U.S. National Grid Institute

At the start of this millennium, across federal, state, county, city and tribal governments of the United States there was no uniform way for members of the Emergency Service Sector (ESS) to effectively communicate location.  As a result, in 2001 the Federal Geographic Data Committee endorsed use of the Military Grid Reference System as the solution for this problem. Specific to the United States and territories, this geolocation coordinate system – with some slight modifications – is referred to as the U.S. National Grid (USNG). 

Despite subsequent endorsement by multiple federal departments and agencies (including FEMA), states, and professional organizations, adoption has been thin and is currently limited to those communities actively willing to embrace advancements in technology and national standards.   

It is a circumstance which has left every American vulnerable to delays in emergency response when ESS personnel have difficulty locating an incident site due to the poor communication of "where".  

For this reason, a group of concerned citizens from all corners of the nation began a series of discussions in 2020 about the need to break down institutional inertia and fix this problem for the United States.  In early 2022, this group decided to form the United States National Grid Institute (USNGI) as their first step.  

The mission of the USNGI is: “…to promote awareness and use of the U.S. National Grid standard as the nation’s primary geo-location coordinate system and ‘language of location’ for emergency response, data analysis, asset management and public mapping.”

SharedGeo is proud to extend its tax exempt status to the USNGI through the IRS's Fiscal Sponsorship program.  As a result, any donation submitted through this webpage will go to the USNGI and be tax exempt to the full extent allowed by law. 

We strongly encourage you to consider donating to USNGI.  The life you save may be your own!