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Federal Geographic Data Committee

Coordination Group Meeting

Tuesday, March 10, 2014

9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Eastern

Location: Main Interior Building, 

Rachel Carson Room

1849 C Street, NW

Washington, DC

DRAFT AGENDA

9:00 – 9:05 Welcome and Introductions Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC 

OS

9:05 – 9:15 Previous Meeting Action Item Review Lucia Foulkes, FGDC

OS

9:15 – 9: 30 FGDC Business Update Ken Shaffer, FGDC OS

9:30 – 9:45 COGO Report Card Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC

9:45 – 10:30

10:30 – 10:40

Review of the Coordination Group Charter 

 Define relationship of Theme Leads

 Co-Chairmanship 

Break

Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC 

OS

10:40 – 11:00 Coordination Group and Executive Committee 

Interactions

 Rotating Attendance for a CG member in Ex

Com meetings

 Possible letters of recognition of role for CG 

Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC 

OS
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members

11:00 – 11:45 Developing the Coordination Group Meeting 

Agenda.

Considerations to include:

 Working Groups, Subcommittees and 

Theme Reports

 Reporting schedule of Subcommittees and 

Working Groups for 2015

 Working Session topics

 Other Agenda Topics

Ivan DeLoacth, FGDC 

OS

11:45 – 12:00 Other Agencies Announcements Ivan DeLoacth, FGDC 

OS

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

1:00 – 2:15 Geospatial Platform 

 Presentation and discussion

Jerry Johnston, DOI

2:15 – 2:45 2015 Coordination Group Work Plan

 NSDI Strategic Plan, NGDA Management 

Plan and other Actions

John Mahoney, FGDC 

OS; Gita UrbanMathieu , FGDC OS

2:45 – 3:00 Action Item Review, and next meeting agenda items Lucia Foulkes, FGDC

OS

3:00 Adjourn

*Read-ahead Documents 

Other Relevant documents

* Read-ahead documents are located at the my.usgs.gov site for member access.

CG Meeting Planning

 

Coordination Group Meetings Topics (in addition to the following standing items)

- Welcome and Introductions; - Previous Meeting Action Item Review; - FGDC Business Update; - Other 

Agency Announcements - Summary of Action Items / Ne t Meeting Agenda; - Adjourn

- All meetings are scheduled from 9am to 12pm EST, unless otherwise noted

EXAMPLE ONLY

March 10, 2015

 Cadastral SC (Don Buhler);

 Users/Historical Data WG (Butch Lazorchak).

April 14, 2015 
Federal Geographic Data Committee • www.fgdc.gov • Email: fgdc@fgdc.gov

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May12, 2015

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June 16, 2015

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July 14, 2015

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August 11, 2015

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September 8, 2015

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October 13, 2015

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November 10, 2015

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December 8, 2015

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Federal Geographic Data Committee

Coordination Group Meeting

ACTION ITEMS

Through March 10, 2015

Closed

Lead: Steve Lewis, DOT Action#: 20140610-04

Action: Steve Lewis and other contacts at the Department of Transportation will work together with Tim 

Trainor (Census Bureau) to draft a proposal regarding the possibility of DOT hosting a repository 

for a potential National Address Database. They will provide this proposal to the FGDC Secretariat 

by June 26.

Contact: Steve Lewis, DOT, steve.lewis@dot.gov

Resolution/

Response:

This action is on hold, pending maturation of planning for the database. Updates will be provided 

to the CG as progress is made.

Pending

Lead: Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC OS Action#: 20140909-03

Action: Engage FDGC to recognize the “Guidance on the Selection and Appraisal of Geospatial Content of 

Enduring Value” document in an official capacity.

Contact: Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC,OS, ideloatch@usgs.gov

Resolution/

Response:

FGDC addressed this topic on the Business report

Complete

Lead: FGDC Secretariat Action#: 20150113-01

Action: The FGDC Secretariat will create a slide for the Coordination Group that will have a summary of 

actions and deadlines of the NSDI Strategic Plan and the NGDA Management Plan to identify the 

CG 2015 work plan items.

