning 

Methodology”), and how was their input solicited (e.g., surveys, 

workshops, interviews)? (Mandatory) 

b. What do you want to do? (Mandatory)

c. What is the fundamental problem(s) that this plan addresses? 

d. What are the primary benefits? 

e. How does this Strategic Plan support the bigger picture? 

f. What are the key elements of the plan in summary form? 

g. What alternatives were explored? 

h. What are the costs and benefits of implementing the suggested approach? 

i. What action do you hope gets taken after your targeted reader reviews this 

plan? (What are you asking for?) 

2 CURRENT SITUATION

Planning for the future starts with an assessment of the current situation. It begins with 

a couple of basic questions: 1) Who are we? and 2) Where are we? In this regard, 

strengths and weaknesses are important to articulate. Also, since it may vary from 

state-to-state, the definition of what “statewide” means in the context of the SSDI needs 

to be agreed upon. In addition, the existing foundation to be built upon needs to be 

understood. Understanding the status quo is a precursor to implementing change. 

In some states, the state government has assumed the overall responsibility for 

coordinating SDI activities. However, other stakeholders besides state government may 
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take the lead. The questions in this section are intended to be broad enough to apply to 

both situations, and depending on the responses, will give some focus to: 

• WHO is coordinating efforts to build a statewide spatial data infrastructure 

(Mandatory) 

• WHAT has been accomplished in the past 

• HOW was it accomplished 

These are key questions for moving forward and the answers will not be the same from 

state-to-state. 

The planning facilitator needs to get the planning participants to start talking (or 

writing) and the content for characterizing the current situation will begin to emerge. 

The process itself is as important as the answers, and some questions are more 

straightforward than others. In some ways, this portion of the strategic planning effort is 

a reality check on what ultimately might be feasible. For example, a volunteer with no 

mandate, but a willingness to embark on a coordination effort, will not likely be able to 

accomplish as much as an official with a mandate to coordinate. This may not always 

be the case, but more often than not, it will be relevant to understand how someone can 

make something happen, including the execution of a planning process, based on 

whom they are accountable to and what empowers them. 

2.1 Who are we? 

This section of the Strategic Plan is basic and fundamental. All plans start with some 

assessment of “who we are,” including who is coordinating the planning process. 

Stakeholder groups that ideally should be represented in statewide coordination and 

planning activities are listed below. Generally, these groups will only support your 

planning effort if they have the opportunity to participate. The outreach is a critical 

function of the planning process. The table below should be filled in to show which of 

these groups participated in your planning process (Mandatory): 

Table of Stakeholders 

Stakeholder Group Did They Participate? (Yes/No) 

Government: 

Municipal 

County 

State 

Tribal 

Federal Regional 

Federal Headquarters 

Regional 

Other:

Private Sector 

Non-Profit Organizations 

Academia 

General Public 
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NOTE: The participation of each group is not mandatory, but a table showing who did 

participate is a mandatory element for the plan document. Also, while not mandatory, 

this is a good place to briefly describe how input was solicited and received. Details 

of actual participants (e.g., names and other specifics, such as dates and methods of 

participation) can be included in the Appendix on “Strategic Planning Methodology.” 

The group that pursues the completion of the Strategic Plan can be comprised of 

representatives from a number of these groups and organizations that are forged 

together by common needs, concerns, and purpose. The statewide strategic goals 

are not necessarily being established by state agencies, but potentially by a 

broader and diverse group of stakeholders that are able to achieve them. In some 

states the vision of the SSDI may be more actively pursued by a group of counties (and 

not necessarily state agencies), regional planning councils, or other organized groups 

that form partnerships around common objectives. In each case, the questions of who 

we are and who we represent need to be answered. It is this ‘we’ that is further 

questioned and analyzed in the Strengths and Weaknesses (Section 2.3) and 

Opportunities and Threats (Section 2.4). 

Appropriate representation may require that the group authoring the strategic plan 

reach out to the stakeholder community to harvest insight and feedback. Involving the 

wider community in the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can 

begin to lay the groundwork for community participation, as well as buy in for the 

process itself and the resulting strategic plan. 

a. Who are we? Note: Use the “Table of Stakeholders” as a checklist, and 

add other stakeholder groups to the list as needed to match your situation. 

