Puzzle of the SDG

United Nations Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (UN-IGIF)

The United Nations Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (UN-IGIF) provides a basis and guide for developing, integrating, strengthening and maximizing geospatial information management and related resources in all countries. It will assist countries in bridging the geospatial digital divide, secure socio-economic prosperity, and to leave no one behind.

The UN-IGIF comprises three parts as separate, but connected, documents: Part 1 is an Overarching Strategy; Part 2 is an Implementation Guide; and Part 3 is a Country-level Action Plan. The three parts comprise a comprehensive Integrated Geospatial Information Framework that serve a country's needs in addressing economic, social and environmental factors; which depend on location information in a continually changing world. The Implementation Guide communicates to the user what is needed to establish, implement, strengthen, improve, and/or maintain a national geospatial information management system and capability.

The UN-IGIF focuses on location information that is integrated with any other meaningful data to solve societal and environmental problems, acts as a catalyst for economic growth and opportunity, and to understand and take benefit from a nation's development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals

Part 1 : Overarching Strategy sets the context of 'why' geospatial information management needs to be strengthened and why it is a critical element of national social, economic and environmental development. It focusses on the role of geospatial information in the digital age and how that information is integral to government functions at all levels. The Overarching Strategy communicates this via vision and mission statements, seven (7) underpinning principles, eight (8) goals and nine (9) strategic pathways, all of which are aligned to strategic national to global drivers. The roadmap for implementing the Framework occurs primarily through the nine strategic pathways. These lead to an approach that considers national circumstances, priorities and perspectives as a means for governments to establish more effective geospatial information management arrangements.

 

Part 2 : Implementation Guide is the detail document that describes 'what' specific guidance, options and actions can be undertaken by Member States to strengthen their geospatial information management. Expanding on each of the nine strategic pathways, the Implementation Guide provides the roadmap for implementing the UN-IGIF. Each strategic pathway forms a separate and uniformly structured chapter, with appendices, in the Implementation Guide. Capturing strategic to operational needs, each chapter comprises references, good practices, guiding principles, recommended actions, outcomes, and resources for each of the strategic pathways. The Implementation Guide is anchored and preceded by an introductory chapter 'Solving the Puzzle', which describes how to understand and use the Guide. The Implementation Guide, comprising ten chapters, has been developed in close consultation with Member States.

Efforts to refine and finalize the Implementation Guide continue, the formulation of which has been well informed and influenced by the broad global consultation process. The consultation followed fifteen UN-IGIF events that included expert meetings and consultations, workshops and seminars, involving more than 730 experts and participants from 133 countries from October 2018 to February 2020. 68 responses were submitted yielding 1350 separate items to review and consider. The wealth of expert contributions and inputs across all ten chapters of the Implementation Guide, including detailed comments and feedback, together with some country-level experiences leveraging the UN-IGIF, have considerably sharpened and strengthened the implementation guidance and recommended actions. As a living document, that is 'country owned and country led', there is still more that needs to be done. The finalization and digital publication efforts are an immediate priority of and guided by the United Nations High-level Group on the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (HLG-IGIF).

 

Part 3 : Country-level Action Plan (CAP) is specific to each country and details 'how' the guidance, options, and actions recommended in the Implementation Guide will be carried out, when and by whom. This Part contains the processes, resource materials, templates and examples that are available and helpful to first develop a national action plan, and then operationalize the UN-IGIF through its subsequent implementation, very importantly aligned with national priorities and cognizant of national circumstances.

Countries operationalize the UN-IGIF with their own CAPs that align with their countries' priorities and circumstances. A CAP addresses each of the nine strategic pathways while considering the strategic and operational needs of a country when operationalizing the UN-IGIF. Importantly, the CAP is a plan, not a program that is implemented. Each CAP is unique to a country, as it determines where they currently are in their capacity and capabilities, and reflects decisions made to advance and/or enhance national geospatial capabilities within that country, and where they want to be after planning for their integrated geospatial information management.

Preparing and developing a country-level Action Plan

To prepare and develop a country-level Action Plan tailored to national circumstances and priorities, an approach is needed that references the specific guidance, options and recommended actions provided in Part 2: Implementation Guide and addresses each of the nine strategic pathways.

The United Nations through a Development Account Project (Project 1819D) conceptualized, developed and piloted an approach towards preparing and developing a country-level Action Plan. The approach and related tasks are designed to consider national circumstances by recognizing that one size does not fit all. Importantly, the approach allows countries to assess and analyze, discover and learn their national circumstances, before designing and developing their action plans.

Country-led Approach to Design and Develop UN-IGIF Action Plan (April 2024)

This approach was developed out of the need to consider existing, and then developing new capacity and capabilities as a critical feature when implementing the UN-IGIF. The approach is intended to be inclusive and participatory, and one where existing institutional capacity and capabilities are recognized, and where capacity and capability development commences with the very first component, gradually maturing when successive tasks are undertaken.

Recommended tasks and resource materials

The approach, presently, has three components with a set of recommended tasks complemented by a suite of resource materials for countries to reference. These resource materials are meant for countries to consider, reference and tailor to their national circumstances when assessing and analyzing their national situations before designing and developing their country-level Action Plans. The resource materials, intended to support country-level understanding of geospatial priorities and opportunities, needs and gaps, are to be tailored to individual national circumstance.

The tasks are recommended and not mandatory, are all adaptable, again, to national circumstances. The recommended tasks for the development of the country-level Action Plans with related resource materials -

a) Component One - Planning and preparing

  1. Project Initiation and Pre-needs Assessment
  2. Stakeholder Identification and Analysis
  3. Plan of Action (to design and develop country-level Action Plan)

b) Component Two - Assessing and analyzing

4) Current and Desired (or Future) Situation Assessment
5) Baseline Survey
6) Environmental Scanning and Analysis (for understanding national situation)
7) Stakeholder Engagement Workshop
8) Strategic Alignment (and Benefits) Exercise
9) Vision, Mission and Goals (9) Vision, Mission and Goals)
10) Gap Analysis Matrix
11) Needs Assessment and Gap Analysis Report

c) Component Three - Designing and developing

12) Country-level Action Plan (Template)
13) Strategic Pathway Actions and Activities

14) Implementation Schedule

15) Budget Estimations

16) Success Indicators

 

Countries implement the United Nations Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (UN-IGIF) with their own country-level Action Plans prepared with due consideration for their national circumstances and priorities. These national country-level Action Plans are provided by an entity in a Member States and are neither reviewed nor edited by the Secretariat. These Action Plans facilitate the exchange of information, can serve as useful examples, and may also serve as additional reference and resource materials for the preparation and development of country-level Action Plans.

Please note that the contents of the Action Plans do not reflect the position of the United Nations Secretariat. The designations employed and the presentation of material does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Secretariat concerning the legal status of any country, city, or area, or of its authorities, concerning the appellation of places, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.