At GIS in the Rockies Conference today, an announcement was made by Jon Gottsegen, the Colorado State GIS Coordinator that, after much work, the state has finally opened its
GIS Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse is following guidelines established by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) with an emphasis on metadata search. In addition, the clearinghouse will offer an online "map bureau" through a web interface. At the same time, Michael Locatis, Colorado's Chief Information Officer, announced that Gottsegen's position was being elevated to that of a statewide Geographic Information Officer (GIO) that will report in through the Governor's office. "The GIO function is something that really needs to be elevated into a strategic role," said Locatis.
Too bad so much of the data listed is still just a shp/jpeg download. Metadata is nice if it is actually kept up to date, but web access to data can be a lot more than an ftp download. Perhaps the GIO will help promote better use of OGC interoperability standards for publishing state data in a more useable manner.