It should be recognized that the amount of geospatial data is expanding rapidly, the methods for acquiring geospatial data are growing, and the ways geospatial data are being used are diversifying throughout local and state governments, as well as within the federal government. In addition to providing basic information on GIS and geospatial information, this report describes the federal geospatial enterprise and how it is organized. Given the complexity of managing, sharing, and using geospatial data from a variety of sources and across the breadth of the federal government, the 112 th Congress in its oversight role may have an interest in the programs and geospatial "assets" belonging to most federal departments and agencies. GIS and Geospatial Data: The Basics

GIS is a computer data system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information—information attached to a location, such as latitude and longitude, or street location. An example is the southern California wildfires during 2008. For policy makers, this type of analysis can greatly assist in clarifying complex problems that may involve local, state, and federal government, and may affect businesses, residential areas, and federal installations. This type of spatial analysis of foreclosure effects, with the visualization provided by GIS maps such as the New York Times example, can help inform policy makers about the nature and extent of foreclosure patterns, if the underlying data are reliable. Social Media and GIS: The March 11, 2011, Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

Within 36 hours of the March 11, 2011 magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Japan's northeast coast, a small team of GIS experts began a project for a volunteer group called GISCorps. The group intended to gather critical geospatial information to help humanitarian organizations working in areas damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. In this case, the information was vetted through the team of experts and included as GIS data layers in the interactive map. How Geospatial Data Is Managed at the Federal Level

		The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

OMB Circular A-16 was first issued in 1953 to ensure that federal surveying and mapping activities met the needs of federal and state agencies and the general public and to avoid duplication of effort. Under the revised Circular A-16, 19 members comprise the FGDC. In an August 19, 2002, revision, Circular A-16 affirmed the NSDI as "the technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data." The supplemental guidance labels geospatial data as a capital asset, and refers to its acquisition and management in terms analogous to financial assets to be managed as a National Geospatial Data Asset Portfolio. (See CRS Report Rxxxxx for a discussion of the most recent supplemental guidance to Circular A-16.) The liaisons are intended to represent and coordinate the National Geospatial Program (NGP) initiatives in state and local agencies, in addition to other federal agencies, in support of NSDI, The National Map, and Geospatial One-Stop.
Geospatial information is data referenced to a place—a set of geographic coordinates—which can often be gathered, manipulated, and displayed in real time. A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer data system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information. The federal government and policy makers increasingly use geospatial information and tools like GIS for producing floodplain maps, conducting the census, mapping foreclosures, congressional redistricting, and responding to natural hazards such as wildfires, earthquakes, and tsunamis. For policy makers, this type of analysis can greatly assist in clarifying complex problems that may involve local, state, and federal government, and affect businesses, residential areas, and federal installations.
Examples of how GIS and geospatial data are used within and outside the federal government are growing rapidly. In this report, a few examples are provided that describe the real-time or near real-time data analysis in the case of a California wildfire; policy analysis in support of a Base Realignment and Closure decision in Virginia Beach; and analysis of foreclosure patterns using census and other data for the New York City area. An additional example is provided demonstrating the burgeoning interaction of GIS and social media. In this case, Japanese citizens collected and provided census records, maps, and other information—a variant of "crowd-sourcing"—to a GIS team. The team assembled the information into data layers supporting an interactive map to assist humanitarian organizations working in areas of Japan damaged by the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-16, first issued in 1953, gives direction for federal agencies that produce, maintain, or use geospatial data. OMB Circular A-16 has been revised and updated in 1967, 1990, and 2002. Most recently, the Obama Administration issued supplemental guidance to Circular A-16 that labeled federal geospatial data a capital asset and referred to its acquisition and management in terms analogous to financial assets. How well these "assets" are managed depends, in part, on how the federal government is structured to organize and coordinate its geospatial enterprise. That structure is embodied in the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), comprising 10 cabinet-level departments and 9 independent agencies. OMB Circular A-16, via its revisions and supplemental guidance, as well as Executive Order 12906, issued in 2004, gives the FGDC primary responsibility for developing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The NSDI can be thought of as the infrastructure for federal geospatial "assets," or the means by which federal geospatial data are acquired, processed, distributed, used, maintained, and preserved.
The 112th Congress in its oversight role may have an interest in the programs and geospatial assets belonging to most federal departments and agencies within the framework of the NSDI. This report describes some of these programs to give a sense of the breadth and complexity of the federal geospatial enterprise.