SAN JOSE, California - December 16, 2002 - Metropolis New Media, Inc., a leading provider of managed hosting services for ESRI® server products, announced today that it will help sponsor the Open Data Consortium Project by providing Web hosting services for the organization's Web site.

The ODC project objective is to formulate a model Data Distribution Policy that can be used to guide local governments that make digital geographic information available to the public. The model policy will be developed through a series of interactive workshops and teleconferences with invited members from local government, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (www.fgdc.gov) agencies, and private data companies.

“The development process is designed to elicit a model policy that represents the widest possible consensus of agreement on data distribution issues,” says Bruce Joffe, ODC project initiator. Joffe, a Geospatial Solutions Editorial Advisory Board member, cites his experience in helping resolve the role of licensed surveyors and other GIS professionals in creating and maintaining GIS data ("NCEES Model Law for Surveying: Who's in Charge of Base Data?") as an example of reaching the largest common consensus on a complex issue.

Though the technical barriers to data interoperability -- scale, format, projection, schema, and accuracy -- are being addressed by the Open GIS Consortium (www.opengis.org) and the Geography Network (www.geographynetwork.com), resolution on administrative and commercial issues -- ownership, cost, availability, service fulfillment, security, privacy, and liability -- will be advanced by the ODC effort.

With the entire project budgeted at $132,000, a USGS contract accounts for about 60 percent, “clearly significant startup seed-funding,” says Joffe. Several private companies have also committed sponsorship, including, Digital Map Central, Metropolis New Media, Inc., and ESRI. Others are considering how standardized business terms and conditions would help them access and distribute public agency geographic data, and may offer to sponsor this project as well.

The project is in its organizational phase with Joffe reconnecting to more than 150 people in both the public and private sectors who want to participate. Face-to-face workshops are being scheduled for the California GIS Conference (www.calgis.org) in April, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (www.urisa.org) conference in October, and the Intergraph (www.intergraph.com/gis) and ESRI user conferences in May and July, respectively.

About the Open Data Consortium
ODC is chartered to derive a model policy for distributing governmental geospatial data, that can serve as a de-facto example to guide public agencies. The model policy will be developed in a series of interactive workshops and teleconferences with representatives from local government, private companies, federal and state agencies who are willing to pursue a broad consensus of agreement. We invite you to participate in the development process. For more information visit the ODC web site at www.opendataconsortium.org.

About Metropolis

Based in San Jose, CA, Metropolis New Media, Inc. is a premier provider of managed hosting solutions for organizations looking to deploy ESRI server products online. Unlike ordinary hosting providers, Metropolis is focused solely on GIS and is an authorized ESRI business partner that is dedicated to providing customers with Internet infrastructure and operations support for sharing GIS data and applications on the Internet. More information about Metropolis and its services can be obtained on the Web at www.metropolisnewmedia.com

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Press Information:
Matt Monahan, Metropolis
Phone: (408) 297-4600 x201
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