The lack of a statewide repository for Wisconsin geospatial data is a longstanding problem dating back to the earliest days of the Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP). Recently the Wisconsin Land Information Council passed a resolution asking the state’s Geographic Information Officer to “continue to explore a statewide repository/portal solution.”
The 2016 WLIP Survey, published on Nov. 30, 2016, touches on numerous aspects of geospatial data access in the state, including an “open data benchmark” and a “WLIP Portal” solution.
In response to these developments the State Cartographer’s Office drafted a position paper presenting a concept for a state geospatial data portal that goes beyond immediate needs and attempts to address some of the critical issues related to user requirements for geospatial data access in Wisconsin. This paper tries to consider how the state of Wisconsin should invest in geospatial infrastructure for the future, in order to maximize the return on the investment made over the last three decades through the Land Information Program.
A copy of the paper can be found here.
We hope that this paper will help stimulate discussion around geospatial data access options and decisions in the state. We welcome your thoughts and comments via e-mail, phone (608-262-3065), or in person.