Geospatial Platform Documents

Name	Description
FY 2011 President’s Budget – Geospatial Platform language (PDF)	The FY 2011 President’s Budget included language calling for the establishment of a Geospatial Platform
The Modernization Roadmap for the Geospatial Platform v4 (PDF)	The Roadmap was written in response to the FY2011 President's Budget Direction to develop a Modernization Roadmap to implement the Geospatial Platform. The Roadmap's purpose is to: Define geospatial platform and establish vision and purpose Describe future state technology architecture Identify processes and organization elements to ensure success Describe strategic path forward to implement vision Identify actionable projects and activities for short- and mid-term implementation; including operations
Geospatial Platform Value Proposition (PDF)	The Value Proposition It describes the need for the Geospatial Platform, provides use cases demonstrating how the Geospatial Platform will support mission needs, and describes the benefits of the Geospatial Platform.
The Geospatial Platform Fact Sheet (PDF)	Learn about the background and benefits of the Geospatial Platform, as well as the Platform's offerings and intended customers.
NGAC Recommendations (PDF)	The National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) has provided advice and feedback on the Geospatial Platform as it has been developed. The NGAC has also approved resolutions in support of the Geospatial Platform.
OMB Circular A-16 Supplemental Guidance (PDF)	The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-16, Coordination of Geographic Information and Related Spatial Data Activities, provides for improvements in the coordination and use of spatial data, and describes effective and economical use and management of spatial data assets in the digital environment for the benefit of the Federal Government and the Nation. This Supplemental Guidance document further defines and clarifies selected elements of OMB Circular A-16 to facilitate the adoption and implementation of a coordinated and effective Federal geospatial asset management capability that will improve support of mission-critical business requirements of the Federal Government and its stakeholders.
FGDC Fact Sheets (outside link)	Download fact sheets on a variety of geospatial topics including the National Geospatial Data Infrastructure and Federal Geographic Data Sharing policy.
Geospatial Cloud Sandbox Initiative (GeoCloud)	The GeoCloud Initiative provides agencies with access to the Amazon EC2 Cloud hosting environment and provides open-source and commercial geospatial server instances to enable federal agency service of data for the Platform. This supports the "shared infrastructure" goals of the Platform. This link contains public documents that describe the GeoCloud effort.
Business Plan for the Geospatial Platform	Final version, redacted, of the Geospatial Platform business plan, dated September 20, 2012. PDF format, 1.1MB

COMMON DATA

Core geospatial data will be a key building bock of the platform offering. Data sets are selected by the Managing Partner because they meet inclusion criteria outlined in the A-16 Supplemental Guidance and are used by two or more agencies/partners to meet their business needs.

COMMON SERVICES

Common Services

Common geospatial services will provide users with consistent capabilities for performing necessary geospatial functions. Examples of common services include geocoding, basemap services, requirements development and tracking tools, system computing cycles and file transfer protocol (FTP) services, acquisition services, data production services and training.

COMMON APPLICATIONS

Key tools or capabilities that enable users to perform geospatial visualization or analysis, including software, online applications and geo-processing required by two or more agencies/partners/customers. This category of applications includes a broad spectrum of analytical support generated to facilitate the government's delivery of services to citizens.

The FGDC is an interagency committee that promotes the coordinated development, use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis.
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Data.gov increases the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use datasets generated and held by the Federal Government.
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