Realities Among Data
nRelevant data is often hard to find and in incompatible forms. nInformation describing data is often non-existent. nFramework data does not exist for broad geographic areas. nData sharing across organizations is inconsistent.
n
-         With today’s emphasis on digital spatial data, new products are created with greater frequency.  There continues to be, however, some institutional resistance to putting data into a form such that it can be widely used. With this increased production comes the potential for substantial duplication of effort, as virtually identical digital products appear from different agencies to satisfy their often very specific needs.
-         The costs of creating and maintaining digital spatial data are high, so it is particularly important that data created at considerable cost and effort be collected to standards and shareable to ensure that the collected data be fully utilized to realize all of its potential benefits.