By Valrie Grant, Managing Director GeoTechVision
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) in July 2011 (ECOSOC resolution 2011/24) as the official UN consultative mechanism on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM).
The main objectives of the UN Committee are to provide a forum for coordination and dialogue among Member States, between Member States and relevant international organizations and to propose work plans and guidelines with a view to promoting common principles, policies, methods, mechanisms and standards for the interoperability of geospatial data and services.
The terms of reference approved by ECOSOC call upon Member States to designate experts with specific knowledge drawn from the interrelated fields of surveying, geography, cartography and mapping, remote sensing, land/sea and geographic information systems and environmental protection. The Committee also comprises experts from international organizations who serve as observers.
On August 5, 2015, The United Nations Committee of Experts on GGIM welcomed Member States and other international organisations to its Fifth Session as it continues to move forward in fulfilling its mandate to enhance collaboration and support the use of geospatial information to promote sustainable development globally.
The meeting got started with an address from Mr. Wu Hongbo – the Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs. He welcomed the delegates and observers and congratulated the Expert Group for formulating the first geospatial resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in February this year. He further stated that, this landmark resolution recognizes the global importance of location and positioning for many areas of development. Mr. Hongbo said, “2015 is a crucial year in global development, a year in which world leaders will steer the global course of action to improve people’s lives and protect the planet. With key finance, sustainable development and climate change conferences being convened, the focus on practical solutions and international cooperation will be imperative. This Committee of Experts, and geospatial information, has a valuable role to play.”
The Expert meeting got under way with the election of Officers followed by the adoption of the agenda which led into the deliberations. The Caribbean was represented by over 16 member states including Guyana. Organizations from the region represented as observers included URISA Caribbean Chapter, University of the West Indies and CEDEMA.
The Caribbean Nations made meaningful contributions to the decisions resulting from the 5th Session of this expert grouping. Key Decisions were taken on the following areas which have direct impact on Caribbean States:
1.Sustainable Development and the post-2015 development Agenda
- The Committee of experts noted that the explicit mention of earth observation and geospatial information in the 2030 Development Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a considerable opportunity as objective and authoritative data and information will be needed in a timely manner to support policy and decision makers at all levels.
b.The Committee of experts are committed to working with the statistical community both at a national and global level by providing inputs to processes that will develop the global indicator framework. This will be under the auspices of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on the Sustainable Development Indicators as many goals have a geospatial dimension.
c .Stressed the need for supporting the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction with the appropriate indicators.
2.Global Geodetic Reference Frame
a.The Committee of Experts acknowledged the importance of the Global Geodetic Reference Frame Resolution and road map as a critical enabler for member states to leverage the importance of geodetic data sharing, methods, sustainable funding and infrastructure to support growing societal needs – including those for monitoring sustainable development progress.
b.The Committee of Experts encouraged member states and the working group to commit to undertaking a programme of outreach which capture experiences and best practices for the global geodetic reference frame – particularly in developing countries, in their efforts to develop the road map.
3.Integration of geospatial, statistical and other information
a.The Committee of Experts appreciated the sharing of national experiences of geocoding and institutional cooperation, as well as the extensive ongoing regional work in this area. The committee also encouraged other regional bodies to contribute to this work so that that the Expert Group is able to continue to take the national and regional experiences into account and to build on them; The Committee supported the request by Caribbean member states to encourage the secretariats of regional bodies of CARICOM, OECS and ACS to facilitate mechanisms for the statistical offices and geospatial entities to collaborate on the integration of geospatial information and statistics for regional development.
b.The Committee of Experts acknowledged that the 2020 Population Census is a welcomed opportunity for integration and also stressed the need to work towards more continuous and dynamic integration of all statistical data and geospatial information, which will create new information systems with enhanced analytical potential.
4.Implementation and Adoption of standards for the global geospatial information community
a.The Committee of Experts adopted the final published ‘Guide to the Role of Standards in Geospatial Information Management’ and the ‘Technical Compendium’ as the international geospatial standards best practice for spatial data infrastructure and encouraged all Member States to adopt and implement the recommended standards appropriate to their countries level of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Maturity.
5.Legal and Policy frameworks
a.The Committee of Experts noted the updates on recent developments and increased focus that could have an impact on legal and policy framework supporting geospatial information. Hence, the geospatial community now needs to be more proactive in the geo-legislative arena, particularly with the immediate issues relating to data collection, use, privacy, provenance, accessibility, use of drones and other potentially intrusive devices.
The foregoing were among the major outcomes resulting from the Expert meeting. What was clear is that geospatial information and GIS will be critical in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. The Caribbean must therefore embark on a reflection to understand its state of SDI development and take critical steps to get to a satisfactorily level. This column will contain follow-up articles explaining the meaning of decisions taken at this Expert Meeting and the potential impact for the Caribbean.
