Geospatial Information Officer at US Interior Dept

09 October 2008, 11:25am

Reston, VA (October 9, 2008) - MAPPS today applauded the appointment of Ms. Karen Siderelis to the position of Geospatial Information Officer (GIO) in the U.S. Department of the Interior.

On September 30, Ms. Siderelis and Mr. Jim Cason, associate deputy secretary of the Interior, were the featured guests at the MAPPS Washington Policy Forum Luncheon at the City Club in Washington, DC. At this roundtable discussion, Mr. Cason announced the appointment of Ms. Siderelis to the MAPPS members in attendance. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne officially announced the appointment on October 6. (Click here for official release).

"MAPPS has had a long and cooperative working relationship with Ms. Siderelis during her tenure at USGS and we are thrilled to work with her in this new capacity. I commend Secretary Kempthorne for creating the Interior GIO position and for selecting Ms. Siderelis," said MAPPS President Marvin Miller, CP, PLS, PPS (Aero-Metric, Inc., Maple Grove, MN).

At the luncheon MAPPS members were posed the question "If you have one minute to speak with the President-elect and give suggestions on what should be done by the Federal government about geospatial, what would you say?" The answers given by most of the more than 25 MAPPS member firm principals fell in three categories: (1) stop government competition; (2) define roles and responsibilities of the private sector, government (Federal, state and local), and academia in order to prevent duplication and competition between sectors and more efficiently use each sector's respective capabilities, capacities and expertise; and (3) start long term, strategic planning and investing in geospatial, instead of today's current ad hoc, stovepipe process which is viewed as inefficient.

Mr. Cason discussed plans to move forward with many programs including Imagery for the Nation (IFTN), National Land Imaging Program (NLIP), the National LIDAR Initiative, as well as National Land Parcels.

"The discussion was equally beneficial to the MAPPS membership and to the Interior Department as it gave Mr. Cason a better understanding of the concerns of the private geospatial community," said John Palatiello, MAPPS Executive Director. "MAPPS continues to promote open lines of communication between the private sector and government and this session was a perfect example of sharing information to promote the use of geospatial applications to benefit the entire Nation. I look forward to working with Karen, with the Bush Administration in these remaining weeks, and with the new administration beginning in January."

MAPPS Washington Policy Forums are held in Washington, DC and bring MAPPS members and Federal representatives together for stimulating discussions and communication between the two sectors.

MAPPS

Geo: International