MEETING NOTES
November 9, 1999
Attendees:
|
Kelly Armstrong |
Arrowhead Regional Development Commission |
|
Christopher Cialek (chair) |
MN Planning – LMIC |
|
Tom Glancy |
MN Department of Transportation |
|
Mark Kotz |
MN Pollution Control Agency |
|
Matt Koukal |
MN Department of Transportation |
|
Jay Krafthefer |
MN Department of Transportation |
|
Robert Maki |
MN Department of Natural Resources |
|
Tanya Mayer |
Metropolitan Council |
|
Nancy Rader |
MN Planning – LMIC |
|
Shawn Toscano |
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) |
|
Ron Wencl |
US Geological Survey |
|
Nicole Brown |
MN Planning - LMIC |
|
Sally Wakefield |
MN Planning – LMIC |
(Meeting handouts available on request. Call (651) 296-1208 or email: gc@mnplan.state.mn.us)
INTRODUCTIONS, APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND LAST MEETING MINUTES
The meeting agenda was accepted as presented. Motion passed without dissent.
Minutes from 9/14/99 were posted on the web 10/9/99; any changes should be sent
to Nicole Brown.
ESTABLISH MEETING SCHEDULE FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2000
All meetings are to be held from 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. in room 301 of the
Centennial Office Building 658 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN 55155.
|
January 11, 2000 |
August 15, 2000 |
|
March 14, 2000 |
September 19, 2000 |
|
May 9, 2000 |
November 14, 2000 |
|
June 6, 2000 |
|
NOMINATION OF CHAIR AND CO-CHAIR
Chris Cialek was nominated to serve as committee chair. Mark Kotz was
nominated to serve as assistant to the chair. Nominations passed without
dissent. Cialek and Kotz will serve as named for fiscal year 2000.
STATUS REPORTS
GIS/LIS Conference: Cialek reported the conference panels related to
standards went well. Conference panel regarding finding data had fewer
attendants than expected. A second panel covering the National Standard for
Spatial Data Accuracy was less attended. Ron Wencl reported the total conference
attendance at 800, eliminating double counts. He stated that the GIS/LIS
conference ran simultaneously with the Mid-America GIS Conference. He
recommended that the Minnesota Conference be registered on national calendars to
encourage attendance and discourage scheduling conflicts with other events.
Staff Support: Wakefield reported on council staff changes. LMIC recently hired Nicole Brown to provide additional council support. Either Nicole or Sally will attend committee meetings to provide administrative support. Nancy Rader will no longer be responsible for meeting minutes.
Draft EPA Standard Response from PCA: Kotz reported that the EPA responded with surprise and gratitude that a state took the time to review and comment on the proposed Interim Latitude/Longitude standard. Kotz and other reviewers found that terms being used to describe the data were not consistent with those developed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and did not necessarily incorporate modern GIS concepts. The response received by Kotz revealed that the EPA standard was intended for its own internal tabular data. EPA is also interested in complying with the FGDC and will re-evaluate their standard where it is substantively different than FGDC. EPA is also interesting in incorporating Minnesota's comments about field domain lists that incorporate modern GIS data collection methods.
Positional Accuracy Handbook: Cialek reported that the Positional Accuracy Handbook is finished. The handbook is available in PDF format via the website and will be linked by the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Cialek reported that at the direction of Jack Dangermond, Tom Miller - ESRI, contacted him for an article about the handbook in the next issue of Arc News.
Governor's Council Annual Report: Cialek reported the Governor's Council fiscal year 1999 Annual Report is complete and is being distributed. Cialek noted that the standards committee completed four out of the six listed accomplishments highlighted in the report's introduction. The Annual Report is also accessible via the council web site in PDF format. Contact council staff for a hard copy.
COMMITTEE WORK PLAN
[Handout: Potential Initiatives FY 2000]
Cialek reported that he had presented a tentative committee work plan with
existing workgroups to the full council the previous week. Within that report he
mentioned that possible resources for the standards committee fiscal year 2000
include handouts, materials and meeting with experts, although he didn't
recognize an immediate need. He distributed a copy of potential initiatives
created by the council during strategic planning earlier in the year, which
outlines potential items for each committee. Cialek further reported that at the
January 12, 2000 Governor's Council meeting he will introduce the idea of
reinstating the Hydrography Committee.
