DOA announces creation of a Wisconsin Land Information Council
After months of discussion, there is now a final charter for the Wisconsin Land Information Council, a new council attached to the WI Department of Administration (DOA) which will serve in an advisory role to DOA on the statewide Parcel Initiative and matters relating to Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP).
The council is slated to have 12 appointed members serving staggered 3-year terms in addition to the state Geographic Information Officer (GIO) serving as non-voting Secretary to the Council. Various statewide stakeholder organizations provided feedback and counter-proposals during the discussion process ensuring broad stakeholder representation on the Council.
Do we need another council or advisory group in Wisconsin?
The efforts that led to the formation of a council are a culmination of almost two years of discussions by an ad hoc strategy group that spanned across leadership from the Wisconsin Land Information Association (WLIA) and the Wisconsin Geographic Information Coordination Council (WIGICC) in addition to the State Cartographer’s Office and the state GIO. Early in 2015, the Wisconsin Counties Association convened a meeting of key stakeholder organizations to give final focus to the effort. As conceived, it is suggested that this new council would effectively replace the WIGICC and engage in focused discussions on statewide priorities at a time when the WLIP is providing grants toward statewide strategic goals. This new council as conceived provides a more formal and streamlined way to gather community input from various constituent organizations.
As with any growing industry, leadership sometimes morphs and changes forms and Wisconsin has an opportunity here to both strengthen and make transparent how community input and priorities are relayed to and integrated with statewide initiatives.
Appointment process announced
The initial appointment process by which inaugural council members will be nominated and appointed to the council is now online. Applications are due August 7, 2015. At the WLIA spring regional meeting in Eage River, DOA personnel foreshadowed a timeline, officially announced today, by which the initial meeting of the council will occur in conjunction with the WLIA fall regional meeting, occurring in late October in Oshkosh, WI.