James Sipe

The meeting included opening remarks highlighting participation in the 2025 CCAP Annual Conference, the Goddard Mid-Atlantic Flood Forum, and the 2025 AI Horizons Summit. A significant discussion focused on a vehicle fire incident where inadequate geospatial data (unpaved roads, gates) delayed emergency response, serving as a call to action for improved data collaboration. A presentation was given by DGS Bureau of Real Estate on managing the Commonwealth's real estate portfolio using IBM TRIRIGA, noting challenges with inconsistent parcel data access and the desire to partner on statewide parcel data standardization. Updates from the Governance Task Force covered legislative tracking on several House Bills and review of the Task Force Charter. The Service Delivery Task Force reported on successful joint panel discussions regarding GeoAI and planned future webinars. The Data Task Force detailed progress across its working groups, including the drafting of an 'Address Best Practice Guide' by the 911 Advisory Board, efforts to align civic boundaries ahead of the next census, updates on lidar data acquisition through the Elevation Working Group, and progress on developing a statewide schema for aggregated parcel data.

The PA BaseMap 2030 strategic plan, promoted by the State Geospatial Coordinating Board, aims to revolutionize the creation and sharing of maps and associated data by fostering collaboration and workflow improvements. It focuses on establishing a clean, well-maintained foundation of authoritative data that is standards-based, responsibly governed, quality-controlled, efficiently distributed, and managed through defined change processes. Key objectives include coordinating data collection, providing open and accessible authoritative data, delivering a common map for governmental decision-making, establishing single versions of base map layers, and evolving to support 3D frameworks, ultimately ensuring citizens have access to current and reliable information.

The Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) hosted a hiring event to introduce its mission and recruit new team members. The organization's strategic direction focuses on transforming government digital services in Pennsylvania by breaking down barriers between commercial and government online experiences. Key priorities include establishing a human-centered and user-centered design approach, applying iterative prototype design, and fostering product ownership for various applications. CODE PA aims to simplify online engagement for residents and businesses, design seamless cross-agency experiences, and reduce administrative burdens for agency partners. The vision is to make digital government services more accessible, efficient, and user-friendly across the state, building a culture of feedback, collaboration, and innovation.

The meeting included introductions of Jacob Heck from NOAA NGS and Stacey Smith, the newly elected President of Keystone GIS. Discussions covered updates from the State GIS Coordinator, including the procurement of LightBox Smart Fabric Professional and the launch of a new Hydrography Program page on the PA GeoData website. Updates were provided from the Governance Task Force on House Bill 513 and the Emerging Technologies Subcommittee on GeoAI. The Service Delivery Task Force discussed the upcoming webinar on GeoAI & AI-Drive Workflows and the availability of critical infrastructure data on PASDA. The Data Task Force reported on the progress of the Addresses, Civic Boundaries, Elevation, Hydrography, and Geodetic Working Groups. New business included the discontinuation of the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) Open data repository and potential revisions to the OMB SOC Manual.

The meeting included discussions on membership changes, remarks and kudos, and a guest presentation from the DGS Bureau of Real Estate. Updates were provided from the State GIO/OA GIS and the Leadership Team, including the Governance Task Force, Service Delivery Task Force, and Data Task Force. Legislative tracking, emerging technologies, and task force charters were reviewed. The Service Delivery Task Force discussed presentations, county data sharing, and upcoming events. The Data Task Force covered working groups such as the 911 Advisory Board, Civic Boundary WG, Elevation WG, Hydrography WG, Land Records WG, and Geodetic WG. There were also discussions on the 911 Advisory Board report, address best practices, and minimum standards for PSAPs. The Civic Boundary Working Group discussed municipal outreach and boundary alignment. The Elevation Working Group covered precision agriculture and lidar projects. The Hydrography Working Group discussed 3DHP and workshops. The Parcels Working Group discussed a statewide schema for aggregated parcel data and a parcel fabric workshop. The Geodetic Working Group discussed datum and map projection modernization.