Arizona Geographic Information Council 2022 Annual Report

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that analyzes, manages, and displays geographically referenced information. GIS technology has become an important resource across federal, state, local, tribal, academic, and private agencies as it helps identify geographic patterns and allows leaders, analysts, and the public relate that information back to their communities.

The  Arizona Geographic Information Council (AGIC) , hereafter referred to as the Council, is a legislative council composed of Governor appointed representatives and volunteers across jurisdictions and sectors who work together to foster information exchange, cooperation, and standardization in the acquisition, exchange, and management of geographic information in the State of Arizona. This report describes the accomplishments AGIC has completed in 2022.

The Council, Committees, and Workgroups collaborate to support Arizona's citizens and the priorities of Arizona’s Governor using location-based geospatial solutions. Our accomplishments in 2022 supported the Governor's initiatives on:

•  A 21st Century Economy 
•  Educational Excellence 
•  Protecting Arizona Communities 
•  Fiscal Responsibility 
•  Healthy and Happy Citizens 

Reducing barriers and creating efficiencies in government to promote economic growth and opportunities is a key objective for AGIC.  

Arizona's State Geospatial Clearinghouse - AZGeo

AZGeo is central to maximizing the state's investment in geospatial technologies and solutions. It is Arizona's one-stop shop for publicly available authoritative geospatial data. This data drives economic development and supports government efficiencies. This is accomplished through:

• Reducing duplicative efforts by creating data once and using it many times
• Streamlining public requests through a self-service portal
• Providing secure access to collaborative tools and resources across organizations and jurisdictions by enabling user authentication for sensitive or protected data
• Providing geospatial infrastructure, solutions and support to communities with fewer resources and geospatial expertise
• Providing support and developing best-practices for AZGeo users

Examples of AZGeo's impact on Arizona's economy include:

• Access to high resolution elevation data, which provides critical foundational information for emergency preparedness and management, planning, transportation, construction and development
• Access to statewide imagery, which provides a framework for location based solutions and analysis
• Access to a free statewide geocoder, which provides a tool that converts addresses to map coordinates and is used for site selection, demographic analysis, customer services and more
• Support of the Sun Cloud Initiative, a long term transportation and land use planning project spanning five Arizona counties
• A collaborative space for broadband mapping to support connectivity for all Arizona residents
• Provides a backbone for small businesses and local government to expand using GIS technology

Coordination and Education

AGIC Committees and Workgroups coordinate training and educational opportunities to help agencies and communities learn about emerging technologies and innovative geospatial solutions for location informed decision making.  For example, the AGIC 4D Geospatial Workgroup (formerly the  AGIC LiDAR Workgroup ) is actively working to coordinate and educate stakeholders on federal funding opportunities for the acquisition of high resolution elevation data to complete statewide LiDAR coverage for Arizona. Completing this baseline foundational dataset would result in a minimum annual savings of approximately $12 million according to the USGS 3DEP Program.

Data Sharing

Utilizing AZGeo functionality, AGIC provides data hosting, sharing, and analytical tools with the public and between organizations at no cost.  Additionally, AGIC's Committees and Workgroups develop best practice documents to provide guidance and use cases and encourage authoritative data stewards to share their data among government agencies and where appropriate, openly with the public. AZGeo supports data-driven decision making for community improvement activities, such as the expansion of residential and commercial developments, broadband infrastructure, and community services.

Over the past year, AGIC’s Data and Outreach Committee and Workgroup volunteers have supported educational excellence by: 

• Engaging in partnerships and activities that promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education for middle and high school students
• Curating geospatial resources for geospatial professionals and K-12 teachers
• Organizing and coordinating professional development and technical training events
• Developing and implementing a mentorship program for the next generation of geospatial professionals

Support for K-12 Education

 AZGeo , the state’s cloud-based geospatial clearinghouse, is a primary initiative of AGIC and the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD). This innovative platform is being leveraged by Arizona's geospatial community for situational awareness, collaborative projects, data sharing, and information exchange.  In addition, Arizona teachers and students are accessing geospatial curriculum developed and hosted on AZGeo through a partnership with  Green Drone AZ .  This browser based interactive resource provides an introduction to GIS, conservation, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Green Drone AZ has worked with the AZ Department of Education to ensure the curriculum meets educational standards to ease the integration into classrooms. Support and promotion of this self-guided program has occurred through engagement of the Chief Science Officer program at SciTech Institute, participating in SciTech’s STEM Innovation Summit, organizing a GIS and Career Day at Rio Salado Audubon, and recruiting geospatial professionals to visit the students and schools enrolled in the program. 

