Statutory Committees

Management and Operations Committee – The chair of the N.C. Geographic Information Coordinating Council heads this subcommittee, which includes the state budget officer, the chair of each standing GICC subcommittee and other members appointed by the chair. The committee provides advice and support to the GICC on organizational and programmatic matters concerning policy, management and operations of geographic information, geographic information systems and related technology.

Statewide Mapping Advisory Committee – This committee works to develop and update data content standards, consolidate statewide mapping requirements, seek support for financing cooperative programs, oversee creation and maintenance of GICC's priority geospatial data and advise the GICC on problems and opportunities related to geospatial data programs.

GIS Technical Advisory Committee – This committee reviews and recommends specifications related to hardware, software and database standards and practices as well as approaches and guidelines for developing, installing and managing GIS technology.

Local Government Committee – Members are from organizations and professional associations that serve or represent local governments.

State Government GIS Users Committee – Membership is open to all interested state government employees. Members of the Executive Committee are appointed by department officials who serve ex officio on the GICC. SGUC participates in negotiations led by the N.C. Department of Information Technology for enterprise license agreements for GIS software.

Federal Interagency Committee – Members include representatives from all interested federal agencies with an office located in North Carolina and from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

 

Active Working Groups and Ad Hoc Committees

Working groups are appointed by committee chairs to focus on specific issues and report to that committee. Ad hoc committees are established by the GICC chair as needed.

2022 Reference Frame Working Group (SMAC) – This working group operates under the authority of the GICC. The purpose of this committee is to evaluate the impacts of replacing NAD83 and NAVD88 with geometric and geopotential (4D1) reference frames on governments and the surveying and mapping industry. It is also responsible for recommending practical solutions for implementation of the 2022 Reference Frame.

Metadata Committee (SMAC) – This committee recommends ways to expand and improve geospatial metadata in North Carolina that are both efficient for the data producer and beneficial for data users in discovery and application of geospatial data.

N.C. Board on Geographic Names (SMAC) – The N.C. Board on Geographic Names and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names work together to develop official names for use in federal products and adoption by other non-federal organizations for use in mapping projects and databases.

  • Chair: Cam McNutt, Division of Water Resources, Department of Environmental Quality 
  • NC CGIA Staff Support: David Giordano

Hydrography Working Group (SMAC) – This group works to implement a coordinated approach to mapping surface waters and watersheds across North Carolina.

  • Chair: Cam McNutt, Division of Water Resources, Department of Environmental Quality
  • NC CGIA Staff Support: John Derry, Lead Facilitator

Working Group for Census Geospatial Data (M&O) – This working group was established by the Management and Operations Committee in 2013 to ensure that collaborative efforts to develop statewide datasets in North Carolina accommodate timely data sharing with the U.S. Census Bureau. The goal, where possible, is to provide consolidated statewide datasets derived from the best available data that are complete, consistent, current, well documented, reliable and trustworthy.

  • Chair: Bob Coats, Governor’s Census Liaison, Office of State Budget and Management
  • NC CGIA Staff Support: Tim Johnson, NC Geographic Information Officer

Working Group for Orthoimagery and Elevation (SMAC) – The Working Group for Orthoimagery and Elevation is responsible for developing plans and seeking sources of funding to assist and advise state and local governments in acquiring high-resolution digital orthoimagery for North Carolina.

Working Group for Roads and Transportation (SMAC) – This working group exists to facilitate sharing of roads data among regional planning organizations, local governments, state agencies, and the public. The working group’s goal is to put together a roads framework based on content standards and to facilitate maintenance of the data through automated processes.

Working Group for Seamless Parcels (SMAC) – This working group oversees and develops, with support from CGIA, a statewide parcel dataset. The N.C. Parcels Project was funded by an Exchange Network grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. The N.C. Parcel Transformer translates "as is" county parcel boundaries and tax information into standard, integrated datasets shared with EPA and the NC OneMap Geospatial Portal.

