CeBIT Spatial@gov 2012 - Gemma Van Halderen, First Assistant Statistician, Population, Education and Data Integration Division, Australian Bureau of Statistics

Global Geospatial

Information Management:

International DevelopmentsGemma Van Halderen

First Assistant Statistician

Population, Education and Data Integration Division

Australian Bureau of Statistics

General

Assembly

United NationsSecurity

Council

Economic and

Social Council

Trusteeship

Council

International

Court of Justice

14 specialised

agencies

9 ‘functional’

commissions

5 regional

commissions

Economic Commission for Africa

(ECA), Europe (ECE), Latin

America and the Caribbean

(ECLAC),

Economic and Social Commission

for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

and for Western Asia (ESCWA)

Statistical Commission

Commission on Population and

Development

Commission on Science and

Technology for Development

Commission on Sustainable

Development

ECOSOC Standing Committees

ECOSOC Ad hoc Bodies

Expert Bodies composed of governmental experts

Expert bodies composed of members serving in their

personal capacity

Other related bodies

UN Committee of Experts on Global

Geospatial Information Management

United Nations Group of Experts on

Geographical Names

ggim.un.org

• ECOSOC is the United Nations platform on economic and social

issues

• Concerned with the world’s economic, social and environmental

challenges

• Has responsibility for some 70% of the human and financial

resources of the entire UN system

• Reports to the General Assembly

UNITED NATIONS

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

ggim.un.org

• Apex entity of the global statistical system

– Highest decision making body for international statistical activities, especially the setting of statistical standards, the development of concepts and methods, and their implementation at the national and international level

• Established in 1947

• In establishing its terms of reference, ECOSOC stressed the importance of the Commission’s coordination function and the need to achieve an integrated system in the collection, processing and dissemination of international statistics

United Nations Statistical Commission

ggim.un.org

• Committed to the advancement of the global statistical system

– Compile and disseminate global statistical information

– Development standards and norms for statistical activities

– Support countries efforts to strengthen their national statistical

systems

– Facilitate the coordination of international statistical activities

• Provides a global centre for data on international trade, national accounts, energy, industry, environment and demographic and social statistics gathered from national and international sources

United Nations Statistics Division

ggim.un.org

• The United Nations initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management – to enhance and coordinate global geospatial information management

• Provides a formal mechanism under the UN umbrella to discuss andcoordinate GGIM activities by involving Member States at the highest inter-government level as the key participants

UN-GGIM: What is it?

ggim.un.org

• An Inter-Governmental mechanism to make joint decisions and set directions on the production and use of geospatial information within national and global policy frameworks

• Working with Governments to improve policy, institutional arrangements, and legal frameworks

• Addressing global issues and contributing collective knowledge as a community with shared interests and concerns

• Developing effective strategies to build geospatial capacity in the developing countries

• Realizing a Vision: To make accurate, reliable and authoritative geospatial information readily available to support national, regional and global development……

UN-GGIM: A global initiative

ggim.un.org

• The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), recognizing the importance of geospatial information in national and global development, established UN-GGIM in July 2011

• ECOSOC encouraged Member States to ‘hold regular high-level, multi-stakeholder discussions on global geospatial information, including through the convening of global forums, with a view to promoting a comprehensive dialogue with all relevant actors and bodies’

• “Promote the development and wider use of GIS to collect data that are accurate, long-term, consistent and reliable….to support countries, particularly developing countries, in their national efforts” – 2002 Copenhagen Summit on Sustainable Development

UN-GGIM: Mandates

ggim.un.org

• Recalling various decisions and resolutions to prepare reports, convene meetings, etc on global coordination of geographic information management

• Recognising the importance of integrating cartographic and statistical information, as well as spatial data, with a view to fostering location-based geospatial information, applications and services

• Recognising the role of the UN in promoting international cooperation

• Taking into account the urgent need to take concrete action to strengthen international cooperation in the area of global geospatial information, ….

