"Enterprise GIS" Drive to Excellence Initiative

Until now, there has been no state agency assigned the responsibility for coordinating GIS across state government. This project is focused on implementing an enterprise GIS organizational and governance framework. Anticipated benefits include improved state GIS coordination and accountability, opportunities for consolidated data, software and equipment investments, standardization and more.

Drive to Excellence is a state-government reform initiative that focuses on serving citizens better. The Drive to Excellence Sub-Cabinet provides leadership and guidance to all projects; the Enterprise GIS project steering committee and working groups include members of the Governor's Council on Geographic Information Strategic Planning Committee.
 

NEW

The Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo) was created May 18, 2009. See an extract from the legislation, which includes MnGeo language in several places. The transition from the Land Management Information Center to MnGeo will take place over several months.

Advisory Councils:  Members appointed to the State Government and Statewide advisory councils to MnGeo

David Arbeit was named Minnesota's first Chief Geospatial Information Officer on June 24, 2009 at a "Point of Beginning" public meeting to introduce MnGeo.

• Press release  and  meeting invitation
• Launching Minnesota's Geospatial Information Office, David Arbeit (42 slides, 5 MB, PPT)
• MnGeo: Summary of the Drive to Excellence Functional Transformation Project, Michael Terner (16 slides, 1.2 MB, PPT)

Final reports:

• Program Design and Implementation Plan (89 p., 3.2 MB, PDF)
  • Appendix: All Agency Interviews (102 p., 2.6 MB, PDF)
• MGIO [MnGeo] Geospatial Advisory Body Guidelines, recommended by the Governor's Council (4 p., 38K, PDF)
• Measuring Progress of the Fifty States Initiative, September 2009. See pp. 28-30 for Minnesota case study (62 p., 573K, PDF)

More Information

• Overviews
  • Handout describing the proposed Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (2 p., 181K, PDF)
  • Project charter, January 8, 2008
    A concise overview of the project's context; potential benefits; deliverables; steering team organization and roles and responsibilities.
    • Summary (1 p., 50K, PDF)
    • Complete document (10 p., 74K, PDF)
       
• GIS/LIS News articles
  • Update: September 2009
  • MN Geospatial Information Office created: Summer 2009
  • Update: February 2009
  • Update: early September 2008
  • Update: June 2008
  • Input requested from non-state agency stakeholders
  • Overview of the project and its benefits
     
• Drive to Excellence website
  • Enterprise GIS initiative, including list of steering team members
  • The Excellence Report (November 2008, p. 1): Drive to Excellence Sub-Cabinet endorses creation of an enterprise Minnesota Geographic Information Office
  • The Excellence Report (September 2008, p. 1): project update and workshop photos
  • The Excellence Report (March 2008, p. 2): project update and photo of steering team members
  • The Excellence Report (February 2008, p. 1): Enterprise GIS project launch
  • Frequently asked questions about the Drive to Excellence reform initiative
     
• Comprehensive analysis process (functional analysis)
  Applied Geographics, a firm that has successfully worked on similar projects across the nation, will work with us to identify State agencies' GIS needs and capabilities and to recommend strategies for improved efficiencies, effectiveness, responsiveness and reliability.
   
  • Final Report
    • Program Design and Implementation Plan (89 p., 3.2 MB, PDF)
    • Appendix: All Agency Interviews (102 p., 2.6 MB, PDF)
    • MGIO Geospatial Advisory Body Guidelines, recommended by the Governor's Council (4 p., 38K, PDF)
  • Final Opportunity Assessment report
    • Enterprise GIS Opportunity Assessment (10 p., 178K, PDF)
  • State Agency GIS stakeholder workshop was held August 19, 2008
    • Workshop slides, David Arbeit and Michael Terner (52 slides, 1.2 MB, PDF). Includes initial findings from state agency interviews and an initial outline of the opportunity assessment.
    • Turnaround workshop summary (23 p., 2.3MB, PDF)
  • Non-State GIS stakeholder workshop was held June 24, 2008
    • Turnaround workshop summary (7 p., 53K, PDF)
  • Web survey complete. The results were used by Applied Geographics to prepare for the two stakeholder workshops and State agency interviews.
    • Survey results (16 p., 75K, PDF). Summary of all respondents.
  • Kick-off meeting was held May 13, 2008
    • Meeting overview and "Our Journey to Here", David Arbeit (25 slides, 725K, PDF)
    • Project overview, Michael Terner and Andy Buck, Applied Geographics (23 slides, 576K, PDF)
       
• Background information
  • 50 States Initiative strategic planning grant: As part of the Federal Geographic Data Committee's 2006 Cooperative Agreements Program, the MN Governor's Council on Geographic Information received a grant to further Minnesota's GIS strategic planning efforts.
    • Final report: Implementing an enterprise strategy for Minnesota's Spatial Data Infrastructure, Nov. 15, 2007. (17 p., 120K, PDF)  See the next two reports listed below for the attachments referred to on p. 16; the Pandemic Needs Analysis report is online at HSEM.
    • More info on CAP program
       
  • Compass Points Retreat, June 25, 2007. The facilitator's report from the Governor's Council strategic plan retreat. (33 p., 309K, PDF)
     
  • A Foundation for Coordinated GIS, Minnesota's Spatial Data Infrastructure, October 2004. A strategic plan for statewide GIS to help Minnesota organizations more effectively achieve their business goals. (52 p., 863K., PDF) | report details
     
  • Minnesota State GIS Enterprise Conceptual Architecture Design, March 2005. This document defines a high-level architecture for information technology and web-mapping interoperability in support of the goals outlined in the state’s strategic plan for GIS: the Minnesota Spatial Data Infrastructure. The structural design proposed would promote interoperability among GIS data and application providers, increasing efficiencies and reducing long-term costs in data resource and software application development. (22 p., 178K., PDF) | report details
    • The Case for a Minnesota State GIS Enterprise  A non-technical introduction to the Conceptual Architecture Design document, including an example of the benefits that such an architecture would provide. (8 p., 67K, PDF)
       
  • The Future of GIS: Minnesota GIS 2006, 2007 and Beyond, slides from the committee-sponsored panel discussion at the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium conference, October 6, 2006.
    • PowerPoint slideshow format (13.7 MB, PPS)
    • Adobe Acrobat format (10.1 MB, PDF)
       
  • GeoService Finder: An effort to gather and share information about geospatial applications resources in Minnesota -- the intent is to identify collaboration opportunities among public and private organizations.
     
  • Governance of Geospatial Resources: "Where's the Data? Show Me" -- Maximizing the Investment in State Geospatial Resources:  July 2008 report from NASCIO, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. Minnesota's Drive to Excellence project is described on pages 9-11 (23 p., 1 MB, PDF)
     
• Project contacts
  • David Arbeit
    Office of Geographic and Demographic Analysis
    Minnesota Department of Administration
    david.arbeit@state.mn.us
    651-201-2460
     
  • Fred Logman
    Office of Geographic and Demographic Analysis
    Minnesota Department of Administration
    fred.logman@state.mn.us
    651-201-2495
     

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