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First Belize National Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference

July 29th and 30th 2009

San Ignacio Hotel BELIZE

Coordinated by Land and Surveys Department

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Pan American Institute of Geography and History

Galen University

Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Table of Contents Background............................................................................................................................................................. 3Objectives of the Conference……………………………………………………..………………………………………………...3 The Conference....................................................................................................................................................... 4

Component One .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Component Two.................................................................................................................................................. 5 Component Three................................................................................................................................................ 6 Component Four ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Next Steps ............................................................................................................................................................... 7 Annex 1: Conference Agenda................................................................................................................................. 8 Annex 2: Organizations Invited to the First NSDI Conference........................................................................... 10 Annex 3: MOU on Partnership and Cooperation in the Creation of Belize NSDI ............................................... 14 Annex 4: Working Groups.................................................................................................................................... 20 Annex 5: Invitation to participate in the First Belize NSDI conference............................................................. 222

Background July 29th and 30th, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment through the Land and Surveys Department held the First Conference on Belize’s National Spatial Data Infrastructure (BNSDI) at the San Ignacio Hotel in San Ignacio, Belize. The event, which marks the start of a 21-months process, was co-sponsored by the Pan American Institute of Geography and History, Galen University, The Water Center for the Humid Tropics in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Instituto Nacional de Estadίstica y Geografίa from Mexico. The goal is to establish a functioning NSDI with clearly articulated policies, standards, and procedures for the maintenance of data quality and data sharing, and the people and technologies to enable the use of the quality data in decision making and workflows across the public, private, and non-government sectors. Objectives of the Conference The objective of the conference, which was attended by over fifty participants representing the public, private, academic and non-government sectors, was to prepare the participating organizations for the formulation of an implementation plan for the Belize National Spatial Data Infrastructure, and to get their commitment to engage the process. Annex 2 presents a list of the organizations invited to the conference. The Present field indicates if the invitee attended or not. Annex 3 presents the final draft of the Memorandum of Understanding that organizations and individuals are invited to signed on to as a commitment to participate in the planning and implementation of the NSDI. Some organizations and individuals signed the MOU at the conference while others are still deciding if they will.

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The Conference The conference had four main components: presentations on issues related to NSDI, work groups sessions, work group presentations, and formation of the Working Committees and signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. It opened with a keynote address by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Honorable Mark Pech, who expressed the Ministry’s commitment to the establishment of the Belize National Spatial Data Infrastructure and its appreciation to the co-sponsors of the event. He urged the participants to get involved with the process because an NSDI is critical to nation development.

Component One After the Keynote Address, we went into Part One of the conference which was made up of several presentations. The purpose of this component of the conference was to explain the NSDI concept and to prepare the participants for the work group session which was to follow in Part Two of the conference. The agenda in Annex 1 presents the Conference agenda, but for ease of reference the presentations were as follows:

1. Introduction to NSDI Project: Goals and Objectives (Mr. Edgar Ek, Land and Surveys Department)

2. Concepts and Components -- How SDI addresses data challenges (Mr. Burgess Howell, National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

3. National Concept – NEGIS (Mr. Edgar Ek, Land and Surveys Department)

4. Examples of Successful SDI around the World (Mr. Emil Cherrington, Water Center for the Humid

Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean)

5. Data Development and Maintenance (Mr. Marion Cayetano, Galen University)

6. SDI Development: The Mexican Case Study (Dr. Arturo Carréon Espinosa, Pan-American Institute of Geography and History/INEG)

Time was tight and we could not get in a presentation on the value and development and maintenance of metadata by Marion Cayetano. On the morning of the following day Jan Meerman presented on the use of metadata in the Biodiversity & Environmental Resource Data System of Belize, which he manages. All these presentations, including the one on the value and development of metadata, can be downloaded from www.belizensdi.org. Collectively, the presentations gave context to the value and role of an SDI for Belize. There was an opportunity for questions and discussion after each presentation. Participants actively engaged in discussion and asked questions related to the mechanics of an SDI and how organizations participate. It was emphasized that an NSDI has tangible and intangible components, and all are very important to the successful functioning of an SDI. The tangible components refer to the physical network and data sharing platforms. The intangible components refer to the policies, procedures, protocols and standards that are used for data development, documentation, discovery, and sharing. The intangibles are critical to the establishment of an efficient NSDI.

