The Delaware DataMIL is Retired

July 1, 2013

The Delaware Data Mapping and Integration Laboratory (DataMIL), an online web mapping application for the State of Delaware and its citizens, is retired as of June 30, 2013. It was developed through a collaboration of the Delaware Geological Survey (DGS), the Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination, and Research & Data Management Services at the University of Delaware, and was officially released by then Governor Ruth Ann Minner, at the statewide Delaware GIS Conference in Rehoboth Beach, DE, in April 2002.

DataMIL provided accurate, up-to-date spatial data (including metadata and open map services) for the Delaware Geospatial Data Framework (i.e., basemap layers), current and historic aerial photography, and topographic maps for Delaware. Originally built as a state of the art, crowdsourced editing and map delivery system, DataMIL was selected as a leading pilot project for the US Geological Survey National Map, "The DataMIL project will serve as a strong beginning in defining and implementing The National Map." (USGS, Delaware Pilot Project fact sheet.) It received the ESRI Special Achievement in GIS award in 2002, the USGS John Wesley Powell Award in 2003, proved valuable to state agencies as well as K-16 education in Delaware, and garnered much public recognition in text and online since its inception.

The DataMIL currently relies on aging software and hardware that has become increasingly unstable and difficult to maintain. Regretfully, reductions in staff and resources necessary to maintain the software and hardware systems that support DataMIL has left the DGS no options, therefore we can no longer make the service available. Much of the information served by DataMIL can be found through other organizations:

Users can access Delaware Spatial Data Framework layers through the State of Delaware DTI Delaware Geospatial Data Exchange, which can be accessed at https://dataexchange.gis.delaware.gov/.
Users can access the historic and current aerial photography data tiles and open map services (WMS) through the University of Delaware's Delaware Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Center (DEMAC) at http://demac.udel.edu/data/aerial-photography.
Users can access the annual archive of historic Delaware DataMIL topographic maps held by the University of Delaware Library at http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/3389

The Delaware Geological Survey realizes the importance of providing an up-to-date, high quality topographic map service, and we will endeavor to explore new opportunities and novel approaches within the realm of our current resources to create a web application that will enable users to create, view, and print up-to-date topographic base maps of Delaware, along with USGS-style quadrangle maps for download as PDF products.