U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
GEOSPATIAL
STRATEGIC PLAN
FY2023-2027
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AWARENESS DATA TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE INVESTMENTS
SEPA
OCTOBER 2022
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
GEOSPATIAL STRATEGIC PLAN AT A GLANCE ii
INTRODUCTION 1
Geospatial Program Mission: Who We Are 1
Geospatial Program Vision: Our Future State 2
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 2
Goal 1: Build awareness of the geospatial resources and capabilities and foster partnerships to leverage those assets 3
1.1 Enhance partnerships and increase internal awareness of EPA's geospatial data, products, tools, and services 3
1.2 Obtain senior-level strategic understanding and support of the Geospatial Program 3
1.3 Build new partnerships with states, tribes, and other federal agencies to increase collaboration and data sharing 3
Goal 2: Manage data to meet EPA's open data requirements and maximize data access and support for EPA decision-making 4
2.1 Develop and communicate best practices for collecting geospatial data 4
2.2 Develop a framework and procedures for publishing, accessing, and sharing sensitive data 4
2.3 Enhance discovery, access, and use of data 4
Goal 3: Integrate appropriate technology and anticipate future enterprise needs 5
3.1 Integrate with open-source efforts 5
3.2 Promote interoperability of tools with other Agency solutions and infrastructure 5
3.3 Enable better integration with program office, regional, state, and tribal tools and solutions 5
3.4 Integrate geospatial enterprise services and capabilities into the EPA architecture and IT/IM governance processes 5
Goal 4: Build capacity and expertise through workforce development and recruitment 6
4.1 Conduct workforce planning 6
4.2 Enable efficient recruitment and onboarding of new talent 6
4.3 Provide training on geospatial products and tools 6
Goal 5: Optimize enterprise geospatial investments 7
5.1 Develop and improve enterprise geospatial governance 7
5.2 Emphasize the use of consistent policies, processes, and procedures across the enterprise 7
5.3 Identify opportunities to improve EPA business processes using geospatial tools 7
5.4 Identify efficiencies through enterprise approaches 7
IMPLEMENTATION 8
APPENDIX A: GEOSPATIAL PROGRAM GOVERNANCE 9
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027 i
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GEOSPATIAL STRATEGIC PLAN AT A GLANCE
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
GEOSPATIAL STRATEGIC PLAN
FY2023-2027
Our Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives form the Foundation for
Our Five-Year Strategic Plan
&EPA
OUR MISSION
OUR VISION
The Geospatial Program coordinates and integrates
geospatial data and technologies into Agency
activities to inform better decisions.
The Geospatial Program is fully integrated
into EPA's operations and environmental
decision-making.
OUR GOALS
AWARENESS
Build awareness of
the geospatial
resources and
capabilities and
foster partnerships to
leverage those assets
DATA
Manage data to
meet EPA's open data
requirements and
maximize data access
and support for EPA
decision-making
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TECHNOLOGY
Integrate
appropriate
technology and
anticipate future
enterprise needs
•••
III
WORKFORCE
Build capacity
and expertise
through workforce
development and
recruitment
INVESTMENTS
Optimize
enterprise
geospatial
investments
OUR OBJECTIVES
• Enhance partnerships
• Develop and
• Integrate with
• Conduct workforce
• Develop and improve
and increase internal
communicate
open-source efforts
planning
enterprise geospatial
awareness of EPA's
best practices
• Promote interoperability
• Enable efficient
governance
geospatial data,
for collecting
of tools with other
recruitment and
• Emphasize the use
products, tools
geospatial data
Agency solutions
onboarding of
of consistent policies,
and services
• Develop a
and infrastructure
new talent
processes, and
• Obtain senior-level
framework and
• Enable better
• Provide training on
procedures across
strategic understanding
procedures for
integration with
geospatial products
the enterprise
and support of the
publishing, accessing,
program office, regional,
and tools
• Identify opportunities
Geospatial Program
and sharing
state, and tribal tools
to improve EPA
• Build new partnerships
sensitive data
and solutions
business processes
with states, tribes, and
• Enhance discovery,
• Integrate geospatial
using geospatial tools
other federal agencies
access, and use
enterprise services and
• Identify efficiencies
to increase collaboration
ofdata
capabilities into the EPA
through enterprise
and data sharing
architecture and IT/IM
governance processes
approaches
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency GeospatialStrategic Plan: FY2023-2027 provides direction
and guidance for the EPA Geospatial Program to identify priorities
that support the Agency's mission now and in the future. The plan
ensures the program's work is aligned and integrated, and the EPA
program offices and regions are working together to identify and
provide geospatial data, tools and services that support
environmental decision-making. The Geospatial Program's Mission.