(Mandatory) 

b. Who else should we consider as being a stakeholder? (e.g., private 

companies, other states if building an emergency response capability.) 

c. Which, if any, stakeholders should be included in our strategic planning 

efforts? 

d. Who are the key external stakeholders? (e.g., GIS data consumers such as 

utility companies) 

e. What are the common interests of the stakeholder community we represent 

and how can we best represent them? 

f. What is our relationship to the state? (Perhaps we are the state.) 

g. What does statewide mean to us? (e.g., what is our user base, and what are 

their needs?) 

h. Do our stakeholders work in multi-state areas and if they do, how do the 

respective state planning efforts affect these stakeholders? 

i. What are our mandated responsibilities? (e.g., charters, policies, laws, 

codes, regulations, etc.?) 

j. What are our informal mandates? (e.g., stakeholder or community 

expectations?) 

k. What are our values? (e.g., do we strongly value an open source 

approach? Do we support inter-operability as a notion? Is vendor lock-in 

a good thing or a bad thing?) 
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l. Are we part of a bigger organization? (e.g., a Regional Development 

Corporation that reports to the state.) 

m. How would we operate if we were part of one organization? 

n. What are the goals of the broader organization? How will our planning 

efforts dovetail with the broader organizational objectives? (Ensuring that 

goals are compatible ensures greater likelihood of success.) 

o. What is the mission statement of the broader organization? 

p. How does this Strategic plan support those broader organizational goals? 

2.2 Where are we now? 

This section of the Strategic Plan provides an assessment of the existing situation. It 

will help to inform the completion of the Requirements Section. Include the following 

table showing status of the 7 NSDI Framework Layers, plus other base themes of 

significance to statewide spatial data infrastructure and to NSDI (Mandatory if 

Applicable): 

Framework Layer 

Status 

(Non-existent, Incomplete, 

Complete) 

Available to 

NSDI

(Yes/No) 

Geodetic Control 

Cadastral 

Orthoimagery 

Elevation 

Hydrography 

Administration Units 

Transportation 

Other Base Themes of Significance: 

Structures 

Land Use 

Note: Other layers that are relevant to the planning effort may be listed at your own 

discretion, as appropriate. 

Also, for the NSGIC Nine Criteria, include the following table showing status (Mandatory 

if Applicable): 

NSGIC Criteria 

Status 

 (NonExistent=RED; 

Partially in 

Place=YELLOW; 

Completely in 

Place=GREEN) 

Status Description 

1. A full-time, paid coordinator

position is designated and has the 

authority to implement the state’s 

business and strategic plans. 
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NSGIC Criteria 

Status 

 (NonExistent=RED; 

Partially in 

Place=YELLOW; 

Completely in 

Place=GREEN) 

Status Description 

2. A clearly defined authority exists 

for statewide coordination of 

geospatial information technologies 

and data production. 

3. The statewide coordination office 

has a formal relationship with the 

state’s Chief Information Office 

(CIO). 

4. A champion (politician or 

executive decision-maker) is aware 

and involved in the process of 

geospatial coordination. 

5. Responsibilities for developing 

the National Spatial Data 

Infrastructure (NSDI) and a State 

Clearinghouse are assigned. 

6. The ability exists to work and 

coordinate with local 

governments, academia, and the 

private sector. 

7. Sustainable funding sources 

exist to meet project needs. 

8. GIS Coordinators have the 

authority to enter into contracts

and become capable of receiving 

and expending funds. 

9. The Federal government works 

through the statewide coordinating 

authority. 

