COGO releases 2018 Report Card on the U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)

Bronwyn Walls | February 5, 2019

The Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) has announced the release of its 2018 Report Card on the U.S. National Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The report card utilizes a letter grading system to depict the status and condition of the nation’s geospatial infrastructure.

Notably, the national assessment of the NSDI’s ability to meet future geospatial data, based on address, cadastral, elevation, geodetic control, government units, hydrography, orthoimagery, and transportation themes, rose from a C in the 2015 Report Card, to a B- in the 2018 Report Card.

“The new report card exemplifies that while progress has been made, federal, state, regional, and local government agencies, tribal nations, and private and academic sectors need to continue to collaborate to complete this important work,” says NSGIC President Dan Ross. “NSGIC fully supports that collaboration and will continue to work with our members to support and move this initiative forward.”

The improved overall grades reflect a broadened base of experts and government organizations involved in the assessment, as well as an expanded set of assessment metrics.

The objectives of the NSDI include reducing the duplication of effort and expense among agencies, ensuring that geographic data is more accessible to the public, improving the quality of national data, and establishing key partnerships within the geospatial field.

The COGO member organizations represent leaders in the geospatial field and collectively represent over 170,000 individual members. The member organizations aim to engage Congress, Federal agencies, and the FGDC to maintain successful practices and develop improvements and solutions related to the National Spatial Data Infrastructure.

The full 2018 Report Card on the U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure, along with the COGO press release, executive summary, video webinar, and presentation slides can be found on the COGO website.