Vision, and Goals and Objectives form the foundation for the five-
year Strategic Plan. The plan is a living document that will be
evaluated annually and updated as needed to reflect changes in
business needs and priorities.
The EPA geospatial community is at the center of the Geospatial Strategic Plan. The EPA's Geospatial
Advisory Committee (EGAC), which is comprised of representatives from the EPA program offices and
regions, provided input into the development of this plan and will conduct annual priority setting
exercises to identify projects that will support the realization of the goals and objectives outlined.
Geospatial Program Mission: Who We Are
EPA's National Geospatial Program coordinates the use of geospatial data to assist EPA in carrying out
its mission to protect human health and the environment. The
program integrates place-based data into the Agency's business to
inform evidence-based decision-making that protects human health
and the environment through:
¦ Collecting and creating geospatial data,
¦ Building applications that allow users to search, discover and
visualize geospatial information,
¦ Creating standards and policies that increase the ability for
applications and data to be shared and used, and
¦ Integrating data and spatial analyses into Agency business processes, workflows, and tools.
The Geospatial Program's success is attributed to its strong customer and mission driven approach that
is supported by a robust governance structure that values input and buy-in from EPA's program offices
and regions (see Appendix A for an overview of the governance structure). The program provides
support to the Agency's geospatial community through enterprise licenses to tools and services,
technical support, communications, and training. The program is supported by a Geospatial
Information Officer (GIO) who advises EPA on geospatial-related topics, including priority setting,
budget planning, and the development and implementation of enterprise tools.
When the Geospatial Program was established in the late 1980s, there was very little basic data to
support environmental analysis, and geographic information system (GIS) work was mostly isolated
from mainstream information technology (IT). Significant progress over time has broadened EPA
Example Applications
¦ AirNow
¦ Cleanups in My Community
¦ EJ Screen
¦ EnviroAtlas
¦ How's My Waterway
¦ My Environment
¦ NEPAssist
Geospatial Program
Mission
The Geospatial Program
coordinates and integrates
geospatial data and
technologies into Agency
activities to inform better
decisions.
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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employees' access to and utilization of geospatial data, services, and applications, and streamlined the
process for sharing web maps internally, with partner organizations, and the public. The Geospatial
Program's significant achievements include implementing the GeoPlatform and establishing an
enterprise agreement and funding mechanism for the Esri GIS software license. In addition, EPA has
developed many geospatial applications that allow the public to explore and interact with geospatial
data. While the Geospatial Program has made significant progress over the years in integrating
geospatial capabilities into EPA's mission-essential services, such as emergency operations, more work
needs to be done to fully integrate the program into EPA's operations and environmental decision-
making processes.
Geospatial Program Vision: Our Future State
To build on the Geospatial Program's current capabilities and broaden adoption across the Agency, the
program will build the capacity, staffing, resources, and knowledge of managers and staff to use
geospatial tools to share information. The EPA is evolving as
continue to evolve its technology and implement new tools
while ensuring that the current tools and services are
maintained and supported. In addition, the program will evolve and mature to support big data
management and analytics. Through capacity building, working collaboratively, and promoting
consistent implementation, the Geospatial Program will be fully integrated into EPA's operations and
environmental decision-making.