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Component Two After the presentations, there was a plenary session in which the workgroups were discussed and participants of each group were identified. Four workgroups were established to address the following themes and subthemes:

1) Metadata design and creation -- metadata design, minimalism, applicability, ease of use, coding considerations, db entry, automation a) What is the current status with metadata documentation in Belize? b) Where should we be with respect to metadata documentation in Belize? c) What do we need to do to get where we need to be with respect to metadata documentation? d) How do we get it done? e) What is the implementation timeline? f) What are the cost implications? g) Who will bear the related costs?

2) Data ownership and security -- intellectual property rights, public vs. restricted access, metadata access vs. data access, data security, financial compensation a) How accessible is data that is needed by organizations to carry out their work? b) How does one currently know what data exists and where to find it? c) How do you know if the data you are working with is the most current? d) What needs to be done to ensure that data users know where the data is and how to access it? e) What should data cost? f) How do we protect confidential data? g) How should we go about developing the standards?

3) Infrastructure design and implementation -- physical and schematic configuration, central vs. distributed databases, db interface, web interface, a) What is the current status of IT infrastructure? b) What kinds of infrastructure would facilitate data accessibility within organizations and across

organizations? c) What do we need to do to build the appropriate IT infrastructure? d) How will we get it done? e) Who are key players in establishing the appropriate IT infrastructure? f) What are the cost implications? g) Who will bear the costs?

4) System maintenance and oversight -- system "ownership," oversight personnel or committees, modification/maintenance authority, costs, continuing committee involvement a) Who is responsible for making the NSDI work? b) Who owns the NSDI? c) How are policies, standards and protocols established and disseminated? d) What are some important start-up policies, standards and protocols? e) Who should bear the cost of establishing the NSDI?

f) What should be included in the Terms of reference for the body/group responsible for the NSDI? g) How do we make this body operational?

The work groups started their activities at 2:30pm and continued their session until 4:15pm, at which time the groups reconvened into a final plenary for the day. The members of the workgroups are presented in Annex 5. The final plenary summarized the day’s events and prepared the participants for the second day of the conference when the group work would be presented and the participants would be encouraged to sign the MOU.

Component Three At the start of the second day of the conference Jan Meerman made a presentation on the use of metadata in the Biodiversity & Environmental Resource Data System of Belize (BERDS), a spatially enabled data system that he manages. This added some clarity to the question of metadata, particularly since we did not discuss this with any detail in the presentations of the first day. After the presentation and some discussion the workgroups reconvened to finalize the work that they had done and prepare a PowerPoint presentation of their discussions. Each workgroup did a commendable job, and their presentations can be obtained at: www.belizensdi.org along with the other presentations pertaining to the conference.

Component Four The final component of the conference was the signing of the MOU and the establishment of working committees. The letter of invitation was explicit that these activities would be carried out toward the end of the conference. See Annex 5 for a copy of the invitation letter.

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The MOU provides a way to document commitment to the plan development process and the implementation of a viable plan, while the working committees provide an opportunity to help to develop aspects of the implementation plan. The MOU outlines a 21 month timeline for the establishment of a functional NSDI for Belize. To sign the MOU on behalf of your organization or on your own behalf, please contact Mr. Edgar Ek at the Land Information Center, Lands and Survey Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. The original copy of the MOU will be lodged in the files of the Land Information Center Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and a copy will be furnished to all signatories. Some participants came to the conference with the authority to sign on behalf of their respective organizations while others needed to go back to their organizations with more information before a decision is made. There is no deadline to sign on to the MOU, though the target date for completion of the draft implementation plan is the end of October. It was agreed that the presentations would be made available to all the participants and all organizations that were invited to participate, along with this report on the conference. To obtain copies of the various presentations, please visit www.belizensdi.org. During the conference it was decided that we will establish four working committees and an executive committee. The working committees are: Data Quality and Data Standards; The NSDI Network Architecture and Platform Standards; Maintenance and Oversight; and Data Ownership, Access and Security. Terms of reference are being prepared for each committee that will build on the work done by the workgroups during the conference. Some participants of the conference volunteered for the working committees but we are still looking for members. We hope to have the committees fully functional by August 15th 2009. The current memberships of the various committees are presented in Annex 4.

