Hennepin County, MN

For MetroGIS government stakeholder governments and organizations to adopt policies and practices to make their public geospatial data freely and openly available;

At the meeting of the MetroGIS Policy Board on October 23, 2013, the following resolution was proposed and adopted.

WHEREAS, the MetroGIS Policy Board (herein after referred to as the ‘Board’)—comprised of county commissioners, mayors, senior management and administration officials representing the diverse set of government and agency stakeholders in the Seven Metropolitan Counties of Minnesota—has been in continuous operation since 1997 to review the policies, practices and investments of governments deploying geographic information systems technology and geospatial data development; and

WHEREAS, the Board has engaged in on-going, in depth discussions and review of the fiscal, legal, policy, technical and functional considerations of making public geospatial data freely and openly available; and

WHEREAS, the Board understands that the government agencies producing public geospatial data in the Seven Metropolitan Counties can provide an enhanced and more transparent level of public service, and leverage a higher return on its investment in geospatial technologies by making its data freely available; and

WHEREAS, the Board understands that the practice of making public geospatial data freely and openly available is occurring in other regions of the United States with amply documented benefits to both the data producer and data user communities; and

WHEREAS, the Board acknowledges the emergence, continued refinement and benefit of new information technologies that have dramatically changed the way citizens search for and expect to find, consume and utilize government information, and that such technological advancements can aggregate ever larger quantities of data and allow government to provide information to the public with increasing efficiency;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the MetroGIS Policy Board recommends and supports the policy and practice of county, city and other government jurisdictions and agencies making their public geospatial data freely and openly available without charge or licensure to the public including private citizens and private sector interests in accordance with all applicable laws;

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the MetroGIS Policy Board directs its Chair to publish a letter directed to all MetroGIS government stakeholder organizations encouraging them to pursue such policies and practices;

RESOLVED THIS DAY, the 23rd of October 2013 in St Paul, Minnesota;

Terry Schneider, MetroGIS Policy Board Chair