National Guard States Geospatial Systems GeoGuard States GIS Committee LtCol Mike Domingue, NHNG, Team Co-Chair Mr. Chris Diller, WING, Team Co-Chair 10 March, 2013
Background: The GeoGuard program was developed to facilitate and coordinate the development of processes and procedures to enable sustained interoperable geospatial capabilities in support of all National Guard missions and daily business practices. Our Principles: 1. Leverage existing resources and structures 2. Compliment/extend current capabilities; avoid degrading existing capabilities 3. Achieve interoperability through standards-based approaches 4. Promote and embrace best ideas, concepts and practices 5. Provide a dynamic geospatial information sharing environment 6. Facilitate a unity of effort based on trust and partnering among stakeholders 7. Using defined operational requirements, build resources and sustainable solutions Our methodology: Our methodology is to utilize FEMA region construct to establish networking points who can: 1. Develop relationships with regional states 2. Collect or distribute information consistent with the principles listed above 3. Provide a forum to that can collect and share system infrastructure design, developing practices and applications. Our Means: We will conduct business through meetings, briefings, and seminars. Generated initiatives that affect the various National Guard states will be captured in the form of Strategic Imperatives and monitored by the GeoGuard States GIS Committee. It's the management of attention. There is only so much we can all give our attention to. So we need to ensure that we re aiming at high improvement targets that really matter. The faster the pace of change and improvement, the clearer our goals and priorities must be. A key component of providing focus to an organization calls for leaders to identify "strategic imperatives" or "must-do's." These are the team or organization's critical leverage points. Strategic imperatives are those vital few 12 to 18 month goals, priorities, and improvement targets that when reached hurl our team or organization toward it's vision, values, and purpose. Copyright 2001 The CLEMMER Group National Guard States Geospatial Systems Page 1
Our Collaboration: 1. The GeoGuard States GIS committee is under the advisement from the Adjutants General Association of the United States (AGAUS) taskforce for Cyber, GIS, IT and SSA and is providing a recommended tactical approach for deploying the technology backbone that will support Geospatial infrastructure and processes. 2. The GeoGuard States GIS committee is a contributor and member of the Air National Guard Domestic Operations (DOMOPS) Integrated Process Team (IPT) which is in the process of combining efforts to become a Joint DOMOPS Unity of Effort IPT. 3. As a subset of the ANG DOMOPS IPT, one of the GeoGuard States GIS Committee cochair, LtCol Domingue is the co-chair of the ANG DOMOPS Planning and Shared Situational Awareness (SSA) Tiger Team 4. The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) is an organization committed to efficient and effective government through the prudent adoption of geospatial information technologies (GIT). Mr. Chris Diller is the NSGIC liaison to the National Guard. 5. Lastly and most importantly supporting the Whole of Community intent, the GeoGuard States is represented on the National Information Sharing Consortium (NISC) by the co-chairs LtCol Domingue and Mr. Diller. The NISC mission is to bring together data owners, custodians, and users involved in the fields of emergency preparedness, management, and response to drive an ongoing dialogue and corresponding action on how to best leverage efforts related to the governance, development, and sharing of technology, data, processes, and best practices. Note: Other collaboration areas and efforts in the various geospatial environments, such as Facilities, Environmental, Counter Drug, WMD Civil Support Teams, will be included in the future. National Guard States Geospatial Systems Page 2
Part 1; Domestic Operations and Shared Situational Awareness (SSA) Our collaboration efforts support the Council of Governors (CoG) Joint Action Plan SSA requirement. SSA is part of a larger geospatial approach for enabling the guard with baseline GIS capabilities. Former Chief of the National Guard Bureau Gen. McKinley s guidance on geospatially enabling the guard indicated that any GIS alignment activities should not cost any additional monies. SSA is part of a larger geospatial approach for enabling the guard with baseline GIS capabilities. This document generally outlines how the guard can and should meet the goals of SSA without any additional costs. The SSA will include five key phases in meeting the SSA requirement. It entails the development of an ESRI Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) giving the guard access to necessary software to support the sharing of information, the implementation of GIS infrastructure and supported by the Directorate of Information Management (DOIM) branch in each State NG, the need to deploy a cataloging system called ArcGIS portal for the National Guard and finally the deployment of a User Defined Operational Pictures (UDOP) in each state. 1. Establish an Esri software ELA to cover the entire National Guard. A key first step of establishing an ESRI ELA has been completed (August 2012). It covers all desktop and server based products that are key in supporting GIS enterprise deployments in each state NG. The ELA process was a combined effort by various NGB programs and directorates and had executive support from the TAGs. No additional monies were used to create the ELA. The ELA was paid for by reallocating GIS program monies already spent on ESRI products and pooled to more efficiently and efficiently leverage ESRI software for all National Guard entities. 2. Recommend a GIS configuration design that each state National Guard can implement. With an ESRI ELA in place State NG DOIM shops can now access and install server based software that is critical in sharing geospatial information between state JOCs, EOC s, NGB, FEMA and other public safety entities. A working group should be established and report to the AGAUS taskforce for Cyber, GIS, IT and SSA to advise on Certificate of Networthiness (CoN) activities and recommend a configuration that adheres to DOD and DISA guidelines and policies. The working group should consist of representatives from State NG DOIM shops. The GeoGuard working group and ESRI technical staff should advise where appropriate. State NG DOIM shops should then implement. National Guard States Geospatial Systems Page 3
3. Deploy a centralized cataloging system called ArcGIS Portal for the National Guard. Based on ESRI s ArcGIS online product, ArcGIS Portal for the National Guard is a data appliance and is covered under the ESRI ELA. ESRI is committed to providing resources to help implement the technology at no cost to the National Guard. ArcGIS Portal for the National Guard provides a web based cataloging system that allows State National Guards to register SSA information services that have been published by each state. ArcGIS Portal for the National Guard is the same technology that has been deployed by FEMA for the exact same purposes. Eventually both Portals could be available to each other giving both FEMA and National Guard users access to key SSA information. 4. Deployment of a User Defined Operational Picture in each state. Each State NG can choose any UDOP environment that meets their need. The GeoGuard Working Group has partnered with ESRI development staff to build a National Guard a baseline viewer. The intention is to provide a free UDOP to states that currently do not have any UDOP capabilities. The deployment has a small foot print and is easily adaptable giving state NG access to SSA very quickly. Again this activity is covered under the ESRI ELA and can be downloaded and implemented by each State NG at no additional cost. 5. Complete work on the National Guard Domestic Operations Concept of Operations. The National Guard Domestic Operations Concept of Operations has been drafted to serve as a vehicle to facilitate common reporting, capturing and sharing of common operational data and rest services, enabling the National Guard of the various states to be aware of developing emergencies and have the ability to respond effectively in concert with partner agencies and military forces. The CONOPS drafted in June 2012 was vetted with various states National Guard and agency partners. With the advent of emerging technology such as cloud services, a potential National Guard Portal and utilization of Arc GIS Online, this document requires updating and publication. National Guard States Geospatial Systems Page 4