Next Steps The next steps are as follows:

1. Distribute the presentations and the conference report 2. Identify a convener for each working committee 3. Develop Terms of Reference for each working group 4. Plan for the conference during the week of the 16th of November 2009 5. Compile the draft implementation plan

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Annex 1: Conference Agenda

BELIZE’s 1ST NSDI CONFERENCE “promoting national competitiveness and productivity”

29th -30th July, 2009

San Ignacio Hotel, San Ignacio

29th July, 2009 08:30 – 09:00 AM Registration of Participants 09:00 – 09:15 AM Welcome Address (Mrs. Beverly Castillo – CEO MNRE) 09:15 – 9:30 AM Introduction to NSDI Project/ Objectives and Goals (Mr. Ek) 09: 30 – 10:00 AM Concepts and Components -- How SDI addresses data challenges (Mr. Howell) 10:00 – 10:15 AM Coffee Break 10:15 – 10:35 AM National Concept - NEGIS (Mr. Ek) 10:35 – 10:50 AM Examples of successful SDI around the world (Mr. Cherrington) 10:50 – 11:20 AM Data Development and Maintenance (Mr. Cayetano) 12:10 – 01:10 PM LUNCH BREAK 1:20 – 2:00 PM SDI Development: A Mexican Case Study (Professor Arturo Carréon, INEGI) 02:10 – 02:30 PM Data Sharing Procedures and Policies: Developing common standards and discuss

challenges with data-access and information sharing (Mr. Howell; Plenary Discussion) 02:30 – 01:45 PM Formation of workgroups 02:40 – 04:30 PM Workgroups 04:30 PM Closing 30th July, 2009

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8:45 – 9:15 Use of Metadata in Biodiversity and Environmental Resource Data System (Mr.

Meerman) 09:20 – 09:50 AM Preparation/finalization of workgroup Presentations 10:00 – 11:00 AM Presentation of workgroup results, achievements, roadblocks 10:45 – 11:00 AM Presentation and signing of MOU 10:55 – 11:10 AM Coffee Break 11:15 – 11:30 AM What will it Take to Develop Belize’s NSDI? (Plenary

Discussion) 11:30 – 12:00 AM Statement of goals for November 15 status report 12:00 – 12:15 PM Closing remarks

ArcGIS Single Use License Raffle 12:15 – 1:15 PM LUNCH BREAK

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Annex 2: Organizations Invited to the First NSDI Conference

BELIZE’s 1ST NSDI CONFERENCE Workshop Participants

Institution Name Name of Invitee Present E-Mail Telephone

Number Post

1 Ministry of Agriculture Barry Palacio Yes palaciofulton@yahoo.com 722-2689 DAC

2 Ministry of Agriculture Oscar Salazar Yes olcisalazar@yahoo.com 824-2079 DAC

3 Police Headquarter Mario Alcoser Yes Mario.Alcoser@gmail.com 670-5939 Manager PITU

4 Police Headquarter Harry Noble Sr. Yes Computer Consultant

5 Police Headquarter Mr. Harry Noble Yes hnoble@police.gov.bz 822-2223 Network Administrator

6 Statistical Institute Alain Robinson Yes

7 Statistical Institute Desmond Gordon No

8 Belize Tourism Board No

9 Belize Electricity Board Careen Craig Yes careen.craig@bel.com.bz 610-0993 Distribution Technician

10 Programme for Belize Ramon Pacheco Yes techcoordinator@pfbelize.org 227-5616 Technical Coordinator

11 BERDS/Belize Environmental Research Data System

Jan Meerman Yes meerman@biological-diversity.info 820-4017 Director

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Institution Name Name of Invitee Present E-Mail Telephone Number

