Geoffrey Maas, MURP, GISP

MetroGIS Coordinator
Metropolitan Council

The Advance of Geospatial Data Standards in Minnesota


Abstract: Recent years have seen significant interest and advancement of standards for geospatial data in Minnesota. Agencies whose work covers many jurisdictions have strong business needs for data standardized across cities and counties. Additionally, the rising need for geospatial data to be consumed by NextGen9-1-1 applications presents prime opportunity to bring data together. This presentation will highlight the role of standards and how they are developed collaboratively in Minnesota by its participating geospatial professional community.


Bio: Geoff Maas is the MetroGIS Coordinator at the Metropolitan Council. MetroGIS is an award-winning, inter-agency initiative which brings together partners in local, regional, state and federal government as well as interests in the non-profit, utility, real estate and academia to maximize their investment in GIS through data sharing, defining needed datasets, developing data standards and working on inter-jurisdictional projects. He has 20+ years of experience in the fields of planning, GIS, cartography and information design having worked in the private, public and non-profit sectors in the states of Wisconsin, Arizona, Louisiana and Minnesota. In addition to working in GIS and planning, his research and professional interests include urban history, information policy, information design, graphic arts and cartography. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.


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