Geospatial information is the glue that enables the integration of all digital data with a specific location, allowing us to unlock the true power of data. Geospatial information can be as simple as a name on a map. It can also be as complicated as a dashboard that models COVID-19 hotspots, enabling the allocation of resources by countries and sectors.
The United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) which just concluded its eleventh session is at the centre of global decision-making and direction setting for the production, availability and use of geospatial information.
“This important annual gathering – now being convened virtually for the second time – underpins the ongoing global stress arising from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mr. Liu Zhenmin, UN Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs in his opening statement of the session.
“Impacting the entire world, the pandemic has reinforced that – as with the SDGs themselves – the most vulnerable countries continue to face the greatest challenges in collecting, analysing, maintaining, and using timely and reliable data, including geospatial and other disaggregated location-based data,” he added.
Noting that adversity can also bring new opportunities, Mr. Liu said that Member States can “achieve a more comprehensive and integrated data approach through the implementation of the frameworks and methods that have been developed by this Committee of Experts, during its first decade of work. One of such globally adopted frameworks is the United Nations Integrated Geospatial Information Framework, or IGIF”.
Over the three days of deliberations, the Committee addressed several emerging, critical issues related to integrated geospatial information management in national, regional and global settings.
The Committee endorsed the Strategic Plan of the High-Level Group on the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (HLG-IGIF), which serves to sustain the considerable progress made by countries in implementing the IGIF, and to provide the strategic leadership, oversight and continued development of the IGIF.
Moreover, the Committee also noted the SDGs Geospatial Roadmap and its role in recognizing location-based information as official data for the SDGs and their global indicators. The Roadmap will directly bring the global geospatial and statistical communities closer together and foster greater geospatial-statistical integration in advancing the 2030 Agenda.
The ‘Position Paper on Sustaining the Global Geodetic Reference Frame’ and the ‘Concept Paper on Establishing a Global Geodetic Centre of Excellence’ adopted by the Committee will serve as key guidance documents to ensure the sustainability and enhancement of the Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Member States.
The Committee also endorsed the third edition of the Guide to the Role of Standards in Geospatial Information Management (Standards Guide), a living online resource aligned with the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF) to promote the use of standards for geospatial information management.
Next year will see two major events for the global geospatial community. The second UN World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) will be held in October 2022 in Hyderabad, India with the theme ‘Geo-Enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind’. And the twelfth session of UN-GGIM will be held in August 2022, at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Further information on UN-GGIM and its work can be found on its website http://ggim.un.org.