Resolution/

Response:

Slides identifying NSDI Strategic Plan and the NGDA MP actions and deadlines were created and 

presented to the Coordination Group

Contact: Lucia Foulkes, FGDC OS, lfoulkes@usgs.gov

Due Date: March 10, 2015

Lead: Coordination Group Action#: 20150113-02

Action: The Coordination Group will create a CG 2015 work plan.

Contact:

Resolution/

Response:

Contact:

Complete

Lead: FGDC Secretariat Action#: 20150113-04

Action: The Secretariat will solicit agenda topics from the Coordination Group 2 weeks prior meetings.

Contact: Lucia Foulkes, FGDC OS, lfoulkes@usgs.gov

Resolution/ An email to the Coordination group was submitted requesting agenda topics. No suggestions or 
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Response: topics were received. 

Due Date: Pending

Lead: John Mahoney Action#: 20150113-05

Action: The Coordination Group will hold a working session to identify responsibilities on the NSDI 

Strategic Plan Implementation actions and use it as basis for the CG 2015 work plan. 

Contact: John Mahoney, FGDC OS, jmahoney@usgs.gov

Resolution/

Response:

Complete

Lead: Jerry Johnston Action#: 20150113-06

Action: Hold a working session to provide a live demo to learn tools and capabilities of the Geoplatform, 

identify roles of the Coordination Group and Geoplatform development.

Resolution/

Response:

Live demo was provided at the March’s CG meeting.

Contact: Lucia Foulkes, FGDC OS, lfoulkes@usgs.gov

Complete

Lead: Coordination Group Action#: 20150113-08

Action: Hold a working session on how the CG will develop meeting agendas. Considerations to include:

 Include Working Groups, Subcommittee, and Theme reports

 Working Session topics

 Agenda topics

Contact: Lucia Foulkes, FGDC OS, lfoulkes@usgs.gov

Resolution/

Response:

The coordination group discussed this topic in March’s meeting.

Due Date: March 10, 2015

Lead: Coordination Group Action#: 20150113-09

Action: The Coordination Group will discuss and determine what their role should be in the 

coordination needed for the upcoming datum change, in collaboration with the National 

Geodetic Survey.

Contact: Lucia Foulkes, FGDC OS, lfoulkes@usgs.gov

Resolution/

Response:

Due Date: April 14, 2015

Lead: Coordination Group Action#: 20150310-01

Action: The Coordination Group will revise the Charter and define the relationship of Theme Leads. The 

FGDC will draft the new charter for the April meeting addressing the following:

 Clarification language to on working relationship with theme leads and subcommittees

 Clarification language to include Non Federal participation in Working Groups and 

Subcommittees

 Co-chairmanship of the Coordination Group. Each agency will chair the Coordination 
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ID

(yyyymmdd-

#)

Decision/Description

Decisions provide a position/foundation on which actions are taken.

20150113-01 The Coordination Group agreed to have in-person meetings. Audio conference and 

WebEx will also be available.

20150113-02 The Coordination Group decided to have a summary of FGDC key activities over the 

last time frame. The business reports will be emailed as a read ahead document. This will 

allow the Coordination group to focus on recent FGDC business actions, and changes 

only.

20150113-03 The Coordination Group agreed to allocate a time on CG agendas to allow 

participants to bring issues, present or make general announcements.

20150313-04 Whether a Coordination Group Subcommittee, Working Groups, or NGDA Theme Lead is 

reporting, they are required to report at least annually.

Group

 Have the Theme Leads to participate in the Coordination Group meetings.

Contact:

Resolution/

Response:

Due Date: April 14, 2015

Lead: Coordination Group Action#: 20150310-02

Action: Identify a member to participate in the Executive Committee meetings to represent the 

Coordination Group.

Contact:

Resolution/

Response:

Complete

Lead: Coordination Group Action#: 20150310-03

Action: Wendy will forward announcement on upcoming activities for Data Set for Climate + Health datajam/datalpalooza and State/ Tribal and Federal Coordination Meeting. 