 

Other questions to consider are as follows: 

a. Do we have a metadata Clearinghouse for statewide data? (Mandatory)

b. How is statewide GIS Coordination being performed? (e.g., is there a 

coordinating committee or an unofficial but de-facto GIS Coordinator?) 

c. Is there a statewide GIS Coordinator? 

d. Where is the GIS Coordinator housed? 

e. To what organization does the GIS Coordinator belong? 

f. What is the GIS Coordinator’s responsibility over the Coordinating 

Council? 

g. How might the level of influence and authority of the Coordinating 

Council be characterized? (This speaks to its current effectiveness) 

h. What is the relationship between state agencies and local government and 

does this need to be improved? 
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i. What is the relationship between different state agencies and does this 

need to be improved? 

j. What standards are being used, by whom, and are they appropriate? (e.g., 

data standards, metadata standards, etc. See appendix 5. 

k. What is the state of our technology infrastructure? (hardware, software, 

networking/communications) 

l. Specifically, what geospatial content do we have? 

m. Do we use the “GIS Inventory Tool” (powered by Ramona) courtesy of 

NSGIC? (see http://gisinventory.net) 

n. Have we aggregated data from sources more local than we are? (e.g., has 

critical infrastructure data captured at the municipal or county level been 

rolled up to provide statewide data?) 

o. What resources are available to support the planning process? 

p. Does a Strategic Plan already exist for us? Are the assumptions and goals 

still valid? 

q. Is anyone else doing the same thing, or competing for the same resources? 

Are there opportunities to work cooperatively? 

r. What political party is in power, and what is their party platform? (e.g., 

economic development, homeland security, education, agriculture, smart 

growth, etc.?) 

s. Do we currently participate in any federal geospatial initiatives? (e.g., 

FGDC/NSDI, GOS, DHS, NGA-USGS/HSIP) 

t. Do existing federal initiatives provide funding support for our SSDI 

efforts? How much? 

u. What value has resulted from Federal support of our SSDI implementation 

efforts? 

v. Are any of our mandates outdated? 

w. What impacts do mandates have on our organization, including their 

implication for how we can use our resources? 

x. How do we ensure that top political officials care about the SSDI? 

y. How do we ensure that our top political officials support our initiative to 

build the SSDI? What’s in it for them and will we have a positive impact 

on their “hot” issues? (e.g., economic development, smart growth, 

preserving open space, tourism, or emergency response) 

2.3 Strengths and Weaknesses 

Part of understanding “who we are and where we are” is an assessment of strengths 

and weaknesses. Primarily, this assessment is inward-looking, although there may be 

some relevant external factors. Organizational strengths such as technologies, people, 

and capabilities, may be distributed and separately controlled by different agencies or 

groups. Lack of commitment to harness such strengths around a common goal may be 

a weakness; however, it may also be an opportunity waiting to be realized. Strengths 

help position an organization to take advantage of opportunities, whereas weaknesses 

may make the organization vulnerable to threats, or less able to exploit opportunities. 

a. What are our top three strengths? (Mandatory) 
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b. What are our other strengths? (e.g., experienced staff, funding, authority, 

political support, communications infrastructure for collaboration, 

technical skills, marketing skills, etc.) 

c. What are our top three weaknesses? (Mandatory) 

d. What are our weaknesses? (e.g., lack of staff, lack of funding, lack of 

expertise, and lack of any of the other things listed under strengths; also, 

wildly divergent needs, disagreement on goals and priorities, etc.) 

2.4 Opportunities and Threats 

Opportunities and threats are often outward-looking, including such factors as stimulus 

spending to boost the economy (an opportunity), or diminishing tax revenues due to a 

sagging economy (a threat). The basis for implementing a statewide spatial data 

infrastructure is the assumption that doing so will open up the stakeholders to 

opportunities to accomplish meaningful things that are not possible without the 

SSDI. For example, an effective SSDI can help minimize duplication of effort in terms of 

data collection, and will greatly facilitate data sharing. Likewise there are vulnerabilities 

associated with not implementing the SSDI, and these may be characterized as threats 

to be avoided, or to be anticipated. For example, not having the SSDI will make it 

harder to establish a Common Operational Picture (COP) in the event of a large-scale 

emergency. Every state is subject to catastrophic events, including terrorist activities, 

hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, drought, winter storms, disease, and flooding. The 

questions in this section are intended to expand upon both opportunities and threats, 

which are either enabled or avoided by implementing the SSDI, or the consequences of 

not implementing the SSDI. 

