Not sure where to post this, and I don't want to make it political.
I wonder if all of the federal government cuts will affect the new datum rollout (already behind schedule due to COVID, etc) and the NGS advisor program. I can't imagine they are immune, unless it being a small agency they pass under the radar.
I know the National Weather Service has been affected, which is a sister agency in NOAA.
Hard to imagine what survey life would be like without the NGS. At least for the type of surveys that I do (non boundary).
With the trucking and transportation industries so dependent on positioning and mapping I think we can count on NGS continuing to be funded. Maybe even getting a boost. If it was just surveyors they were supporting, maybe not so much.
Many of the functions of NGS support both defense and commerce. Very little happens that doesn't depend on a robust spatial data sector. I hope the agency continues its mission. Any further commentary on my part will have to appear in P&R...
Next Tuesday (29) we’ll be attending a retirement event for 20 who will be leaving by the end of the month. During my 40+ years at NGS nothing like this ever happened! I don’t have a complete list of who’s going but this won’t be good.