This plan lays out five goals and associated objectives to achieve the Geospatial Program's future
1. Build awareness of the geospatial resources and capabilities and foster partnerships to leverage
those assets.
2. Manage data to meet EPA's open data requirements and maximize data access and support for
EPA decision-making.
3. Integrate appropriate technology and anticipate future enterprise needs.
4. Build capacity and expertise through workforce development and recruitment.
5. Optimize enterprise geospatial investments.
an organization with staff gaining more technical experience.
The program will support the current and future workforce
through communications and training and will foster
partnerships and leverage expertise. The program will
Geospatial Program
Vision
The Geospatial Program is fully
integrated into EPA's operations and
environmental decision-making.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
vision:
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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Goal 1: Build awareness of the geospatial resources and
capabilities and foster partnerships to leverage those assets
The Geospatial Program will develop strategies to build awareness of the program and
foster partnerships that build upon and leverage the program's
resources. The geospatial community will break down Agency silos
and develop a more enterprise approach to sharing information
and tools. The program will increase internal awareness of EPA's
geospatial products, tools, and services, and will showcase content
directly to the programs within the context of their business needs
to foster engagement at the National Program Manager (NPM)
level. The Geospatial Program will coordinate with internal data
system owners to ensure they appreciate the value of their data
beyond their individual system and provide access to support
secondary uses to meet other mission needs.
Support from EPA senior management is paramount to the success of the Geospatial Program. The
program will identify opportunities to communicate the program's value to EPA senior management
and will ensure its activities are aligned with the Administrator's
priorities and the EPA Strategic Plan. The program will highlight
how geospatial products, services, and tools can address the
Agency's top business priority areas and will develop success
stories that highlight interoperability across EPA.
Communication
Mechanisms
Internet and Intranet sites
Training
Newsletters
GIS Workshops
Webinars
Conferences
Short Videos
StoryMaps
The Geospatial Program will leverage current Agency partnerships
and will build external partnerships with other agencies and
organizations to increase collaboration and data sharing. The
program will conduct an annual analysis to identify opportunities
to expand communication, collaboration, and partnerships with
states and tribes and will coordinate on specific projects and
datasets. The program will continue its work to annually identify
and communicate geospatial components for the Exchange
Network (EN) Grant Solicitation Notice (SN).
Goal 1 Objectives:
1.1 Enhance partnerships and increase internal awareness of EPA's
geospatial data, products, tools, and services
1.2 Obtain senior-level strategic understanding and support of the
Geospatial Program
1.3 Build new partnerships with states, tribes, and other federal agencies to increase collaboration and
data sharing
Example Federal
Partnership Projects
EnviroAtlas
Department of Homeland
Security Homeland
Infrastructure Foundation-
Level Data (HIFLD)
Federal Geographic Data
Committee (FGDC)
National Oceanic and
Administrative
Administration's (NOAA)
Climate Resilience
Information System
Lead Mapping
Environmental Justice (EJ)
Interagency Coordination
Department of Interior
(DOI) Tribal Boundaries
United States Geological
Survey (USGS) National
Hydrography Dataset Plus
(NHDPIus)
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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Goal 2: Manage data to meet EPA's open data requirements and
maximize data access and support for EPA decision-making
Data are key to making decisions, and the Geospatial Program supports open data
initiatives to enable EPA partners and the public to use data for
environmental decision-making. The Geospatial Program will be a
data steward and work closely with EPA's Chief Data Officer (CDO) to
align the Geospatial Program's activities with EPA's data
management program.
FAIR Data Principles
The Geospatial Program
will coordinate with the
CDO and federal agency
partners to support the
FAIR data principles to
ensure EPA's data is
fine/able, accessible,
interoperable, and
reusable.
The Geospatial Program will develop and communicate best
practices for collecting geospatial data. The program will collaborate
with EPA's data collection programs to plan for the eventual use,
analysis, and visualization of data, and will ensure EPA's data
collection standards and methods include best practices for
collecting geospatial data that can be integrated with data from EPA
and other agencies. The community will share best practices with Agency partners for accurately
collecting and integrating locational data into EPA reporting systems and will communicate and
encourage the adoption of EPA's open data requirements to state and tribal partners.