a. What is our top opportunity? (Mandatory)

b. What opportunities are made available by implementing the SSDI? (e.g., 

cost savings from eliminating duplication of effort, improved decision 

support, access to grant money and cost-sharing programs, data sharing as 

a function of standards, common interfaces and interoperability for users 

to better understand and achieve enhanced productivity) 

c. Does implementing the SSDI provide for a better Return On Investment 

(ROI) than current approaches? (e.g., NASA and Ohio studies – see 

Appendix 2) 

d. What opportunities are there to participate in federal geospatial initiatives 

that position us for additional funding to meet our objectives? 

e. What opportunities exist for coordinating resources across multiple 

agencies or organizations? (e.g., are there benefits to establishing a GIS 

Service Division to replace similar type activities that currently occur in 

multiple agencies? Can parcel data updates be managed by a Regional 

group that serves multiple counties?) 

f. What is our top threat? (Mandatory) 

g. If we do not implement the SSDI, what are the threats? (e.g., in an 

emergency, we’re less prepared to respond; can’t share data; ineligible for 

grants. We are not able to share data across state boundaries.) 

h. Are there previous initiatives that failed due to the lack of congruence with 

other statewide strategic plans? (If so, there is a potential threat that this 
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effort could also fail if not effectively coordinated with other statewide 

efforts.) 

i. If we do not coordinate and implement the SSDI, and continue to do 

things the same way, will our “reason-for-being” be diminished or 

undermined? Will the coordination and leadership role be assumed by 

someone else with a narrower long term vision? 

3 VISION AND GOALS

Developing a vision or mission statement is an important part of the planning process if 

you do not already have one. A mission statement is a brief, high-level description of 

your desired outcomes and values. It expresses the vision for your jurisdiction’s 

beneficial use of GIS, with a long-term and high-level view. An example of a mission 

statement follows (courtesy of the District of Columbia). 

The Mission of DC Geographic Information System (DC GIS) is to improve the 

quality and lower the cost of services provided by the DC Government, through 

the District’s collective investment and effective application of geospatial data 

and systems. Furthermore, DC GIS will reach beyond the DC Government by 

continuing to make DC GIS data freely and publicly available to the fullest extent 

possible in consideration of privacy and security.

Strategic goals support the mission statement, and are intended to help make your 

vision a reality. In discussing and understanding the strategic goals, a set of supportive 

subordinate goals are also developed. These are the programmatic goals that are also 

discussed in this section. The programmatic goals are about defining the steps that are 

necessary to successfully implement strategic goals, and tend to be shorter-term goals, 

but not always (depending on the purpose). 

An overarching strategic goal articulated by NSGIC is to support the development of 

plans “to implement a statewide spatial data infrastructure (SSDI) consistent with 

appropriate national standards.” It is important to make sure participants in the 

process understand and agree that the contemplated goals are important and relevant to 

your own jurisdiction; and yet, they should also be relevant to national objectives. Part 

of building this support is effectively identifying problems that will occur if you do not 

move towards achieving the SSDI and the benefits if you do. Articulating the 

programmatic goals that support the strategic goal(s) is an important part of this 

effort, and will ultimately drive subsequent business planning related to implementation. 

It is good for the goals to be challenging rather than trivial, but often planning falters 

when there is a substantial gap between expectations and what is feasible based on 

realistic estimates of resource availability. 

The questions in this section should be useful in articulating and refining the shared 

understanding of the target goals to be implemented, both strategic and programmatic. 

• What should our mission statement be (or if we already have one, what is 

it)? (Mandatory)

• What are we trying to accomplish? 
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• What is the boundary (project limit) of what we want to achieve? 

• Are our goals measurable? How do we know when we have achieved 

them? 

• Are our goals clear, concise and attainable? 

• Have our goals been prioritized, and which ones are most critical to the 

success of this effort? 

• Where do we want to be in the near-term (i.e., one year from now), in 

terms of accomplishments? Where do we want to be in the long-term (i.e., 

five years from now)? 

3.1 Strategic Goal(s) 

The strategic goals support your vision, or mission statement. They are high-level and 

long-term (e.g. five year time horizon) in outlook. They should be relevant to your state’s 

policy objectives, and also consistent with the objective shared by NSGIC and FGDC to 

build the NSDI as an overarching goal. Strategic goals are a Mandatory element of this 

plan, as is the mission statement. 