Track legislative info policy activity that impacts GIS:
[Handout: Status of information policy task force recommendations]
Wakefield provided information to members about recent and potential changes to
the state's Data Practices Act, which mandates government responsibility
regarding data access and management. She summarized the handout with a brief
description of task force recommendations and their current status. Minimal
changes were made last year and little or no language changes are expected in
the upcoming legislative session.
Identify useful new attribute codes and unique identifiers:
[Handouts: Numeric Codes for the Identification of Minor Civil
Divisions in Minnesota, draft. and
FIPS 55-3 "Places" Codes as a Minor Civil Division coding standard
for Minnesota].
Mark Kotz reported on the GIS Attribute Coding Standards Survey linked from the
Governor's Council's webpage. The survey was developed to gather input from the
GIS community to direct committee efforts in the development of standards for
attribute codes to ease difficulties with data sharing and integration. The
survey was distributed at the GIS/LIS Consortium conference, but received little
response. An article in the next issue of the Consortium newsletter will solicit
additional help in completing the survey.
Kotz reported on a proposal that the state adopt the FIPS 55-3 place codes for use in Minnesota. FIPS codes are standardized data codes used by the federal government. Place codes are numeric codes developed to describe a particular place and provide a common, single coding scheme for minor civil divisions in Minnesota. Kotz asked committee members to review the proposal for discussion at the next meeting. If this scheme were adopted, a crosswalk table would be developed between these codes and other place codes already currently in use.
A state GIS enterprise model: getting started
[Handout: IT Architecture]
Chairperson Cialek introduced this topic by referring to the whitepaper
submitted to the committee last year by Robert Maki. The idea of how spatial
information fits into an overall state data architecture has come up at the
committee and full council. The council has asked the Standards Committee to
further investigate the subject and how it might fit in with council priorities.
Tom Glancy was invited to present information to the group about his recent
experience with data architecture and possible roles for the council and/or
Standards Committee.
Tom Glancy spoke to the group about what might be involved in data architecture planning and development. Glancy provided a handout that addressed one method of assessing what might be involved in building an architectural framework for an organization. He introduced a concept that involved completing cells in a 4x4-matrix model. The model helps an organization understand what data they have, goals and common practices. The index asks the organization to inventory their resources, identify principles that guide their information technology and would last through changing technology, identify any existing models or blueprints they have adopted or would like to incorporate and indicate standards that need to be used.
Glancy explained that many departments and personnel are involved in completing this type of IT architecture planning model. He noted that the Governor's Council might look at the process and define a particular role for the council, see where they might fit best in the process and identify which are beyond their scope. Recommending and developing standards to support the overall architecture might be an appropriate role. He noted that the work must be flexible to withstand industry change and that various time-frames must be considered, for example - what's happening now, 12-18 months from now and a vision for the future. Glancy offered to provide a similar presentation to the full council if requested. Cialek, Glancy and Maki have agreed to form a workgroup to discuss next steps regarding this subject.
OTHER BUSINESS
[Handout: GIS Standards Committee MnDOT Update]
Road Identification: Matt Koukal reported on the Road Segment ID
Standard. The transportation standard update is in the public review -
development stage. Koukal also spoke of MnDOT's interest in developing a State
Transportation workgroup that would incorporate state and local partners to work
on specific topics especially focused in the areas of standards and data
collection. MnDOT's Geographic Information Subcouncil will be heading up the
formation of such a workgroup. Anyone interested in participating is this
proposed workgroup should contact matt.koukal@dot.state.mn.us.
Keyword Thesaurus: Chris Cialek reported on the keyword thesaurus. This project needs to be picked up and finished. Cialek offered to continue to work on this project and invited participation from others in the group.
Cialek spoke of the need to try to have the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy (NSSDA) formalized as a state standard through the IPC.
Exploratory Cadastral team: Jay Krafthefer brought another potential work item to the committee's attention. He mentioned that there is great interest in the GIS community in implementing the FGDC Cadastral Standard. He noted that it might be useful to do some education around this standard. He mentioned the possibility of a handbook, similar to the NSSDA or workshops. The group identified some other individuals that may be helpful with this effort. Krafthefer, Cialek and Kotz will meet to discuss this further.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the GIS Standards Committee is Tuesday, January 11th,
2000, 9:30 - 11:30, Room 302, Centennial Office Building, St. Paul, MN.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
Minutes submitted by N. Brown