Current Status
March 15, 2004
The 2003 Legislature provided funds for the GIS Initiative (which includes the GIS Hub) during the current 2003-2005 biennium, though not as much as we had hoped for. The IT consolidation mandated by House Bill 1505 in the 2003 Legislative Special Session has created a few unknowns regarding its impact on the GIS Initiative, particularly on agency servers. HB 1505 promotes the consolidation of certain core IT services within the state Information Technology Department (ITD) such as e-mail administration, file and print server administration, database administration, storage, and application server and hosting services. HB 1505 also included the potential transfer of agency positions to ITD.
Please be sure to visit the Interactive Maps page to see a growing list of applications. Of particular note is the Tax Department Sales Tax tool and the Department of Commerce business locator tool. The Department of Transportation Load Restrictions and Road Conditions are now hosted by the GIS Hub.
New data continues to be added to the Hub, with the most recent being high resolution aerial photographs over Bismarck and Mandan. For more information, please visit the New and Updated Data Information area.
The Resources section accessed from the home page has been expanded. The GIS Activities link now includes many GIS links from around the state, including some Federal links that apply to North Dakota. The GIS Standards link includes North Dakota and Federal data and accuracy standards. The Software & Tools link has grown to include downloadable utilities. Please note that if you are aware of other links that should be added here, please contact us at.
Vector data downloading is now available! This can be done using the Metadata Explorer or via the Hub Explorer. More information can be found by visiting the Extracting Data from the North Dakota GIS Hub. Use the Metadata Explorer to find a particular data set and download just that in the format and coordinate system of your choosing. Use the Hub Explorer to download one or more layers, clipping them to the current view if you wish.
Current work - The GISTC is just finishing up a vision plan for the next several years. We call this our "New Vision Document." Once completed, this will be put onto the web site. The GISTC is working with the ND-911 Association and the Division of Emergency Management (DEM) on a Homeland Security-funded project that will update the road centerlines of the entire state. An RFP is being finalized and should be released by the DEM in the next week or so. This is an exciting project as it would create a highly accurate road centerline data set which many applications can utilize.
Future work - The GISTC plans to pull in the data and functionality found on the ND Geological Survey Clearinghouse into the GIS web site. This would include downloading of raster data via FTP or HTTP. Eventually we want to provide raster downloading where one can specify a clipped area. The GISTC also plans to expand the use of the Metadata Explorer, to post more "in progress" data from state agencies, and hopefully information from other interested parties within the state. This would allow one to search for data, even if it resides outside of state government. This year, the GISTC plans to combine the "Full GISTC Meeting" with GIS Day, thinking that this multi-day approach would save on some travel time and expense.
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