The Geospatial Program will develop a framework and procedures for publishing, accessing, and
sharing sensitive data. To ensure the appropriate access and sharing
of sensitive data, the Geospatial Program will implement a secure
GeoPlatform instance that is integrated with EPA's Data Management
Analytics Platform (DMAP).
Spotlight Project
Geosecure
Geosecure will be
implemented in FY22 and
will ensure that sensitive
data, such as drinking water,
parcel data and EPA
occupied building data, are
available within EPA with
appropriate access controls.
The Geospatial Program will enhance the discovery, access, and use of
data by working with the CDO to utilize the metadata catalog that is
under development. The program will work to close the gap between
the information in the GeoPlatform and the new metadata catalog to
ensure data are registered in one place and are more discoverable. In
addition, the program will work to improve the discoverability and
findability of data and resources through its existing intranet and
internet sites.
Goal 2 Objectives:
2.1 Develop and communicate best practices for collecting geospatial data
2.2 Develop a framework and procedures for publishing, accessing, and sharing sensitive data
2.3 Enhance discovery, access, and use of data
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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••• Goal 4: Build capacity and expertise through workforce
development and recruitment
The Geospatial Program will build Agency capacity and expertise through workforce
planning, recruitment, new talent onboarding, and training to broaden the community of experts who
can assist with visualizing and analyzing data to answer mission-related questions. The program will
conduct workforce planning, implement best practices for institutional knowledge transfer, such as the
Institutional Knowledge Retention toolkit, and develop a process to establish mutual support
agreements between program offices and regions to support short-term, high-priority projects. The
program will influence Agency succession planning to include
required geospatial skillsets. Through the implementation of
standard techniques, platforms, and analytical methods, the
program will gain a deep bench of skills.
Spotlight Projects
Workforce Planning
Standard Hiring Packages
and Position Descriptions
Formal Mentorship Program
Task Oriented and User
Focused Training Videos
The Geospatial Program will enable efficient recruitment and
onboarding of talent and will work with the Office of Human
Resources (OHR) and the HR Shared Service Centers to establish
standard hiring packages for key positions, such as GIS Lead and GIS
Coordinator. The program will coordinate with the CDO and the
Data Governance Council (DGC) to develop standard position descriptions for data scientists and
coordinate on cross-agency recruitments. To assist with onboarding of new talent, the Geospatial
Program will establish a formal mentorship program to align experienced geospatial subject matter
experts with new employees to ensure they have the guidance to succeed. The program will utilize
training to successfully transition employees into new positions and ensure they have the knowledge
and tools to prosper.
The Geospatial Program will continue to provide training to broaden the community of experts who
can leverage the tools for decision-making. The program will continue to host GIS Workshops and
Webinars and provide training on geospatial products and tools. The program will develop new,
shorter task-oriented training videos and user-focused training sessions that are targeted to managers,
power users, and non-geospatial staff. The program will expand and coordinate open office hours
across the Agency to provide employees with opportunities to ask questions in an informal setting.
Goal 4 Objectives:
4.1 Conduct workforce planning
4.2 Enable efficient recruitment and onboarding of new talent
4.3 Provide training on geospatial products and tools
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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Goal 5: Optimize enterprise geospatiai investments
The Geospatiai Program will manage the EPA's enterprise geospatiai resources effectively
and realize efficiencies through enterprise approaches and processes. The Geospatiai
Program's governance structure (see Appendix A) optimizes the distribution and management of
enterprise geospatiai resources. Through its governance framework,
the program manages enterprise geospatiai resources, such as the
GeoPlatform. The program will continually look for opportunities to
evolve the governance framework to ensure it is consistent with and
aligns to the broader EPA IT/IM governance framework, including
the Chief Information Officer Strategic Advisory Council (CIO SAC)
and the IT/lnformation Management (IM) Operations Committee
(IOPC). The program will work with the IOPC to share requirements
and collaborate on key initiatives such as integrating EPA datasets
with GIS resources.
