FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Joan
Moody
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July 18, 2005 |
202-208-3280
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Department
Announces New Geospatial One-Stop Portal at National Association of Counties
Conference
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Deputy Assistant Secretary
of the Interior for Policy, Management and Budget Scott Cameron announced
the launch of the new Geospatial One-Stop portal at the 2005 Annual Conference
of the National Association of Counties meeting in Hawaii today. The faster, more efficient
www.geodata.gov is an online tool
for combining thousands of geospatial resources from federal, state, local,
tribal and private sources. The portal enables decision-makers to access
geospatial resources and respond more quickly during an emergency to protect
lives, property and basic services. Geospatial One-Stop provides access
to more than 72,000 federal, state and local government geospatial resources. Specific portal improvements
include the addition of the Google search appliance and a new "community"
allowing better tracking, prediction and discussion of wildfires. "There is no doubt that
www.geodata.gov serves as a critical information resource during emergencies,"
Cameron said. "As multiple hurricanes pummeled the Southeast last
year, decision-makers could do everything from viewing real-time weather
maps of the United States to using stream-gaging tools to assess streams
approaching flood stage." In addition to emergency response, www.geodata.gov facilitates long-term collaboration related to transportation planning, social services, regional planning and environmental protection. Federal, state and local partnerships
for data-sharing are at the heart of Geospatial One-Stop and Geodata.gov. "Geospatial One-stop version
2 is now available for our partners to view, and I encourage partners
to provide feedback," Cameron said. "Our commitment to our partners
and those we serve is to provide a product that meets their needs, and
feedback is one-way of knowing if we hit or missed the mark." The portal aims to improve
access to geospatial data and resources, making it easier for citizens
and businesses to interact with the government while saving taxpayer dollars
and streamlining government-to-government transactions. The administration launched Geospatial One-Stop in November 2001 as one of 24 e-government initiatives to help make federal technology resources more accessible to state, local and tribal governments. The www.geodata.gov portal was launched in June 2003. The development of the latest, enhanced version of the portal has been underway since early spring 2005.
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