Contact:

Resolution/

Response:

Information was sent to Lucia Foulkes and then forwarded to the Coordination Group

Due Date: April 14, 2015

Lead: Action#: 20150310-04

Action: The Coordination Group will identify a chair and reinvigorate the Architecture and Technology 

working group to support the activities directly related to the Geoplatform.

Contact:

Resolution/

Response:
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Federal Geographic Data Committee

Coordination Group Meeting

MEETING MINUTES

 March 10, 2015

(Note: Primary CG members are indicated in blue text; alternate CG

members are indicated in red text)

√ Coordination Group

Attendees

Organization √ Attendee Organization

x Shirley Hall USDA- Farm Service

Agency

Robert Welsh DOI – Office of

Surface Mining

x Marisa Capriotti USDA – Natural

Resources

Conservation Service

Christina Lett DOI – US Fish &

Wildlife Service

Betsy Kanalley USDA – US Forest

Service

Bill Wilen DOI – US Fish &

Wildlife Service

Marianne Burke USDA – US Forest

Service

x Ivan DeLoatch DOI – USGS/FGDC;

Chair, CG

Juliana Blackwell DOC – National

Geodetic Survey

x Dick Vraga DOI – USGS

Tony LaVoi DOC – NOAA Edward Hugler Dept of Labor –

OASAM

x Lynda Liptrap DOC – Census

Bureau

Cecelia Henderson Dept of State

x Anne O’Connor DOC – Census

Bureau

Mark Bradford DOT - Research &

Innovative

Technology Admin

x William Spencer James DOD – NGA x Raquel Hunt DOT – Federal

Railroad Admin

David LaBranche DOD – DISDI Jimmy Amoaka-Atta Dept of Treasury

Mitchell Fiedler DOD – DISDI Pheakdey Lim Dept of Veterans’

Affairs

Nancy Blyler DOD – US Army

Corps of Engineers

Tom Garin Dept of Veterans’

Affairs

Bill Nye DOD – US Army

Corps of Engineers

x Wendy Blake-Coleman EPA

Tai Phan Dept. of Education –

Institute of Ed

Statistics

Dave Catlin EPA

Vacant Dept. of Energy Donald Campbell FCC
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 Stephanie Foster DHHS – CDC x Michel Kareis GSA

x Lew Summers DHS – Office of the

CIO

George Deyckere GSA

Dennis Hardy DHS x Jacqueline Nolan Library of Congress

x Jon Sperling HUD – Policy

Development &

Research

Vacant NASA

Salvatore Sclafani HUD - Office of

Community Planning

& Development

Vacant NASA

David Chase HUD – Policy

Development &

Research

Vacant NARA

Antoinette Sebastian HUD – Office of

Environment &

Energy

Pamela Stephens National Science

Foundation

Don Buhler DOI – BLM Stuart Reiter Nuclear Regulatory

Commission

Doug Vandegraft DOI – Bureau of

Ocean Energy Mgmt,

Regulation &

Enforcement

Asghar Noor Small Business

Administration

Steven Schwartz DOI - BOEMRE x David Timmons Social Security

Administration

David Duran DOI – Nat’l Park

Service

Ray Mitchell Tennessee Valley

Authority

Tim Smith DOI – Nat’l Park

Service

x Lucie Vogel HHS

Other Attendees Organization Attendee Organization

x Bill Burgess NSGIC x Gita Urban-Mathieu FGDC OS

x Ken Shaffer FGDC OS x Travis Hardy FGDC OS, PMO

x Roxanne Lamb FGDC OS x James Irvine FGDC OS, PMO

x Lucia Foulkes FGDC OS x Anne Ball NOAA

x John Mahoney FGDC OS x Nathan Beck FDA

x Julie Maitra FGDC OS x Stephen Bryce ESRI

x Jennifer Carlino FGDC OS x Arwen DeLa Torre DOI-USGS

x Charley Hickman DOI-USGS x Larry Hothem DOI-USGS
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x Ashley Chapell NOAA x Kristie McLeroy USDA

x Linda Zellmer WIU x Bob Pierce DOI-USGS

Welcome and Introductions, Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC OS

Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC OS, welcomed attendees and asked them to introduced themselves 

Previous Meeting Action Item Review, Lucia Foulkes, FGDC OS

Actions from the meeting on January 13, 2015 were reviewed.