  • Co-chair: Rich Elkins in the Secretary of State’s Land Records Management Program
  • Co-chair: Katie Doherty of Rutherford County, a member of the N.C. Property Mappers Association.
  • NC CGIA Staff Support: Elizabeth Daniel

Working Group for Land Cover (SMAC) – This group analyzes business needs for land cover data. 

Working Group for Municipal Boundaries (SMAC) – This group coordinates a more unified work flow to maintain a statewide dataset for municipal boundaries.

  • Co-chair: Bob Coats, Governor’s Census Liaison, Office of State Budget and Management
  • Co-chair: John Bridgers in the Secretary of State’s Land Records Management Program.
  • NC CGIA Staff Support: Colleen Kiley

Working Group for Enhanced Emergency Response (WGEER) – This group identifies ways to make data sharing more efficient before and during events and to engage more GIS professionals in technical support for emergency response.  To join the WGEER please contact Brett Spivey.  

Working Group for Building Footprints (SMAC) – This group develops update and maintenance plans, investigates funding sources and tests methods for more efficient building footprint extraction.

 

Deactivated Working Groups and Committees

The following working groups and committees have completed their tasks and issued reports.

Archival and Long-Term Access Ad Hoc Committee

The Archival and Long-Term Access Ad Hoc Committee was established by the GICC in 2007 as an outcome of the Ten Recommendations in Support of Geospatial Data Sharing adopted by the GICC that stated that “data producers should evaluate and publish their long-term access, retention, and archival strategies for historic data.” The committee framed the issue, and its final report was accepted by the Council. Related achievements include the NC OneMap Retention Schedule and two Library of Congress grants for geospatial archiving projects. The multi-state GeoMAPP project (2008-2011) delivered two products:

Advances in geospatial data archiving have been built on collaboration between the Council, CGIA and State Archives of North Carolina. Access to archived data is available through NC’s Digital Collections.

Local, State, Regional and Federal Data Sharing Ad Hoc Committee

The ad hoc committee developed 10 recommendations for data sharing, adopted by the Council in 2007, stated in a summary and a final report.

Public-Private Partnership Ad Hoc Committee

The Public-Private Partnership Working Group was established in 2006 to identify the mutual benefits and possible structures for creating public-private partnerships to advance the vision of N.C. OneMap as a contiguous, current and available digital map for North Carolina. The GICC endorsed the committee’s final report in 2008.

Surveyors' Model Law Working Group

The Surveyors' Model Law Working Group was formed to address several provisions in N.C. (G.S. 89C) pertaining to land surveying and GIS representation of government geographic data. The Working Group collaborated with the NCBELS.

In response to a request by NCBELS and the GICC, the N.C. Department of Justice issued an advisory letter in 2010 that the collection of GIS data by an employee of the state of North Carolina, any political subdivision of the state or a municipality while engaged in that activity in the course of their employment does not constitute surveying without a license. In a second advisory letter, the Department of Justice stated that this conclusion also applies to regional councils of governments, so long as those entities are authorized by resolution of their member governments. Therefore, the collection of GIS data by local governments does not violate Chapter 89C of the General Statutes because local governments are exempt under the government exemption.

Related Documents

Working Group for Professional Land Surveying and GIS

The Working Group for Professional Land Surveying and GIS was a special committee of the GICC and operated under its authority. The purpose of the working group was to work with N.C. Board of Examiners for Engineers and Land Surveyors to define GIS in North Carolina, define the scope of engineering and surveying services in relation to GIS, articulate how GIS is practiced by GIS professionals, review the legislation to clarify the language and, if needed, make recommendations on how to enable GIS practices through agencies and boards that are stakeholders, including potential modifications to legislation and rules governing professional land surveying and GIS. The working group communicated the results of its work to the broader GIS community.

For information on inactive working groups and committees, contact Tim Johnson (919-754-6588).

Staff support to committees and working groups is provided by CGIA (919-754-6584).