Information Exchange

Information exchange is essential in achieving AGIC’s mission to coordinate the development and management of geographic information in Arizona, as is evident in all Committee and Workgroup meetings and engagements.  For example, the Conference Committee volunteers organize the AGIC Geospatial Education and Training Symposium.  This annual premier event brings geospatial professionals together from across the state, and beyond, to network, exchange knowledge and best-practices, and participate in hands-on training.  The 2023 event will be the 30th anniversary of the Symposium!

Additionally, AGIC Committees and Workgroups engage subject matter experts throughout the year to provide topic based presentations in order to educate and advance the use of geospatial technologies. In 2022, three Data Committee Workgroups collaborated to offer geospatial professionals a Spring Symposium hosted by Yavapai College. This event provided students and professionals numerous demonstrations and presentations relating to geospatial technologies for natural resource management. Another popular community engagement event is the Natural Resources Workgroup Geospatial Technologies Presentation Series. In 2022, these virtual events focused on water conservation and resilience, drought, and forest health and protection. 

Mentorship

In 2022, the AGIC Outreach Committee launched a  geospatial mentorship program , where students and young professionals are paired with seasoned geospatial leaders to develop career goals, expand their professional network and improve technical skills.  The mentors and mentees met regularly, checked-in quarterly with program leadership, and engaged in AGIC training and volunteer opportunities.  The first year paired twenty mentors and mentees and was so successful, the program was expanded for 2023.

AGIC Committee and Workgroup volunteers have been highly engaged in activities that improve the safety of our communities.  

Public Safety

The  Public Safety Committee  provides a forum to promote and support interagency coordination on matters related to Public Safety geospatial data, data sharing, and applications. They also facilitate educational outreach and best practice methods to state, federal, and local government agencies. This Committee is co-led by the Arizona Department of Administration 9-1-1 Program and has been key in the development and implementation of Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) in Arizona, which is the modernization of the nation's 9-1-1 call-taking process that replaces the legacy network with an IP-based system that supports text messages, images, videos, and diverse routing protocols. The new system will greatly improve the success and reliability of 9-1-1. The Committee's work has influenced and contributed to other critical GIS programs in the state that provide the foundational data for emergency response, including:  

• An authoritative statewide address database for Arizona, aggregated through collaboration with local addressing authorities
• Collaboration with public and private partners to improve Arizona’s statewide geocoder, which is used to convert address information into a map location
• Partnering with the Arizona Department of Transportation and local government agencies to improve the accuracy of Arizona’s statewide GIS roadway network
• Improved border security through collaborative tools and more accurate boundary data
• Coordination and development of a GIS based evacuation plan

Emergency Preparedness

Geospatial data plays a key role in response to natural and manmade disasters. First responders rely on foundational datasets, such as elevation, infrastructure, and administrative boundaries, for situational awareness. The data coordination efforts and professional relationships established through AGIC provide the network and geospatial resources necessary to make informed decisions and improve response times.

Understanding the topography of the ground provides planners and first responders with critical information to understand how best to respond to natural emergencies, such as wildfires and floods.  The  4D Geospatial Workgroup  has been working to support the acquisition of LiDAR covering Arizona, which uses lasers to detect features and elevation changes on the ground. LiDAR creates a 3 dimensional representation of the landscape and has proven to be more versatile and informative than traditional aerial imagery alone. Derivative data products created from LiDAR, especially when paired with aerial imagery, support better scientific understanding of the environment and are valuable tools for natural resource management.

Arizona’s forest health depends on active management to help minimize wildfires and keep communities safe.  The availability of geospatial data, such as imagery and LiDAR, helps with understanding potential vegetative fuel loads, identifying risks, and implementing land management treatments.  An excellent example is the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management's  Arizona Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal (AZ WRAP) . This application allows homeowners to determine their level of wildfire risk and provides analytical tools and reports for communities to effectively prepare. AZ WRAP is hosted on AZGeo, utilizes authoritative geospatial data shared through AZGeo and is maintained and supported by partnerships established through AGIC. 

Protecting Arizona’s Resources

The  Natural Resources Workgroup , a part of the Data Committee, provides a forum for stakeholder collaboration, data sharing and the development of best practices for landscape scale land management.  Their work has identified opportunities to improve geospatial data that are important for the management of Arizona's resources. For example, this group of volunteers focused on developing a repeatable workflow for updating the  Protected Areas Database  for Arizona. This resource provides decision makers information on Arizona's lands managed for biological diversity, recreation and cultural purposes. Additionally, this group has spent considerable time evaluating stakeholder requirements related to authoritative hydrology and water flow data for Arizona. Their work has informed and supported the geospatial community in understanding the best data sources available for developing water models and resource analysis.

Successful protection and use of resources is largely dependent on education and information exchange. AGIC fosters relationship building and sharing expertise among participants. For example, the Natural Resources Workgroup coordinates and hosts a virtual presentation series each year that focuses on the geospatial applications and tools that support important natural systems. In 2022, topics focused on drought, water conservation, and fire and forest health.

