GIS Coordinating Council

Because of the high development in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), in conjunction with its members, has organized a GIS Coordinating Council. Because of the physical size of our region and the hundreds of GIS members that we serve, it is difficult for NCTCOG's GIS staff to stay in touch with all of its members. The GIS Coordinating Council is the board that assists NCTCOG's GIS staff in making decisions about all of the GIS projects that we organize and manage on behalf of our members. As part of this effort, the Council assures all funding raised by the GIS projects goes back into GIS projects that benefit our membership. All projects using this funding must be presented to, and be approved by, at least 75% of the Council.

There exists a need for regional coordination that reduces the amount of duplicate GIS data being produced throughout the region. By reducing this duplication, the cost to our members is also reduced. Also, because of the high volume of digital data being produced in our area, a structure is in place that assists all involved in GIS in producing data that are useful and will meet regional standards of accuracy and need.

The coordinating council is made up of GIS professionals from the four core counties of NCTCOG's region (Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin). Representatives come from NCTCOG, counties, cities, appraisal districts, 9-1-1 organizations, and universities.