Post

12 Belize Audubon Society Anna Hoare No

13 Coastal Zone Management

Collin Gillett Yes directorczmai@gmail.com 623-0719 Director

14 Meteorology Department/MNRE

No

15 Meteorology Department/MNRE

No

16 Department of Environment/MNRE

Celi Cho Yes celch@yahoo.com 822-2542 Environmental Officer

17 Forest Department/MNRE Judene Tingling Yes jbtingling@hotmail.com

17 Forest Department/MNRE Rafael Chun Yes sonychun74@yahoo.com 822-1524 Forest Officer

19 Geology Department/MNRE

Edward Swift Yes geology@mnrei.gov.bz 822-2178 822-2651

Mineral Surveyor

20 Physical Planning Section Omar Vasquez Yes prospect.bze@gmail.com 822-2711 Physical Planner

21 Mapping Section/MNRE Robert Ozielo No

22 Policy Unit/MNRE Ms. Garnett/afternoon Yes

23 Solid Waste Management/MNRE

Emerson Garcia Yes emmersongarcia-15@yahoo.com 624-7912 S.W. Technician

24 NEMO/National Emergency Management Organization

Noreen Fairweather No

25 Total Business Solution Limited

Loretta Palacio Yes lgpalacio@tbslcaribbean.com.bz 223-6807 Managing Director

26 Total Business Solution Limited

Alfred Moore Yes amoore@tbslcaribbean.com.bz Application System

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Institution Name Name of Invitee Present E-Mail Telephone Number

Post

Manger

27 Total Business Solution Limited

Nancy Tillett Yes ntillett@tbslcaribbean.com.bz 669-7530 Business Solution Manager

28 PAIGH M. Sc. Arturo Carreón Yes

29 CATHLAC Emil Cherrington Yes Senior Scientist

30 NASA Burgess Howell Yes Research & Scientist

31 Galen University Marion Cayetano Yes

32 University of Belize Jair Gaspar Valladarez Yes jvalladarez@ub.edu.bz 607-4279 Lecturer

33 CLS/MNRE Manuel Rodriguez Yes/Portion

34 National Security/Police Jose M. Tillett Sr. Yes jmt42005@hotmail.com 663-3646 Detective Constable

35 National Security Juanito Cocom Yes juanito.cocom@policenet.bz 610-3876 D/Manager PITO

37 LIC/MNRE Edgar Ek Yes P.L.I.Officer

38 LIC/MNRE Elam Torres Yes L.I.Officer

39 LIC/MNRE Karen Mahmud Yes

40 LIC/MNRE Alfred Cal Yes L.I.Technician

41 CEO/MNRE Beverly Castillo No

42 Belize National Energy Eugene Ariola Yes eariola@belizeenergy.bzeaariola@gmail.com

823-0354 GioTechnician

43 Gillett & Associates Ian Gillett Yes iagillett@hotmail.com 610-3980 Surveyor

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Institution Name Name of Invitee Present E-Mail Telephone Number