The Geospatiai Program will continue to emphasize the use of
consistent policies, processes, and procedures across the enterprise,
and will implement regular review cycles to ensure they are kept up
to date. The program will identify consistent reusable components within the procedures and will
conduct outreach and training to ensure partners and stakeholders are aware of enterprise resources
and guidelines.
The Geospatiai Program will identify opportunities to improve EPA business processes using geospatiai
tools. The program will identify and promote GIS tools that can support EPA mission work and will
identify enterprise business processes where GIS tools and enterprise solutions can help make better
decisions or facilitate decision-making, such as mapping the place of performance for the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law (BIL) grants and utilizing ArcGIS Indoors for facilities management. The program will
develop guidelines for new tools to assist users in understanding how they can be utilized.
The Geospatiai Program will continue to identify efficiencies through existing and new enterprise
approaches and will identify program and regional applications that can be expanded and adopted
enterprise-wide, such as EJScreen, EPA floorplan data set, and NEPAssist. In addition, the program will
identify and provide access to datasets that can be utilized by the enterprise, such as sea level rise
data, disaster debris dataset, building footprints, endangered species, basemap data, and parcel and
site boundaries.
Goal 5 Objectives:
5.1 Develop and improve enterprise geospatiai governance
5.2 Emphasize the use of consistent policies, processes, and procedures across the enterprise
5.3 Identify opportunities to improve EPA business processes using geospatiai tools
5.4 Identify efficiencies through enterprise approaches
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Example Enterprise
Approaches
¦
Enterprise licenses
¦
Enterprise hosting (e.g.,
GeoPlatform, DMAP)
¦
Security Plans
¦
SORNs
¦
Enterprise contract and
task order language
¦
Shared Enterprise
Geodata Services (SEGS)
¦
Data Governance Council
Geospatiai Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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IMPLEMENTATION
The Geospatial Program will work collaboratively with the geospatial community to implement the
Strategic Plan. The plan is a living document that will be revisited each year to ensure the goals and
objectives continue to align with the Geospatial Program's, Chief Information Officer's (CIO) and the
Agency's priorities. Each fall, the EGAC will conduct an annual planning process to identify priorities
and develop an action plan with activities that support the realization of the Strategic Plan goals. The
EGAC will develop a workplan and will work with the GIO to ensure the program's priorities align with
the ClO's priority areas. The EGAC will align the work plan activities with subgroups for implementation
and will identify opportunities to sunset existing subgroups and form new subgroups as needed. The
EGAC will obtain feedback on the annual workplan from the Information Management Officers (IMOs)
and Information Resource Management Branch Chiefs (IRMBCs) and will identify opportunities to
collaborate to implement the annual activities. The EGAC will track the annual priorities and projects in
Microsoft Planner. The subgroups will provide regular updates to the EGAC and will highlight risks and
challenges for management's assistance. In the fourth quarter of each fiscal year, the EGAC will
evaluate progress in implementing the Strategic Plan and will make updates, as needed, to adjust for
changing or new priorities. Figure 1 provides an overview of the Geospatial Program's annual planning
process.
Figure 1: Geospatial Program Annual Planning Process
EGAC conducts annual
priority setting
process
Q4 Q1
EGAC reviews and
updates strategic plan, as
needed, to adjust for new
priorities
Q4
EGAC develops action plan
with activities for
subgroups
Q1
OMS and subgroups
implement activities and
provide regular updates to
EGAC
Q1 Q4
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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APPENDIX A: GEOSPATIAL PROGRAM GOVERNANCE
The Geospatial Program's success is attributed to its strong customer and mission driven approach that
is supported by a robust governance structure that values input and buy-in from EPA's program offices
and regions. Figure 2 provides an overview of the Geospatial Program's governance and execution
framework.
