As most of you are aware, in 2006 eight state agencies signed a Memorandum of Agreement establishing the South Carolina Geographic Information Council (SCGIC) and collectively funding a position for State GIS Coordinator.  The State Mapping Advisory Committee (SMAC) was included as the only fully participating member of the Council not contributing to the funding of the State GIS Coordinator.  In July of 2007, SCGIC hired Dr. Tim De Troye to serve as the State GIS Coordinator in a first step towards statewide coordination.

  A primary focus of the SCGIC over the course of the first year was to establish connections and participate in outreach to GIS related groups and organizations at the local level.  Tim has done an outstanding job meeting with any local government and GIS user group that will host him in an effort to build relationships that ultimately will serve as the foundation for true statewide coordination.

 The current focus of the GIC has expanded to reviewing existing and potential policy and technical issues that could impact statewide GIS users.  As part of this effort, the GIC is looking to SMAC to serve as a Technical Advisory Committee to the Council.  SMAC members bring a unique collective knowledge to the GIC unavailable via any other existing group in the state due to its varied membership.

 While the SCGIC is currently made up of and funded by eight state agencies, it is clear that the Council is truly looking at issues that have impact far beyond those participating agencies.  As the Technical Advisory Committee, SMAC will not only be able to discuss and have input upon SCGIC centric issues but also be able to bring issues and concerns to the Council.

 We will be having our first meeting of the year to discuss how the Technical Advisory Committee will function in relation to SCGIC and what the future role of SMAC can be. 

Cole McKinney, Chair SMAC

Topics and Contributions for this site can be emailed to
Lynn Shirly, web site content coordinator, at info@scmapping.net.