MetroGIS

What is MetroGIS?

MetroGIS is an award-winning, regional geographic information systems initiative serving the seven-county metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. MetroGIS is defined as a voluntary collaboration of local and regional governments, with partners in state and federal government, academic institutions, non-profit organizations and the business community providing a regional forum to promote and facilitate widespread sharing of geospatial data.

Purpose and Goal

MetroGIS’s primary purpose is to promote and facilitate widespread sharing of commonly needed geospatial data among organizations that serve the Minneapolis-St Paul Metropolitan Area. Our goal is to institutionalize the sharing of accurate and reliable geospatial data so that both user and producer communities share in the efficiencies of users being able to effortlessly obtain data needed from others, in the form needed, and when it is needed.

Role of the Metropolitan Council

The Metropolitan Council assumes fiduciary and administrative responsibilities for the MetroGIS collaborative, providing dedicated staff time and funding for geospatial projects with regional significance. The Council is a primary stakeholder and a direct beneficiary of the collaborative effort.

Governance of MetroGIS

MetroGIS is governed by a Policy Board and Coordinating Committee. The Policy Board is comprised of county commissioners from the region’s seven counties as well as representatives from metropolitan cities, school districts and watershed districts. The Policy Board is convened quarterly to discuss and act upon policy or major fiscal issues of import to the collaborative.

The Coordinating Committee is comprised of management and senior technical staff from local, county, regional and state entities. The Coordinating Committee sets the work plan, project plan and progress review of MetroGIS initiatives.

MetroGIS Actions

MetroGIS' activities can be categorized in three major areas:

Maintenance

MetroGIS maintains and distributes the Regional Parcel Dataset resource, maintains a program website (link below) as well as hosting information sharing and educational forums. MetroGIS serves as a resource to the academic community as well as other governments in the operational procedure, funding, management and governance on the topic of inter-agency geospatial data sharing.

Projects and Activities

MetroGIS is an active participant in multi-agency initiatives to develop new data and data standards. The current work plan and project descriptions can be found on the MetroGIS website.

Advocacy and inter-agency coordination

MetroGIS facilitates collaborative work at all levels of government working to eliminate duplicative efforts and create lasting value to all stakeholders. MetroGIS takes an active interest in the legal and legislative aspects of data development, data sharing and public data availability.

Inquiries about MetroGIS can be directed to:

MetroGIS Coordinator
390 Robert Street North
St Paul, MN 55101
[email protected]

MetroGIS' website: www.metrogis.org