Description:
The future of USGIN depends on taking measured steps to build this initiative and see it succeed. A summary of
recommended actions from this document include:
• Develop and deploy a marketing strategy to increase engagement of the State Surveys and stakeholders and
cement a strong user base supporting USGIN.
• Establish a governance structure led by a technical working team with representatives from USGS, State
Geological Surveys, and other geosciences-focused communities
• Decide if USGIN should be established as an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation or a subdivision
of an existing organization like OGC or ESIP
• Conduct a comparative analysis of preferred sustainability models and select one to implement that will
provide a conduit for financial resources to support infrastructure, a 2-3 person staff, and servers for system
infrastructure
• Inventory the State and Federal Geological Survey information architecture landscape to identify and
prioritize use cases, and to identify capabilities and expertise to develop prototypes and testbed
opportunities.
• Work to promote consistent best practices
• Engage with ESIP, NGC, DataOne18 and other geosciences communities to promote interests of geological
surveys in national cyber-infrastructure development.
• Select test bed opportunities to engage the geological survey community in the context of CDI, ESIP, NGC,
OGC, DataOne and evolving NSF EarthCube activities.