AGIC also supports protecting Arizona’s history and cultural resources.  Camp Naco, located outside of Bisbee, was built in 1919 to house the 9th and 10th Cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers during the Mexican Revolution.  Although decommissioned in 1923, the camp is the only remaining site of its kind.  AZGeo hosts a  website  and story map dedicated to documenting and sharing this important history. In 2022, the development of these resources led to the site being listed as one of  America's 11 most endangered places , by the National Trust for Historic Places. The story map also received the  Governor's Heritage Preservation Honor Award  and helped the project receive a 4.6 million dollar grant for restoration of the site. Camp Naco was featured during a general session presentation at the 2022 AGIC Education & Training Symposium, where it garnered much interest from the attendees.

AZGeo is an important tool for Arizona's government agencies, tribal nations, non-profit organizations and commercial entities.  AZGeo provides an easy to use portal where geospatial datasets are available to use or download at no cost, with no login required. This one-stop shop makes it easy for organizations and citizens to locate the authoritative data they need while also minimizing the development of duplicative datasets.  The self-service interface saves the state resources by reducing the time and people hours spent on fulfilling public records requests, in addition to providing geospatial tools and mapping functionality to registered users.

The AZGeo platform is more than a data warehouse. Traditionally, the expertise and investment required to develop and host interactive maps was too cost prohibitive for organizations and entities with limited resources.  AZGeo has changed that in Arizona. It provides the infrastructure and access to tools and functionality for registered users to easily create interactive and user-friendly web maps.  These tools are available at no or low cost to AZGeo partners and registered users, which in turn supports rural and underserved communities in leveraging this resources for location based decisions.

Beyond sharing data and technology, AZGeo is an effective collaboration tool.  Multiple agencies in the state used AZGeo to work across sectors and jurisdictions to develop new tools, datasets and improve existing ones, including:

• AGIC Committees and Workgroups utilize AZGeo for data sharing, community engagement and education
• The AGIC Natural Resource Workgroup leverages AZGeo to analyze and assess the best data sources available for statewide hydrology and update the Protected Areas Database
• The 911 Program Office uses AZGeo to validate and aggregate address and street centerline data statewide
• The Arizona Department of Transportation uses AZGeo for the coordination of the Transportation Data Supply Chain, which unifies state and local road networks into a complete and accurate statewide roadway GIS dataset used for federal reporting and emergency management
• The Arizona Commerce Authority, in partnership with the Arizona State Land Department, use AZGeo for broadband data development, including collaboration, data sharing, mapping and supporting county and municipal government in a secure environment

Through AGIC and AZGeo, multiple GIS initiatives have been accomplished that promote our citizen’s health and wellness.  The Arizona Departments of Economic Security, Health Services, and Revenue as well as the Maricopa Association of Governments have all used AZGeo to develop web applications that help report vital public information and make it easier for the public to locate government services, such as health providers or food banks.

AGIC supports state and local agencies to develop effective GIS resources designed to grow public awareness around efforts important to Arizona communities.  These include:  

• Supporting local community groups such as the Central Arizona Conservation Alliance (CAZCA) and the Phoenix Botanical Gardens with data to create a spatial tool for managing open spaces
• Supporting the Arizona Trail Association volunteers to develop a spatial dataset of the Arizona Trail and related information
• Supporting the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA) to create maps and dashboards utilized by citizens and first responders to monitor emergency functions such as wildfires and floods in Arizona
• Supporting and collaborating with the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) in identifying rural economic development opportunities, broadband infrastructure and connectivity, and automated mobility solutions

AGIC also partners with the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) on initiatives, including:

• Rural Economic Development
  • AGIC and the ACA are developing data and tools that would benefit further economic development in rural Arizona
• Expansion of Broadband
  • AGIC and the ACA are working to expand resources that would help expand broadband access within the state.  This would have positive impacts on other programs, including Next Generation 9-1-1 efforts and WiFi availability to underserved households, which would improve educational opportunities through distance learning

According to  A.R.S. § 37-173 , AGIC works in collaboration with the Arizona State Land Department to serve as the affiliate office for national GIS and geospatial data coordination activities.  In addition to working with multiple federal agencies, AGIC also participates on the  National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) .

NSGIC exists to advance effective state-led geospatial coordination for the nation. NSGIC serves as a national forum to develop future-oriented geospatial leadership and advance sound policies and practices for geospatial activities. It fosters sustained communication and collaboration among all stakeholders in the geospatial ecosystem to support national initiatives that maximize the benefits of geospatial assets across jurisdictions.

