State GIS technical standards adopted by the Information Services Board

GIS technology in state government recently took a significant step forward. On February 6, 2003 the Information Services Board (ISB) adopted Geographic Information System (GIS) technical standards for metadata, horizontal datum and coordinate system, along with a process for creating and maintaining those standards. 

The decision finalizes five months of cooperative effort by the federal, state and local government representatives who created the initial standards draft. Working as the Technical Standards Workgroup of the Washington State Geographic Information Council's (WAGIC), the multi-jurisdictional group worked with both the Customer Advisory Board (CAB) and the ISB Subcommittee on Geographic Information Technology before presenting the standards to the full ISB for adoption.

The standards provide a consistent means of locating (using) GIS information through metadata. They will also reduce the need for agencies to transform and re-project data before using it. The benefits will increase as data portals  and Web mapping applications are designed and implemented to access the standardized GIS data.

Once implemented, the standards will facilitate state agencies' ability to share geo-spatial data while maintaining their flexibility to store data in ways that best  meet their needs. Both internal and external users of the state's data should realize long term cost savings by using the new standards.

The WAGIC Technical Standards Workgroup is working with state agencies to develop implementation guidelines and a metadata training program.

Find more information on the adopted standards and process at the WAGIC Standards Web page or the ISB Policy and Standards Web page.