Examples of state-level strategic goals (courtesy of the State of Colorado) are as 

follows: 

Strategic Goal #1: 

Support better stewardship of our resources and increased prosperity, safety and 

services for our citizens by increasing GIS awareness and capacity across the state. 

Strategic Goal #2: 

Make government more efficient and effective through the coordinated use of 

geospatial technologies and the promotion of best practices. 

Strategic Goal #3: 

Enhance the information basis for public and private decisions by improving the 

quality and availability of geospatial information and services to support decisionmakers and other consumers of GIS data and services, in concert with the state’s 

enterprise architecture and the World Wide Web (www). 

Questions that will help formulate appropriate strategic goals are as follows: 

a. What does the NSGIC stated strategic goal (RE: SSDI) mean to the 

Strategic Planning Committee and the stakeholders that the group 

represents? 

b. How does the Statewide Spatial Data Infrastructure (SSDI) dovetail with 

the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) objectives? 

c. Do we understand and agree with the stated NSGIC goal? 

d. Do we have other strategic goals that are relevant to implementing the 

SSDI? Are they similar to the NSGIC goal? How are they alike or 

dissimilar? 

e. What is important to our state (or other planning entity)? 
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f. How do our goals support high-level policy objectives and initiatives? 

3.2 Programmatic Goals 

Given the strategic goals, the next step is to articulate the programmatic goals that are 

intended to help drive the SSDI implementation program. For the planning process to 

succeed, it is important that the programmatic goals be achievable and compatible with 

one another. While each strategic goal should ultimately have a set of associated 

programmatic goals for guiding implementation, it is Mandatory that at least one 

strategic goal have such an associated set. 

Taking Strategic Goal #3 from the example above, the following is a set of programmatic 

goals to guide implementation efforts (courtesy of the State of Colorado). 

Programmatic Goals for Strategic Goal #3 

1) Establish a repository of statewide geospatial data sets from authoritative sources 

for prioritized features and data types 

2) Provide easy and ubiquitous access to both geospatial data and metadata for both 

professionals and citizens 

3) Recognize GIS as critical infrastructure and enable a Web service-orientation for 

basic GIS functions to meet statewide demand 

 Other examples of programmatic goals include: 

• Establish authority for the statewide coordination of geospatial initiatives 

• Establish a statewide Geospatial Coordinator position 

• Develop standards in support of data exchange across all levels of 

government and between private industry and academia 

• Develop a state-wide parcel data layer product with ongoing maintenance 

and support 

• Establish a three year leaf-off orthoimagery program 

• Establish a State Clearinghouse for geospatial data 

• Continue to raise the level of awareness within state government about the 

importance of long-term program support for GIS activities within the state 

• Support geospatial data needs of the National Response Plan 

The following questions will help guide discussion on formulating programmatic goals. 

a. Have we reviewed the NSGIC Coordination Criteria and identified 

actionable goals from the nine criteria? 

b. Do we have our own programmatic goals that support the implementation 

of SSDI for our situation? (e.g., development of a statewide critical 

infrastructure data layer.) 
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3.3 Monitoring and Measuring Success 

A regular assessment of progress at a reasonable time frequency is necessary in order 

to ensure that plan goals are achieved in a timely and effective manner. Course 

correction(s) may be required as new information becomes available or new 

opportunities or threats develop. Performance measurement is important for plan 

validation and recalibration. 

a. What are the key critical success factors that would indicate to our 

stakeholders that we are on the path to success? 

b. What performance metrics should we use? For each programmatic goal 

there should be one or more objectives along with a performance 

benchmark. These should be detailed in an associated Business Plan. 

c. What cost avoidance can be expected and how can this be ascertained? 

(e.g., greater coordination may result in less duplication of effort for data 

development activities. Both a Public Works agency or department and a 

transportation agency or department may have similar needs for road 

centerline data and may be duplicating data development and maintenance 

activities.) 

d. How do we capture cost-benefit data and determine return on investment 

(ROI), both quantitatively and qualitatively? 

e. How often should we assess progress to determine if recalibration is 

needed? 