FGDC Business Update, Ken Shaffer, FGDC OS

[Presentation, PPT]

Ken Shaffer, FGDC OS, provided an update on FGDC business activities. Highlights included:

 The status of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report

 The National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) Management Plan Actions

 The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Strategic Plan Implementation

 The Geospatial Line of Business/Platform current activities

 Standards for FGDC Endorsement

 The President’s 2016 budget.

The GAO report will be released on March 16. Congressional hearings may follow the release of 

the report.

The Coordination Group members’ roles in implementing the NGDA Management Plan actions

needs to be clearly identified. The FGDC NGDA team is working with Theme Leads to register 

NGDA Dataset in Geoplatform.gov/Data.gov catalog. Current registration number is 69%. Due 

date for this task is March 31, 2015. Other action items due on March 31 included the approval 

of Theme Administrative Maturity Assessment Questions, the Theme Strategic Plan Template 

and the Geospatial Investment and Budget Report Codes. 

The NSDI Strategic Plan Implementation activities were noted as follows: 

 February and March 2015: John Mahoney and the PMO will obtain inputs from 

Executive Champions/Team Leads to discuss updates on the work plan. As part of the 

process they will also discuss possible CG roles and actions required in the 

implementation process.

 April 2015: Complete the FY 2015 NSDI Implementation Plan update. This is a status 

update of the activities and their due dates.

 Sept 2015: The Annual NSDI Implementation Plan action summary will prepared by the 

FGDC.

An update on the Geospatial Line of Business/Platform was provided. The FY 2015 Interagency 

Agreements with funding amounts were distributed. Members were asked to work with agency 

staff to execute them. The Earned Value Management (EVM) and DOI E-Gov Investment
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Tracking reports have been completed. Increment 3 of the Architecture has been developed and a 

draft was provided to the ExCom. The authentication capability is currently being transferred to 

the Platform from Data.gov.

An update on Standards was provided. The Standard Working Group recommended CG 

approval of the National Shoreline Data Content Standard for FGDC endorsement. A ballot

package for CG approval is pending. A CG ballot to approve the following standards for FGDC 

endorsement will close on April 6:

1. Aeronautical Information Exchange Model (AIXM) 5.1

2. GeoRSS-Simple and GeoRSS-GML

3. ISO/IEC 15444-1:2004 Technical Corrigendum 1:2007 and ISO/IEC 15444-1:2004 

Technical Corrigendum 2 JPEG 2000

4. OGC GeoPackage 1.0

5. Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes (GENC) Standard Edition 2 (with concurrent 

withdrawal of GENC standard Edition 1

A summary of upcoming meetings and agenda topics were briefly discussed. 

 March 17-18 – National Geospatial Advisory Committee: it was noted that Governor

Jim Geringer and John Moeller will give a presentation on the COGO Report Card

 March 19 – Steering Committee

 April 14 – Coordination Group

Ivan DeLoatch reported that the Presidents budget’s included $11 million for the Community 

Resiliency Toolkit. The FGDC Annual Report will be going on print in April. Comments and 

edits from CG members on the Annual Report are due tomorrow, March 11.

Dick Vraga, U.S.GS, suggested to have a calendar of due dates of upcoming actions deadlines on 

the business highlights report. He also commented that the budget code definitions on geospatial 

data are poorly written and asked if there is work currently performed to polish those definitions.

It was noted that there is a working group in place that is refining those definitions forbudget 

coding categories and those recommendations will go to the ExCom for review and 

recommendations. 

Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) Report Card , Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC

[Presentation, PPT]

Ivan DeLoatch provided an overview of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO)

Report Card. It was noted that the COGO report card is evaluating the NSDI framework layers.

The report contains good information that FGDC can utilized to improve the NSDI and ensure it 

meets national data needs now and in the future. Currently a message is being draft to 

acknowledge the report and COGO’s efforts. 
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Review of the Coordination Group Charter, Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC OS

[Charter, PDF]

Ivan DeLoatch noted that the Coordination Group charter review exercise is one of the actions 

from the January 13 meeting. Members reviewed and discussed the charter. The outcome of the 

discussion resulted on the following action:

Action: The Coordination Group will revise the Charter and define the relationship of Theme 

Leads. The FGDC will draft the new charter for the April meeting addressing the following:

 Clarification language on working relationship with theme leads and subcommittees

 Clarification language to include Non Federal participation in Working Groups and 

Subcommittees.

 Co-chairmanship of the Coordination Group - Each agency should chair the Coordination 

Group in a rotating fashion.

 Have the Theme Leads to participate in the Coordination Group meetings.

Coordination Group and Executive Committee Interactions, Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC OS

Ivan DeLoatch conveyed to the Coordination Group that the Executive Committee (ExCom)

discussed the participation of the CG members in future meetings. They suggested that the chair 

or an agency representative participate in the meetings. The ExCom also had the suggestion of 

developing a recognition letter that can be sent to leadership on each agency. The Secretariat will 

create a letter to the agency’s SAOGI’s so the agency is aware of the member’s contributions.

Developing the Coordination Group Meeting Agenda, Ivan DeLoactch, FGDC OS

The Coordination group discussed how agendas are to be developed considering the following:

working groups, subcommittees and theme reports, reporting schedule of subcommittees and 

working session topics, and other agenda items.

Comments:

Anne O’Connor, U.S. Census Bureau: the reports can be distributed in advance of the meetings

and the meetings can be focused on discussion rather than the presentation. 

Wendy Blake-Coleman, EPA: too much information on the agenda with lots of presentations

without having much time to have conversations. Topics discussed at the ExCom meeting can 

be included in the agenda. 

Dick Vraga, U.S.GS: suggested to have the anticipated outcome of the session

Ken Shaffer, FGDC, OS: pointed out that creating agendas are challenging as the Secretariat 

relies on the coordination group to provide topics. If the secretariat and the CG could work on 

having a 6 month or an annual agenda projected, this will assist in having working groups and

subcommittee reports scheduled in advance and have logistics ready. CG members will 

participate in the ExCom meetings should report on those meetings to the CG.

Michel Kareis, GSA: It will be helpful if we align our discussions with what the Steering and 

Executive Committees already have in their calendar.

Decision: Whether a Coordination Group Subcommittee, Working Groups, or NGDA Theme 

Lead is reporting, they are required to report at least annually.
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Action: The CG will identify a member to participate in the Executive Committee meetings to 

represent the Coordination Group.

Other Agencies Announcements, Ivan DeLoatch, FGDC OS

The National Geodetic Control is having a workshop April 16 and17. The Department of 

Transportation will have an Address Summit on April 8 and 9. 

The GeoSummit in Crystal City will be in April, from the 13th to 16th and there will be a 3DEP 

Stakeholder session in conjunction with that.

Action: Wendy Blake Coleman will forward announcement on upcoming activities for Data Set 

for Climate + Health data-jam/datalpalooza to Lucia Foulkes for forwarding to the CG.

Geospatial Platform, Jerry Johnston, DOI

Dr Jerry Johnston provided a live demonstration of the tool and capabilities of the Geospatial 

Platform, and highlighted that there is a good opportunity for CG involvement on the testing and 

in some areas of the designs. It was noted that the major focus of the current effort falls into the 

following categories:

 Transition of the Identity Management solution for the Platform from Data.gov to our 

infrastructure (Geoplatform.gov will become the identity provider for our users as well as 

Data.gov users)

 Completion and deployment of the new Web Map Viewer for geoplatform.gov

(see the current state of this application here -- http://wmv2.geoplatform.us/wmv/ 

However note that this is frequently changing...)

