Why it exists
Many road agencies lack a complete, current, field-documented inventory of the infrastructure they maintain. Families and communities often encounter the consequences only after something has gone badly wrong. Ground Datum creates useful visibility before a defect is alleged by building a living record of what exists, what changed, and how confidently each observation has been reviewed.
One brand, two eventual entities
Ground Datum Foundation
The planned Tennessee nonprofit corporation intends to seek federal 501(c)(3) recognition. After formation and documented assignment, it is intended to publish the contributor app, steward approved public data and standards, operate the reviewer community, and hold the Ground Datum trademark under board- and counsel-approved terms.
Ground Datum for Agencies
When a paying agency customer is visible, a taxable subsidiary owned by the Foundation can sell hosted dashboards, private work queues, GIS and work-order integrations, forecasting, training, support, and service guarantees. It receives no exclusive right to the open dataset.
What never gets sold
Volunteer-built observations, public resolution history, and the public record. Launch is map-only while public bulk access completes a separate licensing and privacy milestone. Commercial value comes from making the record easier to operate against, not enclosing the underlying public data.
Current status
The Foundation is in formation and the platform is in early design. Cumberland County, Tennessee is the proposed operational field-proving campaign, not the MVP boundary or geographic completion target. Ric Orna currently operates the project while the Foundation is in formation. Public capture has not opened yet, and no content on this site should be treated as an engineering inspection or certified safety finding.