Geodata collection roadmap

Created: 2025

program guidelines

Summary:Tracking page for the BTAA-GIN Geodata Collection

Roadmap

This page tracks our progress. It is updated frequently as our work evolves.

Date last updated: April 27, 2027

We are currently in Phase 4: Framework.

Geodata Collection

The BTAA-GIN has launched an initiative to collect, store, and distribute open geodata.

Phase 1: Blueprints

The Blueprints Phase represents the culmination of a lengthy period of time (beginning in 2015) that we put into researching geodata archiving. The research resulted in multiple scholarly articles¹, reports², and nascent proposals³. Finally, in 2023, we submitted the BTAA-GIN Geodata Collection Strategic Plan, which was approved by the BTAA-GIN Executive Committee.

Phase 2: Groundwork

During the Groundwork Phase, we focus on exploring the potential for a Geodata Collection and conducting a pilot. This phase involves experimenting with a variety of datasets to test workflows, metadata, tools, and data curation strategies. The goal is to establish a Proof of Concept.

2a. Setup (Q1-Q2 2024)

Set up storage, basic ingest, and a pilot workgroup.

Completed: Establish the Geodata Collection Pilot Working Group.
Completed: Compile an environmental scan of existing geodata archiving practices across the BTAA region.
Completed: Assess current team capabilities and identify gaps in skill or resources.
Completed: Draft job description for a Program and Outreach Coordinator.
Completed: Advertise the position.
Completed: Establish Amazon cloud storage (S3) accounts for data storage.
Completed: Develop techniques within GBL Admin for basic ingest of datasets.
Completed: Create a few sample datasets in a GitHub repository to serve as test objects.
Completed: Add the test datasets to Amazon S3.
Completed: Ingest sample data to GBL Admin.
Completed: Create and publish a Geodata Collection Implementation Plan that expands on the Strategic Plan.

2b. Pilot (Q3 2024-Q1 2025)

Build the pilot collection, explore technology enhancements, and document the results.

Completed: Determine staging environment for sharing datasets.
Completed: Select a broader range of pilot datasets.
Completed: Test new GBL Admin features for data management.
Completed: Determine minimum metadata requirements.
Completed: Augment the GeoBTAA Metadata Application Profile as needed.
Completed: Determine Download package contents.
Completed: Download pilot datasets to staging area
Completed: Add pilot datasets to GBL Admin.
Completed: Set up a staging area (Box).
Completed: Separate references into Distribution table
Completed: Incorporate data dictionaries
Completed: Continue process for interviewing for new position
Completed: Finalize the hiring process and onboard new hire
Completed: Document the setup and configuration processes for asset management tools.
Completed: Produce a final report of the working group activities.
Completed: Produce a report documenting the pilot collection and technology enhancements.

Phase 3: Foundation

During the Foundation Phase, we begin collaborating with select data providers. This phase emphasizes building relationships, refining curation techniques, and establishing the first official collections. This work informs the development of key protocols and processes that will serve as the foundation for the project moving forward.

3a. Partnerships & Technology (Q1-Q3 2025)

Communicate our newly developed capabilities and seek out data provider partnerships for our first collections.

Completed: Sunset the pilot workgroup.
Completed: Convene a Data Curation Workgroup.
Completed: Redesign the item view page Incorporate tabs for metadata, data dictionaries, and download options into item page view.
Completed: Transition the updated Geoportal interface from the development branch to the live environment.
Completed: Propose a dataset exchange workflow between data providers and the BTAA-GIN.
Completed: Present results of Groundwork Phase to key stakeholders
Completed: Establish partnership with one data provider
Completed: Outline a Curation Plan that includes initial scope, workflows, and criteria. See the Urban Base Layers Curation Plan.

3b. Collection & Curation Plan (Q3 2025-Q1 2026)

Work iteratively with our data providers to collect, document, and publish prior versions of their datasets.

Completed: Establish partnership with a second data provider
Completed: Ingest datasets submitted by two partners
Completed: Review the initial collection
Completed: Work with partners to refine the metadata and datasets for their original content as displayed in the Geoportal
Completed: Publish a Curation Plan, Version 1 to document scope, metadata, and workflows.
Completed: Sunset the Geodata Curation Workgroup
Completed: Produce a report documenting the Foundation phase, the next steps, and an updated roadmap

Phase 4: Framework (2026)

In the Framework Phase, we will build up our collections with more data providers. This will require broader communication and more outreach.

Phase 4a Q2 2026

Not completed: Define updated scope and collection framework
Not completed: Establish a plan for regular collection cycles
Not completed: Initiate engagement with at least two additional data providers

Phase 4b Q3 2026

Not completed: Collaborate with development team to support asset-based workflows (e.g., batch upload, bundled downloads with metadata)
Not completed: Complete initial Urban Base Layers plan for all identified cities that are available

Phase 4c Q4 2026

Not completed: Conduct outreach to broader communities (e.g., GIS Day, FOSS4G)
Not completed: Ingest at least four new collections
Not completed: Publish Curation Plan, Version 2

Phase 5: Outreach & Evaluation (2027)

Not completed: Gather feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders.
Not completed: Assess the project’s impact on users and stakeholders.
Not completed: Evaluate how well the first version of the curation plan functions.

See Dyke, K. R., Mattke, R., Kne, L., & Rounds, S. (2016). Placing Data in the Land of 10,000 Lakes: Navigating the History and Future of Geospatial Data Production, Stewardship, and Archiving in Minnesota. Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, 12(1), 52–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/15420353.2015.1073655; Majewicz, K., J. Martindale, M. Kernik, and R. Mattke. 2024. Ephemeral geodata: An impending digital dark age. Journal of Map & Geography Libraries 20 (2):88–113. https://doi:10.1080/15420353.2024.2398542. ↩
See the reports of the Minnesota Geospatial Advisory Committee’s Archiving Workgroup ↩
See the partially realized proposal from 2019, A Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for the BTAA ↩