It was highlighted that the Coordination Group could assist in testing the capabilities of 

the data catalog.

 Better integration of the Platform's AGOL subscription (and any agency's organizational 

AGOL subscription) with the geoplatform.gov web content management system is 

occurring -- easily insert web maps and galleries into community pages on 

geoplatform.gov

 The migration to cloud infrastructure and stand up of geoplatform.gov shared hosting 

solutions is being planned.

 Deployment of the NGDA baseline assessment survey tool is pending.

 Development of the first NGDA performance dashboard to display results from the 

survey is in development.

 Extension of Marketplace capabilities to meet the needs of the NDEP /3DEP data 

acquisition planning efforts is on-going.

Comments:
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John Sperling, HUD: How can we better leverage all what has been done with all agencies?

Jerry Johnson, DOI: Everything done on geoplatform.gov will be released in a development 

repository. Code for the functions being built will be accessible.

Lynda Liptrap, U.S. Census Bureau: What’s the time frame of the cloud migration?

Jerry Johnston, DOI: Hosting capabilities will begin development in April/May.

Julie Maitra, FGDC OS: Inquired about the technical standards architecture.

Jerry Johnston noted that there is an architecture design document for Geoplatform.gov. It was 

noted that OGC standard support will be an important part of the work performed on the 

Platform.

Anne O’Connor, U.S. Census Bureau: Would like to have pages for private content. 

Additionally, a tutorial on how to update the community pages was requested. 

Jim Irvine and Travis Hardy will work with Dr Johnston to schedule a meeting for the CG and 

the theme managers to discuss the tutorial on community page management.

It was pointed out that the email servicedesk@geoplatform.us is accessible on the Platform to

submit any comments.

Dick Vraga, U.S.GS commented that perhaps a specific work group could be more appropriate to 

engage directly with the Geoplatform. 

It was noted that there is Architecture and Technology Working Group could be revitalized to 

support the activities of the Geospatial Platform.

Action: The Coordination Group will identify a chair and reinvigorate the Architecture and 

Technology Working Group to support the activities directly related to input and review of

Geoplatform capabilities.

2015 Coordination Group Work Plan, John Mahoney, FGDC OS; Gita Urban-Mathieu,

FGDC OS

[Presentation, PPT]

Ken Shaffer gave an overview of the different initiatives of the FGDC where the CG could be

engaged. It was pointed out that a work plan involved a compilation of activities where the 

Coordination Group needs to be engage with an associated schedule, the roles and who is 

associated with it. The Secretariat will manage the list so they can be reported on at the monthly 

CG meetings with input from the appropriate leads.

Comments:

On the NSDI; the executive champions update and validate the FY 2015 targets.

The goal is to identify and track the tasks the CG needs to execute.

Marita Cook, FBI: We need to also be mindful a having a user’s perspective and where agencies 

that are more users than managers of data can contribute.. The FBI is a user of data and we can 

look at the platform and see how we can contribute to the group.

The CG should reach out to other organizations and assist by talking to them of the value of the

GeoPlatform to the user community and get their perceived value from the user’s perspective.
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14

Question: What are the touch points for the CG on the FGDC initiative and work activities, what

is needed from the Coordination Group? Does the CG understand what their role is based on 

actions and plans in terms on the NSDI, or does the CG need an outline to know what they 

should be focused on so the activities are visible and understood?

Michel Kareis: the CG must have this discussion. A plan is needed to identify how the CG is 

connected and its role in each. This is the basis of the dialog of today. A sufficient amount of 

time should be dedicated to discuss the work plan at an upcoming meeting.

Action Item Review, and next meeting agenda items, Lucia Foulkes, FGDC OS

Actions were noted and will be prepared for submission to the Coordination Group. 

Adjourn