4 REQUIREMENTS

To implement yours goals and to build a statewide spatial data infrastructure requires 

both technical and organizational measures. Some measures may be simple, but others 

may be transformational in a dramatic way. The purpose of the section is to explore how 

managerial elements are sufficient or deficient in their ability to support your goals and 

enable the development of your SSDI. Finer-grain details and requirements will be 

addressed in separate Business Plans to help implement this Strategic Plan.

4.1 Organizational Needs 

This section of the Strategic Plan aims to identify any organizational transformation that 

might be needed to implement the SSDI goals. For example, are there resources 

spread out across many departments that could be consolidated or more tightly aligned? 

Although it is a resource issue, the people availability and alignment to support the SSDI 

goal is an important consideration from an organizational standpoint. 

a. Is the need for organizational change recognized? 

b. Is it feasible to reorganize around the objective of statewide GIS 

coordination or a statewide spatial data infrastructure? 

c. How would reorganization be perceived by management, staff, and other 

stakeholders? 

d. What organizations have resources devoted to GIS projects and technology? 

Are these resources deployed in the most productive manner? 
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e. How would we operate if we were part of one organization? This might 

simply be a hypothetical exercise in thinking outside the box, or it might 

reveal insights into new ways of aligning the objectives of different 

organizations. 

4.2 Executive Support 

Executive support is essential for the successful implementation of any plan. Trying to 

operate ‘below the radar’ without executive support risks the cancellation of the program; 

and, it will clearly eliminate funding opportunities. To engage executives and win their 

support make sure they are part of the process. 

a. How do you ensure that top political officials will care about a spatial 

infrastructure, i.e., what’s in it for them? (e.g., Economic Development, 

Smart Growth, Preserving Open Space, Tourism, Emergency Response, 

etc.) 

b. What specific support do you need from executive management and do 

they understand this need? 

c. How will you brief top officials on your progress, and on issues that you 

encounter that they might help resolve? 

4.3 Coordination and Oversight Procedures 

In the socio-political environment that the SSDI is part of, both formal and informal 

coordination amongst stakeholders and executive leadership is essential. As 

mentioned in an earlier section, stakeholder groups should be represented in statewide 

coordination activities. Also, there should be some executive-level oversight of the 

planning process and resulting Strategic Plan. 

a. What is the charter for the GIS Coordinating Council? 

b. How do we assign responsibilities for implementing the SSDI based on 

our needs? 

c. Is there a higher authority for arbitrating disputes? 

d. What is our relationship to the state’s CIO? 

e. What is our relationship to the Governor’s office and the current 

Administration? Are any known changes pending? 

f. Have we identified a political champion(s)? 

g. What is our “track record” on working between the various levels of 

government? 

h. How do we improve on our current status with regard to the above 

criteria? 

4.4 Policy 

There are two important considerations when it comes to policy. One is to consider any 

new policies that might be needed to make statewide spatial data infrastructure (SSDI) 

feasible. The other is to consider existing policies to better understand the societal 

context for SSDI, and the legal and political climate in which it must operate.

a. How do our existing mandates assist, limit or modify what we wish to 

achieve? 
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b. Do we need to address any of these mandates and act to modify them to 

bring them into line with our current goals and objectives? 

c. What new policies are needed, if any? 

4.5 Staffing 

Depending on the economic climate, the availability of staff for programs related to SSDI 

implementation varies widely. In some cases, new positions might be needed; and in 

others, consolidation or realignment of existing resources might be most appropriate. 

a. How do we justify a full-time, paid support staff? (e.g., GIS coordinator, 

Database Administrator, GIS Analysts, etc.) 

b. What qualifications should such staff have? 

c. What support personnel are needed to implement the SSDI? 

d. Are volunteers useful to our efforts, and are they available? 

e. Are professional credentials and certifications an issue for us? 

f. Do we have job descriptions for the roles that needed to be fulfilled? 

