Governor's Certificate Awards for Exemplary Geospatial Projects
The Minnesota Geospatial Advisory Council seeks nominations for a Governor's Certificate for activities that exemplify a commitment to "coordinated, affordable, reliable and effective" use of GIS to improve services within Minnesota. The award honors organizations that have gone the extra mile to deliver products and services, improve government responsiveness, promote public access to information, and demonstrate the benefits of collaboration that encourage, by example, others to do the same.
The standards are high for this award. The awards, recommended by the Minnesota Geospatial Advisory Council since 2010 and the Minnesota Governor's Council on Geographic Information from 1996 through 2009, use a peer-review process guided by well-defined criteria. Awards are presented in October at the annual MN GIS/LIS Consortium conference.
Nomination Process
Key Deadlines for 2025
- Preliminary nomination packet: June 1
- Final nomination packet: June 30
Winners
Explore past Governor's Certificate recipients for exemplary geospatial projects.
- Minnesota Lead Service Line Mapping and Data Display Project - Minnesota Department of Health, U-Spatial - University of Minnesota, Minnesota Rural Water Association
2023-2024: No award given
- COVID-19 Testing Locations and Vaccine Finder Web Mapping Applications - Metropolitan Council, Minnesota Geospatial Information Office, Minnesota IT Services partnering with Minnesota Departments of Revenue and Health, Minnesota IT Services Application Development, Minnesota Departments of Health and Human Services
- Minnesota Natural Resource Atlas- Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth
2020-2021: No award given
- Mapping Prejudice project- John R. Borchert Map Library, University of Minnesota
- Minnesota Wetland Inventory project- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, University of Minnesota, St. Mary's University, Ducks Unlimited
- Minnesota Historical Aerial Photographs Online website- John R. Borchert Map Library, University of Minnesota
- Minnesota Geospatial Commons- Minnesota Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture, Minnesota Geospatial Information Office, Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
2016-2017: No award given
- Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium
- Minnesota Elevation Mapping Project - Minnesota Departments of Natural Resources, Transportation, and Agriculture, Minnesota Geospatial Information Office, University of Minnesota, U.S. Geological Survey, Clean Water Legacy Council
- GeoMoose- City of St. Paul
2012: No award given
- Red River Basin Mapping Initiative- The International Water Institute
- The Emergency Preparedness Committee and Stephen Swazee
- Goodhue County-Wide GIS Alliance- Goodhue County GIS Office
- Geospatial Image Server- Land Management Information Center
- McLeod County LiDAR and Orthophotography Partnership- McLeod County GIS Department
2007: No award given
- Firewise in the Classroom- Minnesota DNR Firewise Program, GIS4Schools, Macalester College Department of Geography, MN Alliance for Geographic Education
- Preserving GLO Plat Maps- Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minnesota Association of County Surveyors, Land Management Information Center, Minnesota Historical Society
- MapServer - University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources and Steve Lime
- Environmental Data Access System- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
- Statewide FSA Orthoimagery Cooperative- Minnesota Departments of Administration, Natural Resources, Pollution Control, and Transportation, and U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency
- Minnesota Environmental Atlas- Macalester College, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division, and Land Management Information Center
- Ramsey County GIS Users Group
2002: No award given
- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Groundwater Model- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
- Minnesota GeoGateway- Land Management Information Center
- DNR Data Deli- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
- Internet-enabled parcel mapping information program- Dakota County
- Training and education of GIS technology at all levels of government - Alexandria Technical College
- Developing the statewide land use and land cover data layer - Association of Minnesota Counties, George Orning, and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
- Providing data and maps to a variety of users- GIS Print Room, City of Minneapolis
- Carlton County Soil and Water Conservation District
- MetroGIS
- Base Maps for the 1990s project - Land Management Information Center
- Washington County Surveyor's Office
- The Minnesota Global Positioning System Advisory Group
- National Wetlands Inventory - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
- State of Minnesota digital highway BaseMap - Minnesota Department of Transportation