Post

44 LIC/MNRE Joshua Lopez Yes Jal20075@hotmail.com 626-9369 L.I.Technician

45 Public Service Byron Tesecum Yes btesu@yahoo.com 663-9594 IT Support Analyst

46 BDF Francis Thomas Yes racoon7017@yahoo.com 621-5924 Commanding Officer

47 Ministry of Agriculture Joseph Castillo Yes

48 Private Mary Vasquez Yes

49 Public Hugo Vasquez Yes stellar.links@gmail.com 600-4555 Manager

50 Public Thomas Vasquez Yes

51 Department of Environment

Jeavon Hulse Yes envirodept@btl.net 822-2816 Sr. Env. Officer

51 Private Roberto Pott Yes Roberto.pott@duke.edu 223-0920

52 Ministry of Health Arthur Martinez Yes amartinez@health.gov.bz 600-6544 GIS Technician

53 BDF Ganney Dortch Yes ganneydortch@yahoo.com 610-0986 Chief of Staff

54 Galen University Nick Scavone Yes nscavone@galen.edu.bz 661-9175 Professor

55 Galen University Nancy Adamson Yes nadamson@galen.edu.bz 824-3226 CEO

56 Ministry of Agriculture Joseph Castillo Yes joepink51342@yahoo.com 722-2689 Extension

57 Policy Unit/MNRE Dr. Paul Flowers Yes PCPU.MNRE@gmail.com 822-2062

58 Marydelene Vasquez Yes mvasquez@btl.net 223-2555

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Annex 3: MOU on Partnership and Cooperation in the Creation of Belize NSDI

Memorandum of Understanding on Partnership and Cooperation

in the Creation of the Belizean National Spatial Data Infrastructure

This Memorandum of Understanding is concluded among the various undersigned government agencies, non-government and private sector organizations, and interested individuals, hereinafter referred to as the "Parties." WHEREAS, the Parties recognize that technological advances in data acquisition, production, and processing have made the use of digital spatial data a highly valuable tool to support a variety of public and private programs, and that geographic information systems (GIS) are an increasingly important analytical tool to support economic development, track social and environmental trends, improve productivity, manage natural and cultural resources, and address service delivery issues not possible by conventional information systems, and WHEREAS, physical and economic limitations on the Parties’ ability to access, integrate, and analyze geographic information quickly and accurately place the Parties at a disadvantage in responding to environmental issues, public service needs, public and private development initiatives, and other opportunities and obligations, and WHEREAS, users of geospatial data currently face extreme difficulty in assembling the information to address their mandates or fill requests, because much of the required data may be in different physical locations, may not exist in digital form, may be nonexistent, or may be undiscoverable, and WHEREAS, further, the shared use of a coordinated spatial data portal would alleviate this hardship, and WHEREAS, the Parties perceive a broad and general need for greater access to spatial data by all levels of government, commerce, industry, education, private organizations, and individuals, and WHEREAS, the Parties are willing to commit the requisite personnel, material, and skills required to achieve a data discovery, access, and management solution, and WHEREAS, Parties’ activities within the framework of this Memorandum of Understanding will provide a vehicle for the development and implementation of a standardized system for the description, discovery, access, and distribution of digital data; a decrease in the redundant collection of data, an increase in data sharing efforts between multiple agencies, organizations, and individuals; and a cost savings to the Parties and other users, and WHEREAS, this agreement promotes partnership and fosters collaboration between geospatial data users and producers from all sectors, public and private, in Belize, and WHEREAS, endorsement of the creation of a national system for the discovery, description, access, and distribution of geospatial data has been demonstrated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Galen University, the Centro del Agua del Trópico Húmedo para América Latina y el Caribe (CATHALAC), the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH), through their previous joint efforts to institute such a system, and their continuing collaboration for same. NOW THEREFORE, the Parties enter this Memorandum of Understanding for the purpose of devising and implementing a Belize National Spatial Data Infrastructure for the purpose of sharing, discovering, describing, accessing, exchanging, and distributing digital geospatial information in a timely manner.

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Article 1 Objective The objective of this Memorandum of Understanding is to establish the methods, partnerships, and capacities necessary in order to plan and implement a National Spatial Data Infrastructure to facilitate the use and exchange of geospatial information within Belize. The activities under this Memorandum will build and enhance Belizean geospatial data utilization in the following ways:

• strengthen national capacities for geospatial data collection, exchange, research, and analysis for the monitoring of the environment and to foster national development

• strengthen national statistical, cartographic, and Earth observing capacities in order to produce reliable and timely

decision support tools for national, regional, and local development policies and strategies

• improve assessment of land changes for the timely discovery of emerging environmental issues

• improve scientific exchange within and between government agencies, non-government organizations, educational institutions, and individuals