4.6 Costs 

The costs of implementing your strategy are important to estimate, even if qualified as a 

“rough order of magnitude.” The major elements of your plan should be listed, with your 

cost estimates, and the assumptions (or biases) of your estimating process. The issue 

of how you propose to get the funding, as well as other details, should be addressed in 

Section 5.3 (Budget Plan) where you might propose the details of an incremental 

approach to funding. 

a. What is our overall estimate of costs? (Mandatory)

b. What are the elements to our program that will drive costs? 

c. What is the basis for making our cost estimates? 

d. What guidelines are available from administration and finance for 

estimating costs? (e.g. labor rates, interest rates, opportunity cost) 

e. Can we defend our numbers? 

4.7 Outreach and Community Development 

Raising awareness of your SSDI and liaising with communities of interest are valuable 

activities that support the strategic planning process. This is often a spill over benefit of 

workshops, interviews, and surveys; but it can also be by specific design, and can 

include presentations at a variety of stakeholder events, web postings, and related 

outreach. In many ways, this is closely related to marketing (see Section 5.5), and could 

be construed as public relations in that context. 

a. What are the logistics of maintaining a sufficient level of communication 

between the strategic group and the stakeholder community? 

b. Are we leveraging existing GIS communities? (e.g., User Groups, 

Roundtables, List Server members) 

c. Do we have a group identity for our GIS coordination community? 
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4.8 Assessing Risk 

An assessment of risk helps you to better understand what obstacles your plan might 

face as it is considered by decision-makers and implemented. It also may help to 

describe the risk of not moving forward with implementation, and maintaining the status 

quo. The threats you identified under Section 2.4 will be informative to your assessment 

of risk. 

a. What are the major external challenges that could possibly affect our 

efforts in a negative way? 

b. What operational issues do we have and how can we overcome these? 

c. How do we recognize and overcome obstacles? 

d. What might happen if we do not anticipate obstacles? 

e. How do we assess SSDI vulnerabilities? (e.g., public access to sensitive 

data, system back-ups, viruses and such, etc.) 

5 IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM

This section of the Strategic Plan aims to ‘divide and conquer’ the breadth of elements 

that comprise the SSDI. The purpose of this is to make implementation more 

manageable and achievable. This section of the Strategic Plan should document a set of 

specific steps, phases, and activities required to get to the end-state. This is the 

strategy for moving forward. Different states will have different priorities in this regard 

and therefore different strategies. The sections below are intended to help define the 

overall framework for implementation. As a follow-on activity separate from the Strategic 

Plan, individual business plans are necessary to articulate implementation details. 

This is where a phased approach might be delineated, with targets for where the 

statewide spatial data infrastructure should be along a timeline with milestones. Showing 

incremental progress can be a good thing. 

Funding is critical for being able to act on the agreed-upon strategic direction. Each 

particular group or organization may have various funding opportunities, sources or 

requirements. Certain initiatives may be funded fully and directly, while others could be 

funded from more than one source. For example, counties may embrace the idea of 

cooperative cost-sharing in order to complete a joint ortho-imagery project on a three 

year cycle or to develop a data clearinghouse. This is helpful if it can be addressed. If 

Federal agencies see from the plans that a state is interested in certain types of costsharing, it can become the basis for helpful dialog. 

NOTE: Within the Strategic Plan, implementation details should be kept relatively 

sparse. Implementation details comprise the primary content of a Business Plan (see 

the separate Business Plan Guidelines). 

5.1 Implementation of Programmatic Goals 

Here is where you start to think about “how” you will approach the implementation of 

your Strategic Plan, short of detailed business planning at a fine-grain level. Organizing 

implementation efforts around specific programmatic goals is often pragmatic and 

actionable (e.g., data layers such as imagery, cadastral, and transportation; or functional 

themes such as public safety, public health, and environmental management; or 

applications/business processes such as permitting, asset management, and land 

acquisition). It is not intended that you get too deep into implementation details in the 
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Strategic Plan itself. The finer-grain details belong in Business Plans that are 

focused on implementing subsets of your plan. 

a. How will you “divide and conquer” by prioritizing strategic and 

programmatic goals to be the focus of individual Business Plans? 

b. Are there rational sets of projects that should be logically grouped as part 

of a separate Business Plan? 

c. Who is responsible for delivering on each project? 

