Written by Colin Wood in StateScoop:

A report released last month by the National States Geographic Information Council showed that states are not fully prepared to adopt critical emerging technologies like next-generation 911 and geo-enabled election systems.

In its biennial Geospatial Maturity Assessment, the group offered its first-ever assessment on how individual states are developing their geographic information systems programs and datasets. The group said that while no state is failing when it comes to GIS, the progress is spotty and there is an urgent need for all states to improve.

NSGIC collected data from 41 participating states and graded them on 10 data points, including levels of coordination — a “central” concern, the group said — and maturity surrounding core GIS datasets like elevation data and aerial imagery. Each state was given letter grades for each category and then an overall letter grade. Hawaii, Nevada and Wyoming received the lowest grades of C-, while a dozen states, including New York and Kentucky, scored the highest marks of B+.

Read more here.