• promote partnerships at the national, regional, and local levels

Article 2 Areas of Shared Interest and Cooperation THE PARTES have a shared interest in carrying out the following activities:

a) creation of a framework document describing the goals, methods, procedures, and appearance of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure

b) establishment and selection of various representative committees, chairs, and working groups in order to:

• conduct an assessment of existing and needed capacities (personnel, skills, hardware, software) • assess alternatives for the physical configuration of networked infrastructure components • develop a work plan and timetable for infrastructure implementation • develop a strategy to address any Party concerns about intellectual property rights, data ownership, and

data security • address funding issues and concerns related to design, implementation, and maintenance of the

infrastructure • create drafts and final publications of all necessary memoranda and agreements necessary to ensure the

processes necessary for the establishment and continued operation of the infrastructure, including legal and financial obligations as agreed by the Parties

Article 3 Expected Outputs and Results The following outputs and results are expected to follow from the implementation of activities under this Memorandum of Agreement Outputs:

• assessment report detailing needs and existing capacities (personnel, skills, hardware, software) • configuration report detailing the physical configuration and functions of networked infrastructure components • work plan for infrastructure implementation including timetable indicating tasks and responsible parties • policy statement detailing procedures for assuring integrity of data ownership and security • assessment of projected costs and funding mechanisms • memoranda and agreements detailing functional responsibilities required to ensure continued infrastructure

operation • memoranda and agreements detailing financial obligations to ensure continued infrastructure operation

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Results:

• strengthened human, technical, and institutional capacities for accessing, sharing, and utilizing geospatial data • strengthened national capacities for statistical analysis, cartographic production, and Earth observation in the

production of decision support tools for development policies and strategies

• improved discovery and assessment of environmental issues arising from changes in the landscape

• improved scientific exchange at all levels within Belize

• increased level of partnership at all levels within Belize Article 4 Timetable In the implementation of the present Memorandum, the Parties will initiate the activities described in Article 2, immediately after signature of this Memorandum or at such time as the Parties agree to commence implementation, and will respect the following calendar / schedule*: Date Activity Responsible July 2009 Institute MOU All Parties November 2009 Present Needs and Capacities Assessment (committee) November 2009 Present Networked Assets Configuration Plan (committee) November 2009 Present Security and Ownership Policy (committee) November 2009 Present Funding Plan (committee) January 2010 Reassess, and modify MOU, as necessary, to

incorporate plans, policies, and agreements coming from committee findings and presentations, as well as newly agreed functional responsibilities and financial obligations

All Parties

March 2010 Institute new MOU All Parties September 2010 Test run, trial, and modifications to infrastructure All Parties (trial),

relevant agencies (system operation and modification)

March 2011 Infrastructure operational Relevant agencies *From time to time as necessary, committees and workgroups should meet to assess and evaluate progress, mitigate difficulties, and/or call on the Parties in groups or as a whole to comment and/or assist with achievement of goals Article 5 Reporting The relevant committees and workgroups will report on the following activities at a progress evaluation meeting to he held on or around November 15, 2009 at a location to be determined by the Parties: Needs and Capacities Assessment, Networked Assets Configuration Plan, Security and Ownership Policy, Funding Plan. The Parties as a whole will evaluate committees’ progress and results, and jointly modify, as necessary, the timetable and/or scope of committee activities Committees and workgroups will report to the body of Parties the proceedings and results of ad hoc meetings necessary to the conduct of their duties as these meetings are held from time to time Article 6 Entry into Force, Amendment The present Memorandum of Understanding will enter into force upon signature of the Parties. This Memorandum may be amended only by agreement in writing reached between the Parties.

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In accordance with the above, the representatives of the Parties agree to sign this Memorandum of Understanding on the 30th day in the month of July, 2009. (Originals to be kept in the office of the Land Information Centre, Lands and Surveys Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. Copies to be distributed to all undersigned Parties.)

