Comments on Brooks litigation (MAPPS lawsuit) and QBS - qualifications based selection

This past week at GITA conference 30 there was a panel discussion that touched on the topic of certification and licensing (don't confuse the two as they are very different!). After lengthy discussion the topic then turned to the pending MAPPS vs US government litigation and the ramifications the proceedings could have on the industry. In a recent GISuser newsletter I included the following statement in an item regarding litigation associated with the Federal procurement policy currently pending before a Federal court:

‘Simply put, an adverse outcome of this case would exclude everyone but licensed architects, engineers, and surveyors from being awarded US federal government contracts for "mapping" services’.

That statement made it appear that I was stating a fact. I've was contacted by John Palatiello, Executive Director, MAPPS, and informed that in his judgement the statement is not a fact, but rather the opinion of groups opposed to the litigation (GITA, URISA, UCGIS, and GISCI) - indeed the statement was derived from a document published by GITA and distributed at the conference. To clarify, Palatiello tells me that among those Federal agencies that presently use the Brooks Act process of qualifications based selection, many have awarded contracts for mapping and geospatial services to firms other than those with licensed architects, engineers, and surveyors. As Brant Howard of CompassData, Centennial, CO, a member of the Board of Directors of MAPPS, one of the plaintiffs in the legal case, said at the associations panel session at the GITA conference in San Antonio, firms such as ESRI and many others have won Brooks Act procurements by Federal agencies, via the qualifications based selection process, and they are not considered licensed architecture, engineering or surveying firms.

 

Following that,  a reader from seattle contacted me to share his opinion... Have you considered (in Mr. Palatiello's reponse) that companies like ESRI have won Brooks Act procurements precisely because the definition of "mapping" has previously been inclusive of non-engineering applications of GIS. Whether these companies would continue to be eligible for Brooks Act procurements appears to be the central issue with the MAPPS lawsuit. A statement that had been qualified with this distinction may have been clearer. 

 

This topic is by no means cut and dry and there are obviously differing opinions (to say the least!) If you have an opinion on the MAPPS legal proceedings, the Brooks Act, or perhaps on the topic of QBS (qualifications based selection) for federal procurement contracts I'd be glad to hear from you. It should be noted that one one side of the camp we seem to have Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and Council on Federal Procurement of Architectural and Engineering Services (COFPAES)... in opposition to their position we have GITA, URISA, UCGIS, and GISCI. For more information see http://www.mapps.org/QBSlawsuit.asp for an opposition opinion see - Call For Help To The Geospatial Community - MAPPS lawsuit update from GITA GEOXchange http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/10983/ - of note: Palatiello will be speaking on this topic this week-end at the ACSM event. For details on this see Brooks Act Litigation Will be Subject of Presentation at ACSM Convention (http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/11013/)

2nd Annual Google Test Automation Conference (GTAC)

This from the Google testing blog... the company announces that Google will be hosting their  2nd Annual Google Test Automation Conference (GTAC) in our New York office on August 23 and 24, 2007. From the blog... "Our goal is to create a collegial atmosphere where participants can discuss challenges facing people on the cutting edge of test automation, evaluate solutions for meeting those challenges, and have a little fun." There's also a call for proposals - see http://googletesting.blogspot.com/2007/03/2nd-annual-google-test-automation.html

Google photos and creating your business profile with a logo on Google Maps and Google Local Business Center

No doubt you may have heard (or read) that Google maps has added images to the offering. What this means is that when you use gmaps to conduct a search for a business you also now get to see an image or photo associated with that business. What you may not know is that the image you see is either provided by the business owner (if they have a google account), otherwise the image is pulled from Google's image search, resulting in what may or may not be a totally relevant image - for example, I could have a picture of myself called "esri" that I may have snapped at an ESRI UC and this picture could possible get pulled and posted along with a relevant search on Google maps. So, if you happen to have a business listed in Google's business directory you may wish to go into your profile and add your company's logo to your profile. This will then result in your logo being shown when someone searches for your business using Google maps. As an example, I search google maps for Autodesk, San Rafael.. the image that is shown along with the resulting directory listing is actually being pulled from a blog on blogs.com. So how do you add details of your business to Google Maps? Simple.. create a Google account, then using the Google Local Business Center create a profile for your business. In a few days you'll be sent a postcard from Google with a PIN to verify the information you provided. For more details see http://www.google.com/local/add?hl=en&gl=us

Book - Improving Geospatial Support for Disaster Response

I just received a copy of a very interesting book that should be of interest to anyone involved with emergency response or perhaps if you could be involved should a disaster strike your region. The book/report provides findings and some analysis of the IT and geospatial response to recent disasters (the events of Sept 11, 2001 and more Hurricane Katrina). Topics covered include data sharing (and the lack thereof), data availability, interoperability, training, and public sector support for Geo technologies. Using the recent events as a model, the geospatial response is examined in detail in an effort to find out what could be done better the next time. Of particular interest to those working directly in emergency response is an appendix providing an emergency response checklist. Additionally, a section titled critical elements in successful planning response should be very useful for those charged with coordinating and implementing a response. The book is from the National Research Council of the National Academies and is titled "Successful Response Starts With a Map" - see http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11793

event of interest Canadian Interoperability Day - April 20, 2007

Heads up on an event taking place in Ottawa next month... Canadian agencies, organizations, and companies are invited to attend the Canadian Interoperability Day on Friday, April 20, 2007, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario. The event is being hosted by ESRI Canada and GeoConnections—a national program led by Natural Resources Canada. GeoConnections collaborates with partners to expand and evolve the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI)—a resource that enables Canadians to share, access, use, and combine location-based ("geospatial") information over the Internet. At the event, federal, provincial and territorial governments, industry, academia, and geomatics associations from Canada and around the world will be showcasing their products and discussing the benefits of interoperable data sets and applications accessible via the CGDI. See the program at http://www.geoconnections.org/newsEvents/CGDI_InteroperabilityDayPreliminaryProgram_E.pdf

USGS Collaborates with NASA on View of Antarctica

This interesting update from the USGS about a cool project in Antarctica developing a versatile map of Antarctica using satellite imagery. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica or LIMA combines nearly 1100 hand-selected Landsat satellite scenes that are being digitally woven together to create a single, seamless, cloud-free image of the Antarctic continent—the most detailed color representation of this vast and frozen landmass ever produced. The National Science Foundation is funding the LIMA project.  The scenes being used to create the new mosaic map of Antarctica were drawn from more than 8,000 collected by Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor from 1999 through 2006. The digital weaving, or mosaicking, of Landsat scenes for most of the continent is being performed at the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS); BAS researchers are generating the Antarctic Peninsula region of the map. While Landsat scenes make up most of the map’s digital dataset, some images captured by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments carried aboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, and possibly a small amount of radar data, will be used to fill in the part the Antarctic continent surrounding the geographic South Pole not “seen” by Landsat 7 as it circles the Earth in its near-polar orbit.  In conjunction with the new mosaic, researchers with the LIMA project are creating an Antarctic Web portal and online map which will be available in the near future. For more information about the Landsat Program, visit http://landsat.usgs.gov/