National Geospatial Advisory Committee Appointments

US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has appointed fourteen individuals to serve as members of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The members of the NGAC report to the chair of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), which is the Federal interagency executive group responsible for providing leadership and direction in Federal geospatial programs. The FGDC is chaired by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary's designee.

The new appointees to the National Geospatial Advisory Committee are:

• Dr. Robert Austin, City of Tampa, FL
• Ms. Sophia Beym, State of New Mexico
• Mr. Michael Byrne, State of California
• Dr. David Cowen, University of South Carolina
• Mr. David DiSera, First Insurance Company of Hawaii
• Ms. Kass Green, Kass Green & Associates
• Hon. Randy Johnson, Hennepin County, Minnesota
• Mr. Barney Krucoff, District of Columbia
• Dr. Xavier Lopez, Oracle USA
• Ms. Kimberly Nelson, Microsoft Corporation
• Brigadier General Jack Pellicci, USA, Ret., Intergraph Corporation
• Ms. Cynthia Salas, CenterPoint Energy
• Mr. Eugene Schiller, Southwest Florida Water Management District
• Mr. Steve Wallach, U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

The NGAC provides advice and recommendations on federal geospatial policy and management issues as well as a forum to convey views representative of partners in the geospatial community.

The organisation also provides advice on the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), which promotes sharing of geospatial data throughout all levels of government, the private and nonprofit sectors and the academic community. Geospatial data and products, including maps, simulations, and databases, are invaluable tools in the effective management of utility infrastructures, transportation, energy, emergency management and response, natural resource management, climate analysis, disaster recovery, homeland defense, law enforcement, protection planning and other civilian or military strategic issues. The newly appointed members of the NGAC represent the varied interests associated with geospatial programs and technology.

The NGAC was created under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which was enacted by Congress in 1972 to ensure that the advice rendered to the executive branch by advisory committees, task forces, boards, and commissions formed by Congress and the President, will be both objective and accessible to the public.