Figure 2: Geospatial Program Governance and Execution Framework
Strategic Priority Setting
Sets EPA IT/IM Priorities
Strategic Execution
Defines Strategy & Activities
Tactical Implementation
Implements Activities &
Manages Services
01M Office
Director
National
Geospatial
Program
GeoPlatform
Operations &
Change Control
Board
Subgroups
Communities of Practice &
Related Governance Bodies
Collaborates & Exchanges
Information
Data Governance Council, Web
Council, Developers Guild
GIS Workgroup
The Geospatial Information Officer (GIO) serves as the principal geospatial information subject matter
expert and advisor to the Office of Information Management Office Director (0IM 0D), Chief
Information Officer (CIO), and the Office of Mission Support-Environmental Information (0MS-EI)
Senior Leadership Team. The GIO advises the CIO, 0IM Director, CIO SAC, and the EPA Geospatial
Advisory Committee (EGAC) about future directions and strategic decisions regarding the use of
geospatial information in EPA business processes. The GIO ensures senior leaders are informed of and
given the opportunity to comment on proposed actions or decisions affecting their office or
responsibilities. In addition, the GIO consults and communicates across the Agency to ensure
collaboration and understanding of key issues affecting the National Geospatial Program. Both the GIO
and the 0IM 0D ensure the effective management of the overall Geospatial Program, which
coordinates with internal and external partners; manages the Geospatial Program's Capital Planning
and Investment Control (CPIC) process; manages the program's enterprise licenses and technical
support mechanisms; and ensures coordination with the geospatial components of the Facility Registry
System, Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG) and Envirofacts.
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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The EGAC guides the direction of the workgroup and functions as a working group for the business
issues connected to the Agency's geospatial activities. The EGAC advises the GIO and CIO SAC on
geospatial-related issues, including priority setting, budget planning, the development and
implementation of the EPA GeoPlatform, enterprise data sets, software, technology, data standards,
applications, and policies. The EGAC consists of the Regional and
National Program Manager (NPM) GIS Leads.
As needed, subgroups are formed to address specific, substantive,
or ongoing issues. The EGAC forms new subgroups as topics are
identified during its annual planning process in the fall. Some
subgroups are long-term such as the GeoPlatform Administrators,
whereas other subgroups are for a shorter duration and are formed
to address a specific topic or activity.
The GeoPlatform Configuration Control Board (CCB) is responsible
for establishing baselines and controlling configuration changes to
the GeoPlatform. The GeoPlatform is supported by the GeoPlatforn
Administrators. Each region and most program offices have a
GeoPlatform Administrator who is their point of contact and
coordinates training, serves as a gate keeper for public content, coordinates projects, and serves as a
bridge to national efforts. Some offices have multiple administrators.
Each region and most program offices have GIS Leads who coordinate training, licenses,
and communications within their organization and serve as a bridge to the national program. The GIS
Leads and other GIS staff participate in the GIS Workgroup, which is a community of practice that
provides a forum for discussing and coordinating geospatial technology, policy, and activities within
EPA and among its partners. The workgroup consists of several hundred people and is led by a steering
committee made up of members from all regions and numerous program offices. The GIS Workgroup
provides a forum for discussing and coordinating geospatial technology, policy, planning, and
development issues, and is a focus for information exchange and collaboration amongst regional GIS
staff. The workgroup advises EPA on geospatial-related issues, including priority setting, budget
planning, and the development and implementation of EPA enterprise data sets, software, technology,
data standards, and applications. The workgroup is open to all EPA staff, its contractors, and invited
representatives of federal, state, local agencies, academia, and the private sector.
Example Subgroups
¦
Climate Adaptation Planning
¦
Clean-up Site Data Initiatives
¦
Emergency Response
Coordination
¦
Geo Data and Software
¦
Geo Developers and
Integration
¦
Geo Training
¦
Geoplatform Online
Administrators
¦
Policy, Guidance, Standards
& Sharing
¦
Recognition
¦
Remote Sensing
Geospatial Strategic Plan FY 2023 - 2027
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