A Report of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee

June 2020

RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE 

2020 NATIONAL SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE 

STRATEGIC PLAN
NGAC NSDI Strategic Plan Recommendations – June 2020

National Geospatial Advisory Committee (www.fgdc.gov/ngac) 1

Introduction

The National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) established a National Spatial Data Infrastructure 

(NSDI) Strategic Plan Subcommittee at the December 2019 NGAC meeting. The purpose of the 

subcommittee was to “provide input to and advice for the 2020-2021 NSDI Strategic Plan.” The initial 

tasks of the subcommittee were to develop revised draft vision, mission, and guiding principles for the 

NSDI Strategic Plan, and to provide input and feedback on goals and strategies. This paper provides the 

subcommittee’s initial recommendations. 

The subcommittee reviewed the related documents (Table 1) and held weekly web conference calls to 

synthesize ideas and develop the vision, mission, and guiding principles included in this report.

.

Table 1: Related documents reviewed by the subcommittee

• Geospatial Data Act

• Past NSDI strategic plans

• 2018 NSDI strategic planning document by NGAC action team

• NSGIC 2019 Geospatial Maturity Assessment

• COGO 2018 NSDI Report Card

• Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan

• Other Federal strategic plans: National Plan for Civil Earth Observations, Transportation for the 

Nation, FEMA, USACE Navigation Strategic Plan, 911 Data and Information Sharing Plan

The subcommittee discussed examples of visions, missions, and guiding principles from these 

documents to contextualize the roles and needs of the NSDI in national strategic approaches. After 

multiple iterations of discussion and revisions, the subcommittee recommends the following vision, 

mission, and guiding principles for the 2020-2022 NSDI Strategic Plan. These components will be 

integrated with the goals and objectives being developed by the FGDC NSDI Core Team.

Vision: Empowering a geo-enabled Nation and world for place-based 

decision making

The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) enables citizens, commerce, and all levels of 

government to contribute to and utilize a national network of geospatial resources. Readily 

accessible and easy to use geospatial resources – including data, information, applications, and 

expertise - empower our nation by enabling improved understanding, in-depth insight, and 

informed decision-making to address a range of economic, social, and environmental challenges. 

Nearly everything and every event is geographically located and contextually described. The 

NSDI geo-enables the Nation and world for the benefit of society, economy, and the 

environment. 
NGAC NSDI Strategic Plan Recommendations – June 2020

National Geospatial Advisory Committee (www.fgdc.gov/ngac) 2

Mission: The NSDI provides a national network of geospatial resources 

that seamlessly integrates location-based information to serve the needs 

of the Nation and wider global interests

The purpose of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is to design, build, maintain, and 

enhance the value of geospatial resources in conjunction with statistical data and other sources 

of information. The NSDI coordinates the ever-evolving collection of data, information, 

technology, standards, services, policies, and people. It enables seamless data development, 

information sharing, and collaborative decision making within a trusted, accuracy-assured, and 

properly protected environment. The NSDI informs decision making at all levels of society with 

the ability to understand, protect, and promote national and wider global interests.

Guiding Principles:

1. Promote the utilization of geospatial resources to improve insight and decision making

2. Ensure that geospatial data are current, accurate, open, interoperable, and easy to 

access

3. Build trust by safeguarding privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property and by 

ensuring ethical practices

4. Foster an open, inclusive, and collaborative environment across sectors

5. Encourage innovation and a culture of learning and accountability

6. Leverage resources, expertise, and investments through partnerships

7. Lead, support, and advance spatial data infrastructure globally

The guiding principles describe a set of values for NSDI action and decision making. These 

principles leverage concepts from relevant laws, policies, and best practices and reflect inputs 

from diverse geospatial communities. By contextualizing ethical governance, conscious design, 

and learning culture in developing geospatial resources and empowering place-based decision 

support, the NSDI guiding principles cultivate partnerships to strengthen our national and global 

geospatial enterprise.

Acknowledgements

This paper was approved by the NGAC NSDI Strategic Plan Subcommittee in March 2020. Subcommittee 

members included May Yuan, University of Texas – Dallas (Chair); Gar Clarke, State of New Mexico; 

Roberta Lenczowski, Roberta E. Lenczowski Consulting; Mark Reichardt, Open Geospatial Consortium; 

and Christine Stinchcomb, Paulding County, GA.