November 2004 Government Affairs Update

 

IN THIS ISSUE …

 

1.                 Election News

2.                 COFPAES Fall Meeting

3.                 Licensing Geographic Data and Services

 

Election News. As we all know by now, President Bush was re-elected to a second term. Also, many long standing Members of Congress were re-elected as well. The good news for us is that all of the friends we’ve made on Capitol Hill are back. There were several races that we had our eye on where we could have lost Members of Congress who have been supportive of our agenda. The most prominent of these races was the race between Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Martin Frost (D-TX). Sessions, who supported us with our geospatial issues and our fair competition issues, faced tough competition from Frost, but in the end, he will be back for another term. We look forward to working with our old friends on legislation important to us.

 

COFPAES Fall Meeting. COFPAES recently had its fall meeting. During the morning session of the one day meeting, attendees heard from Stanley Kaczmarcyzk of GSA who discussed Executive Order 13327 relating to Federal Real Property Management. The Order creates the Federal Real Property Council. Among other things, the Council will work to inventory federal real property, and will need contract support to accomplish that task next year. We also heard from Julia Wise of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Ms. Wise spoke about the establishment of an Acquisition Center for Excellence in Services. The ACES was formed as an initiative under Section 1431(b) of the Service Acquisition Reform Act. It will be an online resource center for service contracting best practices. The website will open on November 18 and its address is: http://acc.dau.mil/ace.

During the afternoon session, the COFPAES delegate meeting was held. We discussed a number of important issues. Federal Prison Industries, FPI reform legislation should pass in some form by the end of the year. Services Acquisition Reform Act, included in the SARA bill is a provision to establish an Acquisition Center of Excellence in Contracting for Services. COFPAES has been asked to assist in the development of a section in the Center dedicated to A/E services. Sending A/E Work Offshore, A DHS Contractor, CENTRA Technologies, is studying the issue of sending A/E work offshore. Also, COFPAES staff will be meeting with DHS Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection Robert Liscouski. Mapping Definition in FAR Part 36.6, COFPAES filed comments on the FAR notice on mapping in part 36.6. No final action has yet been taken, but the final rule should come out in the Federal Register soon. USACE Training, the Corps of Engineers has published it’s A/E Contracting Course Schedule for FY 2005. Member organizations of COFPAES can nominate an individual from the private sector for attendance. If interested, contact ACSM for more information. SBA Size Standards, SBA announced earlier this year that it would be abandoning its efforts, for a period of time, to convert service size standards from gross receipts to number of employees. The issue should come back next year.

 

Licensing Geographic Data and Services. Laurence Socci recently attended a symposium on Licensing Geographic Data and Services, sponsored by the National Research Council of the National Academies. The Symposium discussed the report by the NRC’s Mapping Science Committee on the need for licensing of geographic data and services. The Committee came up with 12 recommendations relating to the licensing of geographic data and services. Those recommendations are:

Recommendation 1: Before entering into data acquisition negotiations, agencies should confirm the extent of data redistribution required by their mandates and missions, government information policies, needs across government and the public interest.

Recommendation 2: Agencies should experiment with a wide variety of data procurement methods in order to maximize the excess of benefits over costs.

Recommendation 3: When geographic data are to be used to design or administer regulatory schemes or formulate policy, affect the rights and obligations of citizens, or have likely value for the broader society as indicated by a legislative or regulatory mandate, the agency should evaluate whether the data should be acquired under terms that permit unlimited public access or whether more limited access may suffice to support the agency’s missions and mandates and the agency’s actions in judicial and other review.

Recommendation 4: Agencies should agree to license restrictions only when doing so is consistent with their mandates, missions, and the user group they serve.

Recommendation 5: Agencies that acquire data for redistribution should take affirmative steps to learn the needs and preferences of groups that are intended beneficiaries of the data as defined by the mandates and missions of the agency. Agencies should avoid making technical choices in anticipation of secondary and tertiary uses or consumer preferences.

Recommendation 6: Agencies should dedicate resources to training and knowledge-sharing among agencies in order to extract maximum public benefit from licensing.

Recommendation 7: Agencies, trade associations, and public interest groups should exercise leadership in promoting standard clauses and form licenses throughout the geographic data community.

Recommendation 8: Agencies should continue to keep abreast of data brokerage and automated purchasing system developments that might help them coordinate data acquisitions from competing vendors.

Recommendation 9: The geographic data community should consider a National Commons in Geographic Information where individuals can post and acquire commons-licensed geographic data. The proposed facility would make it easier for geographic data creators to document, license and deliver their datasets to a common shared pool, and also would help the broader community to find, acquire, and use such data. Participation would be voluntary.

Recommendation 10: The geographic data community should consider a National Marketplace in Geographic Information where individuals can offer and acquire commercial geographic data. The proposed facility would make it easier for the geographic data community to offer, find, acquire, and use existing geographic data under license. Participation would be voluntary.

Recommendation 11: The geographic community should consider a system of “data donations” in which anyone who sells data using the National Marketplace in Geographic Information automatically agrees to donate their data to the commons after a commercially reasonable time.

Recommendation 12: Federal agencies should investigate options for and encourage development of a National Commons and Marketplace in Geographic Information.

 

Map Exhibit Update. The ACSM Map Exhibit took another step closer to becoming a reality recently when ACSM and Library of Congress staff selected the maps to be used in the exhibit. Samples of a wide variety of maps from the 1980s up to the present were selected for the exhibit. Additionally, plans were finalized for the various sections of the exhibit.

 

FEMA Multi-Hazard Map Modernization. FEMA recently unveiled its Multi-Year Flood Hazard Identification Plan (MHIP) for stakeholder review. The Plan contains sections on Stakeholder Input; Distribution of Funds; FY03-FY04 Production Report; FY05-FY10 Production Forecast; Production Analysis; Level of Study and Level of Risk; Cost-Saving Processes, Procedures and Tools; Natural and Technological Hazards; and Recommendations Summary.

Stakeholders who played a role in the development of the MHIP included: State and Local mapping partners; Mapping Coalition organizations, including ACSM; and the General Accounting Office. Stakeholder input and involvement are prevalent throughout the MHIP. Laurence Socci will meet with FEMA and the Mapping Coalition members on November 15 to discuss the MHIP. Look for more news on this developing issue in next month’s Government Affairs Update.