NC OneMap is the geospatial data backbone supporting North Carolina data users. It is an organized effort of numerous partners throughout North Carolina, involving local, state, and federal government agencies, the private sector and academia. NC OneMap is an evolving initiative directed by the NC Geographic Information Coordinating Council.

The NC OneMap Initiative
Benefits
Program Implementation
Digital Data Preservation

The NC OneMap Initiative
In 2003 the NC Geographic Information Coordinating Council (GICC) adopted this comprehensive initiative in partnership with county, municipal, state, and federal data providers. The NC OneMap Program promotes geospatial data standards; data currency, maintenance, and accessibility; data documentation (i.e. metadata); and a statewide GIS inventory. Thirty-seven priority data themes were selected as the initial focus.

Protocols for bringing data content together from local, state, and federal sources with consistent standards are being explored, as are infrastructure policies. A formal implementation plan was adopted by the GICC in 2004 and forms the basis for budgetary requests to the North Carolina General Assembly. The NC OneMap Program is actively promoting archival mechanisms so historic data sets are preserved for both temporal analysis and for the long term.

Read More:

• Vision and Characteristics
• Implementation Plan
• Focus on 37 priority data themes

Benefits
State, local and federal government agencies, universities, K-12 schools, utilities, non-profit organizations and the general public all need a reliable statewide resource. NC OneMap provides that critical linkage that helps promote public safety, better government decisions, and economic vitality in our communities.

• Access through one location to the most up-to-date geospatial data
• Instant availability of multi-jurisdictional data
• Data distribution costs lessened for participating governments
• Public investment leveraged for maximum effect
• More than one million dollars in cost-shares for local government orthoimagery
• Focus on common data framework and standards
• Forum for the NC GIS community to raise issues and solve problems together

CGIA and Program Implementation
CGIA is staff to the NC Geographic Information Coordinating Council (GICC). CGIA is responsible for executing GICC directives, including the NC OneMap implementation plan. The NC OneMap viewer is hosted through CGIA, which provides the data server and technical support for partners. The North Carolina General Assembly created a Database Administrator position to manage the NC OneMap content and a second position, NC OneMap Application Developer, that will support the viewer and participant connections.

Staff administers the websites, metadata program, NC OneMap GIS Inventory, federal cost-share program for local government orthoimagery, and federal grants in support of tasks specified in the Implementation Plan.

Archiving for Long-Term Access to Geospatial Data
Geospatial data sets, such as land records, street centerlines, jurisdictional boundaries, and zoning are constantly changing. Current data management practices commonly involve overwriting the older versions of data which are then no longer available. If retained, the earlier data could serve several business purposes, such as historical/cultural interests, support of legal proceedings, enforcement of environmental regulations, and aid in trend analysis.

The NC Center for Geographic Information and Analysis conducted a 2008 geoarchives survey of local county and municipal governments to document their current practices relative to the frequency of capture of geospatial data for archival and long-term access. The 2008 survey revealed similar results to the first survey conducted in 2006, although there were some important shifts relating to metadata, storage technologies, and awareness of business reasons to archive data. Archiving seems to be on the radar in many communities, but there is much to be done.

The Center for Geographic Information and Analysis in partnership with NC State University Libraries is participating in the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). The program is seeking solutions for managing the collection and preservation of digital geospatial records. The Office of State Archives and History in the Department of Cultural Resources is also participating.

Funded by the Library of Congress, the project focuses on content standards, digital rights management, ingest workflows, and secondary gathering and harvesting of data. The North Carolina project was extended until March 2009 to continue outreach and engagement with government agencies, conduct digital content exchange tests, and participate in NCDIPP network development. The NC OneMap program is key to the development of successful preservation strategies because it provides the core technical and organizational interface for managing and transferring content. More information about the NC Partnership. More about digital preservation at the Library of Congress.

2008 Initiative: The Library of Congress has asked North Carolina to participate in a 2008 initiative because of our state’s success on the geospatial data archiving project. Twenty-one states, working in four multi-state demonstration projects, will catalyze collaborative efforts to preserve important state government information in digital form. The North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis will lead one multi-state team, including Utah and Kentucky, which will work on replicating large volumes of geospatial data to promote preservation and access. The project will work closely with federal, state, and local governments to implement a geographically dispersed content exchange network of local and state geospatial data.