Geospatial One-Stop takes first county

Geospatial One Stop

The first county government this week added its geospatial data and maps to the federal Geospatial-One Stop, joining a small number of state and local partners on what officials hope will become a governmentwide Web portal.

The information that Westchester County, N.Y., added to the portal allows visitors to use the "Mapping Westchester County" geographic information system application that the county government hosts. Among other things, users can also download data about the county's transportation options, political districts and environment, such as streams and rivers.

By bringing together the information from multiple federal, state and local agencies, the goal is to allow users to link data such as how local school districts overlap with public health concerns.

In addition to federal sources, the portal also includes information and applications from the District of Columbia and the states of New York, Iowa, New Jersey and North Carolina.

"Westchester has led the way when it comes to collecting such extensive data," wrote Norman Jacknis, the county's chief information officer, in a statement. "We were ready to go."

The Geospatial One-Stop is one of the cross-agency and cross-government e-government initiatives that the Office of Management and Budget oversees as part of the President's Management Agenda. As one of the government-to-government initiatives, the portal is intended to make it easier for agencies and citizens to find and use the geospatial information that serves as the basis for many services and policies nationwide.