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  2. Please Welcome the Metropolitan Council, MetroGIS, and Dakota County to the Commons

This past summer, the Geospatial Commons operations team worked hard to make sure that new publishers could utilize a method of web-based publishing via an FTP site. (See the overview of publishing resources for more information.) Once this method was solidified, we were able to welcome three new publishers to our list of participating organizations: Dakota County, MetroGIS, and the Metropolitan Council. These are some of the first publishers that are not state agencies, representing the broadening scope and reach of the Commons. These publishers share the vision of the Commons as a collaborative place for users and publishers of geospatial resources in Minnesota.

“The value of the Minnesota Geospatial Commons as a one stop shop for data is becoming evident as additional agencies contribute information. This website is a shining example of interagency cooperation and transparent, responsive government. We at the Council are proud to be part of this collaborative resource. We expect having an efficient way to search and access vast amounts of data will be a catalyst for innovation and lead to the development of GIS products benefiting countless agencies and users throughout Minnesota,” says Mark Kotz, GIS Manager from the Metropolitan Council, which provides staff support for MetroGIS.

Randy Knippel, GIS Manager from Dakota County, adds "We are excited to be one of the first counties publishing data on the Commons, now that it is available to counties and cities. Last year, Dakota County changed its GIS data distribution policy to make all Dakota County GIS data free and open. After that change, we began making more data available for download on the County website. However, the Commons provides a much more effective way for people to discover and download Dakota County GIS data, since it provides a single site to find available data for any county or city in the State. Once we were set up, updating and adding layers is a very simple process.  Now, we will simply direct people to the Commons, and avoid having to maintain our own website and data repository."

Follow the links below to see the growing lists of resources available from each organization.

Together with growth from existing publishers, these new organizations have brought our resource total to 448 as of September 30, 2015. Please join us in welcoming these organizations to the Commons!