Policy, Open Standards, and GIS: The Open GIS Story in Arkansas

Putting together a healthy state GIS solution is not easy, but most GIS users and politicians would agree, it's essential. Putting together one that embraces open standards, may soon be essential, too. While OGC puts a solid emphasis on the technology that enables interoperability, there's another side of the equation critical to making an open interoperable implementation possible: interoperable public policy.

Susan Cromwell, current Chair of the Arkansas State Land Information Board, is one leader who understands how state GIS, open standards for interoperability and public policy come together. Her history of work with Academic, Research, and Client Services at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and later at the State Office of Information Technology put her in a position to appreciate what open standards can do for technology in general, and GIS in particular. That history helped Arkansas choose interoperability early on, and grow it through the years.

History

In 1987, the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville was selected as the first hub for the Internet in the state. Cromwell then managed the Network Information Center for the federally funded ARKnet/Internet project, which, between 1990 and 1994 wired every corner of the state. The open protocol of choice was TCP/IP. That was Cromwell's first experience with open standards.

In 1997 the state passed the Arkansas Information Systems Act (Arkansas Code 15-21-501). The goal was to set the state on a firm footing technology-wise. The legislation created the Arkansas State Geographic Information Office, Arkansas State Land Information Board, and the Office of Information Technology, which Cromwell was selected to direct. Among the tasks assigned to the office were topics as diverse as state land information coordination, updating existing open records laws to include electronic information, and creating a strategic planning process for enterprise-wide technology projects. The Land Information Board was tasked with developing "a strategy for establishing a statewide digital repository for digital geodata information systems." The committee defining the nature of the clearinghouse called "for processes to develop technical standards for interoperability" among other objectives.

The state had good reason to look at interoperability. A 1999 survey revealed more than 13 different GIS and related software products in use across the state. To serve this mixed community of users, the clearinghouse had to "be capable of receiving data in variety of different GIS formats, be capable of converting/transforming data for a variety of different GIS formats and conform to conventions promulgated through industry consortia such as Open GIS and through recognized standards bodies."

Building a Team

To get a solid geospatial technology team together Cromwell didn't need to look too far. She'd met Fred Limp while at the university and knew of the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies' (CAST) technical strength in GIS. She knew of a former Arkansas student who'd worked as community outreach contact for CAST, Shelby Johnson, now state GIS Coordinator, whom she tasked with leading the state GIS office. Another key part of the team was the Land Information Board, made up of twelve people appointed by the governor: three from private industry, three form local government, three from state government and three from higher education.

Because these groups were taking on their respective new roles in the state's GIS infrastructure at just about the same time during 1997, it was relatively easy to define boundaries for each. The Land Board would set policy, find funding, and advise and prioritize the work of the Arkansas Geographic Information Office (AGIO). AGIO would contract and work with CAST to create the necessary technology to serve the state. The AGIO projects, such as the Arkansas Digital Orthophotography Program, the Centerline File, and the County Assessor Mapping Project all depend on a very robust and interoperable clearinghouse architecture, which CAST has delivered and continued to enhance over the years.

The other key group, the Arkansas GIS User Forum, is not a state organization, but the end users of the GIS data and services provided by the state. Founded in the early 1990s, the Forum identifies one of its roles as "the standardization and sharing of data, with the ultimate goal of cost reduction." Draft policy documents are widely circulated through the group, which Cromwell describes as the "most inclusive work group I've ever seen." The group's review and input on policy issues help insure not only member buy in, but secures Forum member cooperation in disseminating the state's GIS vision to their peers and neighbors in the state.

On the Road to Interoperability

Cromwell's experience with open communications protocols and open records laws, and the state's vision of enterprise architecture helped point to just one way to make the state's GIS work successful. It had to be open. So from the early days of the Office of Information Technology and the Land Information Board, the watchwords were "open" and "standards." The GIS Forum members wouldn't "buy into" standards that meant they'd have to change software or that would make data acquisition cumbersome. Data in the state's clearinghouse couldn't be locked up and available only to users of some products.

CAST began a research project called SWAG (Seamless Warehouse of Arkansas Geodata) in 1998 with funding from the Governor's Telecommunication and Technology Infrastructure Fund. The project was selected as a Computer World-Smithsonian Innovation Award Laureate project and received an honorable mention in URISA's Exemplary Systems in Government awards (ESIG). SWAG later took on a new name, the GeoStor. On the backend are software products from five OGC member companies (MapInfo, Safe Software, Oracle, Sun and PCI Geomatics) with more on the front end for data "ingestion."

"Getting everyone to the table" with clearly defined roles, and a commitment to open systems brought Arkansas to where it is today. Cromwell points out that Arkansas is a bit special: it's a small state, one that happened to embrace open network protocols, statewide, relatively early. Still, it shares similar issues with local, federal and private organizations that are growing GIS solutions. "We all deal with who should collaborate, who the stakeholders should be, how to advance the project and how to identify the 'killer app' that will sell GIS to those with the funding," Cromwell notes.

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

When Cromwell looks back over the years, she continues to come back to an interoperable public policy approach and its importance in making statewide GIS happen. It was during the 2001 legislative session, under Cromwell's leadership, that several important pieces were codified. In addition to the update of the open records law, the state passed the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) and also created the Office of Executive CIO, reporting directly to the Governor. That year, the AGIO was moved to report to the CIO and become involved in the development of policies and standards for the state as a part of the Enterprise Architecture Team. Having the GIS function as an integrated part of all IT planning for the state and elevating it to neutral ground (not buried within a specific agency's GIS shop) has made the GIS community's interests much more visible to decision-makers. GIS has become part of infrastructure development in Arkansas.

Now as chairman of the Land Information Board, Cromwell is not resting. When a proposed $1.75 fee on real property parcels, which would pay for local and state land records modernization and geospatial technologies recently failed to pass, she and her team went back to the drawing board to seek out new options for funding. She is hopeful that efforts targeting federal funding of geospatial projects will help jumpstart statewide support, not only in Arkansas, but in other states, as well.

About the Author Adena Schutzberg owns ABS Consulting Group, Inc. She writes about geospatial topics on behalf of the Open GIS Consortium and other clients.