Who Owns America®
Who Owns America (WHOA) is a flagship CGS initiative designed to demystify landownership and equip communities with clear, actionable parcel-level data. In a landscape where ownership records are often siloed, outdated, or incomplete, WHOA provides a consistent, data-driven foundation for informing housing production and preservation strategies.
We work with municipalities, nonprofits, land trusts, and others get the information they need to:
- Understand complex patterns of landownership
- Identify strategic parcels for affordable housing or conservation
- Recognize trends in land speculation and displacement
- Make more just and equitable land use decisions
Our approach fuses ownership data with environmental, demographic, and zoning overlays—delivering a comprehensive view of how land is owned, valued, and used. Whether supporting regional housing strategies or mapping patterns of resource inequality, WHOA helps communities act with clarity and precision.
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Internet of Water Coalition
As the principal facilitator of the Internet of Water (IoW) Coalition, CGS leads a national movement to modernize and connect public water data across the United States. We work to ensure that water data—much like weather data—is discoverable, accessible, and usable for all.
Our work centers on:
- Developing Geoconnex, a core open-source system for linking disparate water datasets through shared identifiers back to real-world locations—making it easier to discover and connect information across agencies and platforms.
- Building tools and advancing standards that support transparent, more informed water data sharing and improved access for all water data users.
- Supporting implementation by helping federal and state agencies, utilities, and community partners adopt and operationalize modern data infrastructure.
This work builds on efforts that began at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability and is now supported by the US Geological Survey and a national coalition of partners. CGS is proud to serve as the home of the IoW Coalition while continuing to develop and deploy tools that power open, connected water data systems.
Learn More About the Internet of Water