Reston, Virginia –MAPPS (www.mapps.org), the association of private geospatial firms, will testify at a Congressional hearing tomorrow to advocate for greater coordination of the Federal government’s geospatial activities, a coordinated effort to inventory the land the government owns, and a reduction of government duplication of and competition with the private geospatial profession.
Jeff Lower, MAPPS President (PAR LLC, Bossier City, LA), will testify before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources of the House Committee on Natural Resources. The hearing will take place Thursday, December 5 at 9:30 AM (EST) in 1324 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC and is available by webcast.
The hearing will concentrate on legislation introduced by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), H.R. 1604, the Map It Once, Use It Many Times Act, a bill to enhance the use of geospatial data, products, and services and increase the efficiency of Federal geospatial activities. Witnesses will also testify on H.R. 916, the Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform (FLAIR) Act, a bi-partisan bill by Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) to improve Federal land management by developing a multipurpose cadastre of Federal real property and eliminating duplicate and out of date land inventories.
MAPPS has long advocated for a reorganization of Federal geospatial activities, including governance, strategic investment in data, structure, and defining the proper roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders, including government and the private sector. The association has also lead efforts to establish a current, accurate, multipurpose inventory of Federal land ownership.
Joining Mr. Lower as witnesses will be Jeff Lovin, CP, PS, Director of Geospatial Services & Senior Vice President, Woolpert. Inc. (Dayton, OH), Chairman of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) and a past President of MAPPS; Curtis Sumner, LS, Executive Director of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS); Jay Parrish, Ph.D., PG, former state geologist, PA Geological Survey and Chairman of the Mapping Committee of the Association of American State Geologists (AASG); Kevin Gallagher, Associate Director for Core Science Systems, United States Geological Survey (USGS); and David Powner, Director, Information Technology Management Issues, Government Accountability Office (GAO).
About MAPPS
Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LIDAR, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession.
MAPPS provides its member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement.
For more information on MAPPS, please visit www.MAPPS.org.