The Arizona State Land Commissioner designates the Arizona representative to NSGIC, which is currently, Jenna Leveille, the Deputy State Cartographer. In addition, all council members on AGIC plus an additional five Arizona geospatial leaders selected by the AGIC Council, also participate as members of NSGIC. These AGIC volunteers are valued contributors to NSGIC Committees, Work Groups and forums and their involvement directly benefits Arizona and their respective organizations. They provide a local voice in national discussions, developing lasting relationships that lead to data interoperability, best practices and funding opportunities for Arizona.

In 2020, Jenna Leveille was elected as the NSGIC President Elect.  She served as NSGIC President from September 2021 through September 2022 and is now NSGIC Past President. It was under her leadership that NSGIC supported many initiatives that benefited Arizona, including:

• Increasing awareness of state geospatial maturity
  • In 2021, NSGIC published the  2021 Geospatial Maturity Assessment . This report provides an assessment of each state's geospatial maturity by theme. Each state receives a report card that provides an at-a-glance assessment of where a state is mature in their geospatial data assets and where there are more resources needed. In 2022, NSGIC shared the results of this report with state Governors across the nation to increase awareness of the importance of geospatial maturity and solutions. Arizona received a B- on the 2021 report card. Since then, AGIC activities have prioritized improving Arizona's GMA grade in future assessments.
• Representing NSGIC and Arizona as a delegate to the  Coalition of Geospatial Organizations  (COGO)
  • In 2023, COGO will publish the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Assessment. This publication will advise geospatial communities on the completeness and accessibility of the nations geospatial data assets. COGO organizations collaborate in curating the report content by theme; Jenna is currently collaborating with representatives from Washington state and private industry to assess the hydrology theme.
• The publication of a  National Address Database (NAD) whitepaper 
  • The NAD is a collaborative effort between NSGIC, the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC), the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), and state and federal agencies to design a central address database for the nation  Accurate and up-to-date addresses and their locations are critical to transportation safety and are a vital part of Next Generation 9-1-1. They are also essential for a broad range of government services, including mail delivery, permitting, and school siting. The NAD Whitepaper used Arizona as a case-study to demonstrate how a nationwide address database could be built and maintained. More information on the NAD and how addresses for the nation are essential to meeting our shared challenges is available in this  story map .
•  NSGIC Strategic Planning Playbook 
  • Designed to provide readers guidance on the development of strategic and tactical plans and the measures for ensuring success, this publication is utilized as a tool for state geospatial information officers and their equivalents. Jenna and AGIC Council member, Patrick Whiteford, were key contributors to it's development

•  GIS in the Courts 
  • NSGIC in partnership with the Turnout conducted a study to learn about the relationship between state GIS and court offices, and the use of GIS in the courts. NSGIC reached out with a questionnaire and facilitated investigative meetings between state GIS leaders and state court office contacts to better understand the use of GIS, spatial data, and location services or applications in the courts sector. In Arizona, this activity led to greater awareness of the state's geospatial resources available to the courts and initiated an AGIC led volunteer project to develop a Find My Court mapping application. This application is now available to the public through the Arizona State Courts and Arizona Bar Association's websites.

AGIC was originally established as a board through  Executive Order 89-24 , and then established as a Legislative Council in 2009, to serve as Arizona's primary forum and oversight group for geographic information and geographic information technology issues and coordination efforts. They accomplish this by:

• Advising the Arizona State Cartographer's Office (SCO) within the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) on matters related to geospatial data sharing and appropriate strategies to support a geospatial clearinghouse and statewide geographic information system
• Facilitating interagency coordination for the purpose of geospatial data sharing and supporting a geospatial clearinghouse, a statewide geographic information system, and location-based services that enhance and support federal, state, and local government business systems, including planning, asset management, location awareness, emergency preparedness, and many other analytical and mitigation response systems
• Collecting information on user requirements on matters related to geographic information systems, geospatial data, technologies, products, services, standards, programs, and activities and prioritizing those requirements to the Arizona State Cartographer's Office, the United States Geological Survey and other producers of geospatial data
• Serving as a forum to facilitate informational exchange between federal, state, tribal, regional, and local governments, the private sector, and professional associations.
• Appointing technical committees to address specific needs and issues, as necessary

Council members are appointed by the Governor to three-year terms. AGIC receives support and coordination assistance from the Arizona State Land Department and State Cartographer’s Office. The State Cartographer is also the formal point of contact in the Governor’s Office and Boards and Commissions documentation.

2022 Strategic & Business Direction

View the strategic and business direction AGIC followed during calendar year 2022.

 View Document 

AGIC Member's Manual

The AGIC Member's Manual notates how AGIC business is conducted as well as provides basic information and knowledge regarding the structure and operations of the Council and Committees.

 View Manual 

Arizona GIS: Past and Present

Learn about how GIS developed in the state of Arizona and how AGIC grew from an executive order to a legislative council.

 View Document  or  View Illustrated Presentation