5.2 Phasing and Milestones 

Here is where you identify the coarse-grain breakdown of your plan to drive 

subsequent action. An incremental approach is often most realistic. You should identify 

what is feasible in the operating climate you are working within, and establish a schedule 

for implementing your goals. 

a. What is the breakdown of proposed phases and a timeline with major 

milestones? (Mandatory)

b. Based on available time, and in consideration of resources, what is 

realistically achievable? 

c. Are we looking at a phased implementation? 

d. What are the target dates for the completion of each phase? 

5.3 Budget Plan 

Here is where you address how you propose to obtain the funding required to implement 

your plan. As mentioned in the section on Requirements, your costs are estimated 

before you determine how to secure and schedule the necessary funding. It is 

important to understand the budget cycle for your jurisdiction, as well as the process for 

submitting your budget request.

a. Are there mechanisms for cost-sharing or cooperative funding with 

Federal agencies doing geospatial data collection? (Mandatory if 

Applicable)

b. Based on the implementation sub-projects and phases, what are the 

budgetary needs? 

c. What are the options for cost-sharing across multiple local organizations? 

(e.g. counties working together could fund an ortho-imagery project) 

d. What are the specifics of the financial business process and budgeting 

cycle? (e.g., what is the Fiscal Year for budgeting purposes, and 

milestones along the way for submitting and approving budget requests?) 

e. Are Federal grants moneys available directly from the Federal 

Government or through State organizations? 

f. Who should be the financial authority for administering the budget? 

g. What funds can be allocated for time period of the implementation 

program? 

h. How does the available budget affect the deliverables and project 

timeline? 
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i. How are we funded? (e.g., dedicated funds, special funds, mission-driven 

funds, general funds, service fees, assessment on agencies, permit/license 

fees, federal grants, central and capital funds, cost recovery?) 

j. How can we redirect existing funding to achieve our goals? 

k. How do we insulate ourselves against future budget cuts and shortfalls? 

l. If a GIS Coordinator is needed, how can this position be allocated and 

funded? 

m. How can any other required staff positions be allocated and funded? 

5.4 Lessons-learned from Other States or Prior Efforts 

The NSGIC community has developed a substantial and growing body of knowledge

about strategic planning and implementation. Likewise, FGDC has built a library of GIS 

Strategic Plans published by CAP grant recipients. Both web sites have useful 

resources: 

http://www.nsgic.org/ 

http://www.fgdc.gov/

a. Are there some good examples of SSDI implementations in other states? 

b. What are our lessons-learned from prior attempts to move your SSDI 

forward? 

5.5 Marketing the Program 

Marketing is often neglected by GIS coordinators, but it can be a critical component to 

successfully positioning your SSDI initiative in the minds of desired supporters and 

constituents. In addition to the “public relations” aspect of outreach and community 

development, there are other specific tools and techniques for marketing your program. 

NSGIC has developed supporting materials as examples. The following questions will 

help identify marketing elements that you should consider.

a. How do we get the word out? (e.g., press releases, articles, whitepapers, 

workshops, seminars, conferences, webcasts, podcasts, etc.) 

b. Who is our target audience for messaging? 

c. What events should we attend? 

6 APPENDIX: STRATEGIC PLANING METHODOLOGY

This section describes the process undertaken to complete the Strategic Plan document, 

whereas the main body of the document will deal more specifically with a 

characterization of the situation you are starting from, and where you want to go. This 

appendix is for you to explain how you organized to develop the plan, and how you 

conducted the planning process. going beyond what you might choose to put in the main 

body of the plan. 

When you are actually writing your plan, include any relevant details on the actual 

methodology that you used in this appendix. For example, details might include the 

names of people interviewed or who attended workshops, with the dates and specific 

locations. This should indicate to the reader that the plan and its recommendations are 
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based on a solid and appropriate approach which has included all necessary 

stakeholders to the extent possible. The reader should clearly understand any 

constraints or limitations that impacted the results of the planning exercise. Examples 

of such constraints could be the time, people, and other resources available to complete 

the planning process, access to certain information, and external factors (e.g., changes 

in priorities by higher authorities). 

When you are getting underway on your planning effort, there is a separate but related 

document called “The Strategic Planning Process Map,” which provides guidance on 

how to organize and conduct your planning process. The SPP Map is available on both 

the FGDC and NSGIC websites.