Executive Order 99-6, which authorized the Council, requires an annual report to the Governor. The report enumerates accomplishments for the past year and outlines work plans for the coming year. The substance of the recently submitted report follows. A brochure version, complete with graphics and suitable for distribution, is also available.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS, 2003-2004

In 2003-2004, the council addressed its mission by

• Helping people and organizations get the data they need
• Communicating with Minnesota’s GIS stakeholders
• Coordinating state, regional, and local investments and activities
• Developing standards and guidelines that support data sharing

Helped People Get the Data They Need

• Developed and adopted a strategic plan for Minnesota's Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI) to serve as a basis for coordinated data development and distribution.
• Guided production of high resolution National Hydrography Data (NHD), now available for more than 80% of the state, up from 50% a year ago.
• Identified need for new orthophotography, met by leveraging $250,000 of state agency funds to support a $1.5 million federal project to produce color photography. Data is available at no cost to users through the Minnesota Geographic Data Clearinghouse.
• Supported the Minnesota Geographic Data Clearinghouse, which saved $6 million in staff costs through internet services that distributed almost 67,000 publicly funded datasets.

Communicated with Minnesota Stakeholders

• Met with emergency management professionals, participating in the Governor’s Homeland Security Conference (January 2004) and the state Homeland Security and Emergency Management Conference (March 2004).
• Invited presentations at Council meetings by K-12 geography teachers and members of MAGE, the Minnesota Association of Geographic Educators.
• Organized a session on Enterprise GIS in Local Government at the April 2004 meeting of Minnesota county IT directors.
• Held meetings in Moorhead and Red Wing to learn about GIS activities and needs in greater Minnesota.
• Used teleconferencing to increase broad geographic participation in Council meetings.
• Published 16 articles about important GIS issues in the MN GIS/LIS News.
• Published articles about statewide digital parcel mapping activities in Minnesota Cities, Technology Exchange and the CURA Reporter.
• Organized a workshop on “GIS and Emergency Preparedness” at the annual MN GIS/LIS conference (October 2003).
• Began redesign of the Council website to improve its value to the GIS community, IT professionals, policy makers, and the public.
• Promoted stakeholder responses to emerging state and federal standards through new e-mail initiative.

Coordinated State Efforts

• Helped obtain a $500,000 U.S. EPA grant to state agencies to develop tools for keeping hydrography data accurate and current. The data support programs to monitor and improve water quality.
• Reviewed the state’s proposed education standards and wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Education supporting GIS training for K-12 students.
• Endorsed a state/federal partnership to develop high-resolution digital elevation and flood hazard data, recommending that Governor Pawlenty authorize the Department of Natural Resources to represent the state as a Cooperating Technical Partner with FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Worked on Standards to Support Data Sharing

• Completed work on two standards and sent them to the state’s Technology Enterprise Architecture Review Board for review and approval: water basin identification number and city/township/unorganized territory identification number.
• Reviewed a new watercourse identification number standard.
• Developed a draft standard for identifying and delineating watersheds consistent with national standards and supporting consistency with neighboring states.

PLANNED ACTIVITIES, 2004-05

In 2004-2005, the council will continue to support faster, better and more cost-effective GIS services within Minnesota through the following activities:

Expand Efforts to Monitor Data Needs and Make Critical Data Available

• Work with Minnesota organizations to identify data needs and priorities.
• Complete plans for the development and maintenance of eight critical data themes.
• Explore funding options for statewide land parcel development.
• Coordinate the completion of high resolution National Hydrography Data for the state.
• Promote participation of data producers as cooperative partners with the Minnesota Geographic Data Clearinghouse for data discovery and distribution.

Enhance Communication with Stakeholders

• Implement the new Council website, including expanded efforts to announce Council activities, a new focus on Emergency Preparedness, updated information about standards, and better access to Council resources and publications.
• Increase the number of people involved in Council committee activities.
• Update the Council’s Communication Plan.
• Revise the Council brochure to make it a more flexible and focused publication.

Coordinate State Activities

• Promote recommendations contained in A Foundation for Coordinated GIS to implement the Minnesota Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI).
• Coordinate the state’s MSDI activities with national efforts to develop the National Spatial Data Infrastructure.
• Expand relationships between GIS professionals and emergency managers.
• Inventory GIS resources needed by emergency managers.
• Identify people within Minnesota who are willing and able to work with emergency managers.
• Investigate how to expand mutual aid agreements among emergency management operations to include GIS operations.
• Advise the Minnesota Geographic Data Clearinghouse about GeoIntegrator and other services aimed at providing one-stop access to state agency web mapping services and geographic data.

Standards Initiatives

• Investigate, through pilot projects, the practicality of transforming local land records to meet national standards.
• Finalize plans for making Minnesota watershed boundary delineation procedures compatible with federal guidelines.
• Complete definitions of events to monitor as hydrologic points of interest.
• Complete adoption of watercourse and watershed ID standards by the state.
• Improve Minnesota awareness of and response to emerging federal standards.