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Annex 4: Working Groups

Data Quality and Data Standards, including Metadata Name  Email  Tel: Emil Cherington     Alain Robinson     Arthur Martinez  amartinez@health.gov.bz 600 ‐ 6544/822 ‐ 2055 Alfred Moore  amoore@tbslcaribbean.com.bz 621 ‐ 6022/223 ‐ 6807 Omar Vasquez    601 ‐ 1879 Geology/Petroleum  geology@mnrei.gov.bz 822 ‐ 2778/2651 Jose M. Tillett sr.  jmt42005@hotmail.com 822 ‐ 0891 Ramon Pacheco  techcoordinator@pfbelize.org 227 ‐ 5616 Edgar Ek  lic@mnrei.gov.bz  

Data Ownership and Security Issues Name  Email  Tel: Eugene Ariola  eariola@belizeenergry.bz  Raul Chun  sonychun74@yahoo.com  Jair Valladarez  jair_valladarez_24@yahoo.comAlfred Cal  cal_alfred@yahoo.com       

Networked Assets and System Architecture Name  Email  Tel: Harry Noble Sr.  harry@bitsbz.com  Loretta Palacio  Lgpalacio@tbslcaribbean.com.bz  Careen Craig  careen.craig@bel.com.bz  Mario Alcoser  mario.alcoser@policenet.bz  Elam Torres  elamtorres@hotmail.com  

Maintenance/Oversight of the NSDI 

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Name  Email  Tel: Harry Noble Jr.  hnoble@daweh.com  Nancy Tillet  ntillett@tbslcaribbean.com.bz  Jair Valladarez  jair_valladarez_24@yahoo.com  Joshua Lopez  jal20075@hotmail.com       

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Annex 5: Invitation to participate in the First Belize NSDI conference

Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment

Belmopan, Belize C.A. Phone: 501- 822 – 2249, 2711, 2232 Fax: 501 – 822 – 23333 Dear Invitee, The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, through the Land and Surveys Department, and in collaboration with Galen University, the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America & the Caribbean (CATHALAC), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is working to establish the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) to foster national development by promoting national competitiveness and productivity. The NSDI will provide the protocols and standards for data development and data sharing along with the fundamental datasets required by planners, decision makers, and workflows in government and enterprises in Belize. Best practice around the world has demonstrated that successful NSDIs address three critical components: the establishment and operation of a geospatial data clearinghouse made up of a distributed electronic network of data producers and users connected through the Internet; establishment and articulation of clear standards for data documentation, collection, and exchange to facilitate sharing across jurisdictions and various hardware and software programs; and development of policies, procedures, and partnerships to create a national digital geospatial data framework that include important basic categories of data significant to a broad variety of users. This is a big task that requires commitment and hard work from all stakeholders, but, if done right, will be a significant catalyst to national development and the growth of businesses in Belize. To begin this effort, we will be conducting an inaugural conference at the San Ignacio Hotel, San Ignacio Town on the 29th and 30th, July, 2009, where we will discuss the SDI concept and establish workgroups to explore the various components of the NSDI. As presented on the tentative agenda, the conference is designed to include a combination of presentations and work sessions. The presentations are meant to provide background information about NSDIs and best practices around the world. The work sessions will help to develop a shared vision for Belize’s NSDI, and identify what must be done to develop the NSDI. At the end of the workshop, we intend to sign an MOU committing ourselves to active participation in a process to develop the NSDI implementation plan. Work will continue among technical personnel from various organizations in Belize with technical support from NASA and CATHALAC to develop the implementation plan following the guidelines identified during the work sessions. We intend to present this plan at another conference, tentatively by mid November 2009. We believe that your organization is an indispensable component of the NSDI effort, so we are inviting your organization to participate in this conference. We hope that you will accept our invitation and that your organization will actively participate in the conference as well as in the preparation of the implementation plan. You can direct any questions about the conference to Mr. Edgar Ek at the Land Information Center in the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (822-2249 ext. 80413 or lic@mnrei.gov.bz) or Mr. Marion Cayetano at Galen University (824-3226 or mcayetano@galenu.edu.bz).

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We look forward to receiving confirmation of participation from your institution by July 17th, 2009 so we can make the necessary arrangements for a successful conference. Sincerely, Edgar Ek (Mr.) Chief Executive Officer Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment