For many years, the federal government has taken steps to coordinate geospatial activities both within and outside the federal government. In 1953, the Bureau of the Budget first issued Circular A-16, encouraging expeditious surveying and mapping activities across all levels of government and avoidance of duplicative efforts. In 1990, OMB revised Circular A-16 to, among other things, establish the Federal Geospatial Data Committee (FGDC) within Interior to promote the coordinated use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data nationwide. Building on that guidance, in 1994 the President issued Executive Order 12906 for the purpose of addressing wasteful duplication and incompatibility of geospatial information, and assigned FGDC the responsibility to coordinate the development of NSDI. In 2002, OMB again revised Circular A-16 to further describe the components of NSDI; clearly define agency responsibilities for acquiring, maintaining, distributing, using, and preserving geospatial data; and to reaffirm FGDC’s role as the interagency coordinating body for NSDI-related activities. The circular established the following five components of NSDI and described how these components were to be implemented. Data themes. Data themes are topics of national significance, such as cadastre, which includes rights and interests in real property and surveys and land use/land cover, which includes land surface features and use. OMB Circular A-16 currently identifies 34 data themes and identifies the “lead” agency or agencies for each theme. Each data theme is to be comprised of one or more electronic data records, known as a dataset. Of the 34 themes, 9 are identified as a “framework” theme —that is, a theme identified in Circular A-16 as being critical for any geospatial application. Standards. Geospatial standards provide common and repeatable rules or guidelines for the development, documentation, and exchange of geospatial datasets. Metadata. Metadata are information about datasets, such as content, source, accuracy, method of collection, and point-of-contact. Metadata are used to facilitate the search of and access to datasets within a data library or clearinghouse, and enable potential users to determine the data’s applicability for their use. National Spatial Data Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse is intended to be a centralized geospatial metadata repository that contains geospatial metadata records from federal agencies, state and local governments, and academic and private sector organizations that can be searched to determine whether needed geospatial data exist and can be shared. Federal agencies are required to identify their existing and planned geospatial investments in the clearinghouse, and search the clearinghouse for cost-saving opportunities before acquiring geospatial data. In 2003, FGDC created the Geospatial One-Stop to provide “one-stop” access to geospatial metadata from a centralized database and search function. In October 2011, the Geospatial One- Stop was retired, and FGDC initiated a pilot project, known as the Geospatial Platform, which was envisioned to provide shared and trusted geospatial data, services, and applications for use by government agencies, their partners, and the public. According to Interior officials, Interior is the managing partner of the Geospatial Platform. As of August 2012, there were approximately 835,000 geospatial metadata records in the central repository, of which about 373,000 were from federal sources. Partnerships. Partnerships are efforts aimed at involving all stakeholders (e.g., federal, tribal, state, local government, and academic institutions) in the development of NSDI. In November 2010, OMB issued supplemental guidance specifically regarding how agencies are to manage data themes.guidance expands upon and clarifies some of the language and responsibilities contained in OMB Circular A-16 in order to facilitate the adoption and implementation of a geospatial asset management capability. To fulfill its responsibilities, FGDC is governed by a steering committee— an interagency decision making body that provides leadership and policy direction in support of the development of NSDI. The Secretary of the Interior chairs the committee; the Vice-Chair is the Chief Architect of the Office of E-Government and Information Technology of OMB. All departments or agencies responsible for geospatial data themes, or that have activities in geographic information or geospatial data collection or use, are required to be members of FGDC. Thirty-two agencies are members of the Steering Committee and are to be represented by their senior agency officials for geospatial information.officials are responsible for overseeing, coordinating, and facilitating their respective agency’s implementation of geospatial requirements, policies, and activities. FGDC is supported by the Office of the Secretariat, which consists of about 10 people located in U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) who do the day-to-day work of supporting, managing, and coordinating the activities of FGDC. The Secretary created the committee as a federal advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. services to citizens, to business partners, to employees, and among all levels of government. The act also requires OMB to report annually to Congress on the status of e-government initiatives. In these reports, OMB is to describe the administration’s use of e-government principles to improve government performance and the delivery of information and services to the public. OMB subsequently began initiatives to fulfill the requirements established by these laws: In February 2002, OMB established the Federal Enterprise Architecture, which is intended to facilitate governmentwide improvement through cross-agency analysis and identification of duplicative investments, gaps, and opportunities for collaboration, interoperability, and integration within and across agency programs. The Federal Enterprise Architecture is composed of five “reference models” describing the federal government’s (1) business (or mission) processes and functions, independent of the agencies that perform them; (2) performance goals and outcome measures; (3) means of service delivery; (4) information and data definitions; and (5) technology standards. In March 2004, OMB established multiple “lines of business” to consolidate redundant IT investments and business processes across the federal government. Later, in March 2006, OMB established the Geospatial Line of Business. Each line of business is led by an individual agency and supported by other relevant agencies. Interior is the managing partner for the Geospatial Line of Business and the FGDC Secretariat provides project management support. OMB reports to Congress each year on the costs and benefits of these initiatives. Over the past few years, we have issued a series of reports that have identified federal programs and functional areas where unnecessary duplication, overlap, or fragmentation exists; the actions needed to address such conditions; and the potential financial and other benefits of In particular, we identified opportunities to reduce duplication doing so.and the cost of government operations in several critical IT areas. In our most recent duplication report, we reported that better coordination among federal agencies that collect, maintain, and use geospatial information could help reduce duplication of geospatial investments and provide the opportunity for potential savings of millions of dollars. The duplication report reiterated the need for action among several federal agencies, FGDC, and OMB. While the FGDC had made progress in some areas to improve coordination in geospatial activities, our November 2012 report identified a number of areas in which little progress had been made. For example, FGDC had developed a metadata standard that included descriptive information about a dataset—such as the framework theme to which it relates, the time frame of when the data was collected, and who to contact for more information that facilitates the sharing of geospatial data. FGDC had also established a clearinghouse that allowed users to determine whether the geospatial data (including planned data) they are seeking exist. As noted previously, the clearinghouse consists of a centralized repository that contains geospatial metadatafederal agencies, state and local governments, academic and private- sector organizations; and multiple web-based portals from which the metadata can be searched. However, despite this progress, we found that FGDC had not fully implemented key aspects of activities needed for coordinating investments in geospatial data. First, although the clearinghouse was reported to have been modified in May 2012 to allow agencies to identify their planned investments, as of September 2012, there were no federal agencies using this function because FGDC had not yet completed and shared guidance with agencies on how to do so. Second, FGDC had not fully planned for or implemented a portfolio management approach per OMB guidance. Specifically, we found that FGDC had evaluated the 34 data themes identified in OMB Circular A-16 to determine whether any changes were needed; in August 2011, the Steering Committee proposed consolidating the 34 data themes into 17 themes; FGDC Secretariat officials subsequently stated that FGDC agencies were proposing to eliminate one more theme for a total of 16. We reported that officials further stated that, as of August 2012, lead agencies had been identified for each of the 16 themes. However, at the time, the data themes, lead agencies, and datasets had neither been finalized nor approved, and FGDC had yet to provide guidance to agencies about how to implement the portfolio management approach. While Secretariat officials stated that they had developed a draft implementation plan in November 2011, when we issued our November 2012 report, the plan had not been finalized or approved, and FGDC Secretariat officials were unable, on behalf of FGDC agencies, to provide a time frame for doing so. Third, FGDC’s strategic plan was missing key components and had not been kept up-to-date.