ECOSOC Resolution 2011/24

ggim.un.org

• Decides to establish the Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management … and requests the Committee to present to ECOSOC in 2016 a comprehensive review of all aspects of its work and operations

• Encourages Member States to hold regular, high-level, multi-stakeholder discussions …. global forums … with a view to promoting a comprehensive dialogue

• Emphasises the importance of promoting national, regional and global efforts to foster the exchange of knowledge and expertise

– to assist developing countries in building and strengthening national capacities in this field

ECOSOC Resolution 2011/24

ggim.un.org

• A significant gap in the management of geospatial information globally

• This gap is increasingly being filled by the private sector reducing the influence of

the Governments

• Lack of global consultative and decision making mechanism among Member States

in: setting global norms on geospatial information; developing common tools; and

bringing geospatial information to bear on global policy issues

• Just like statistics, every country must have authoritative, trusted, maintained,

definitive mapping data

Why a global mechanism on GGIM?

ggim.un.org

Meetings and Activities

ggim.un.org

UN-GGIM – Geospatial Industry Exchange

23 October 2011This exchange brought together 90+ lead international industry and

national mapping organisation representatives to exchange views and

discuss the role of the geospatial industry, and to provide concrete

suggestions for input into the UN-GGIM deliberations

ggim.un.org

• 1st High Level Forum on UN-GGIM opened by Prime Minister Hwang SikKim, Republic of Korea; United Nations Under-Secretary-General Mr. ShaZukang; and Prof. Bill Cartwright, President of the JBGIS

• 350 participants from 90 countries, 15 from international organisations, 22 from industry, and many United Nations agencies (UNSD, UNCS, UNGEGN, UNOOSA, etc)

UN-GGIM – 24-26 October 2011

ggim.un.org

Ministers from Chile, Finland, India, Korea,

Malaysia, Mongolia, Namibia, and Niger provided

views, including the value proposition, on the

role of geospatial information in national

development

The demand for geospatial data does not only

come from the political level in the context of

policy formulation and decision making, but also

increasingly from civil society in the context of

efficient public service delivery, a process that

was described as the “democratization of data”

UN-GGIM – Ministerial Segment

ggim.un.org

The inaugural UN-GGIM Committee of Experts met 26 October 2011, immediately following the High Level Forum

First Session of the Committee of Experts

Outcomes:

• Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure of the

Committee adopted

• Created a task force to prepare a written

contribution to United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development (Rio+20)

• Created a working group to elaborate a detailed

inventory of issues that should be used to develop a

short-, medium- and long-term work programme for

the Committee of Experts

ggim.un.org

Location information and Rio+20

ggim.un.org

Two Side Events

Monitoring Sustainable Development – Why

Location Matters

Organised by UN-GGIM with support by UK,

Australia and Brazil

Demonstrated the role accurate, maintained

and reliable geospatial information can and is

playing in helping to deliver sustainable

development across the globe, and in

providing financial benefits to users

Monitoring Sustainable Development – Why

Location Matters

Organised by UN-GGIM with support by UK,

Australia and Brazil

Demonstrated the role accurate, maintained

and reliable geospatial information can and is

playing in helping to deliver sustainable

development across the globe, and in

providing financial benefits to users

Global Map for Sustainable Development

Organised by Geospatial Information

Authority of Japan with support from

International Steering Committee for Global

Mapping, the Japan Aerospace Exploration

Agency, Brazil, and UK

The side event demonstrated the need for

consistent global-scale data, developed

under international cooperation, to monitor

sustainable development, disasters, and

environmental indicators

Global Map for Sustainable Development

Organised by Geospatial Information

Authority of Japan with support from

International Steering Committee for Global

Mapping, the Japan Aerospace Exploration

Agency, Brazil, and UK

The side event demonstrated the need for

consistent global-scale data, developed

under international cooperation, to monitor

sustainable development, disasters, and

environmental indicators

ggim.un.org

19 June

2012

ggim.un.org

“I am also pleased to see that the importance of reliable, trusted geographic information is now recognised. The United Nations has now established a Committee of Experts of Member States, which the UK co-chairs, to move this agenda forward”

Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister, United Kingdom Government, Rio+20 June 2012

The importance of geographic information

ggim.un.org

The second session of the UN-GGIM Committee of Experts convened at UN Headquarters, New York, August 2012

Second session of the Committee of Experts

ggim.un.org

“…building effective geospatial

infrastructures and promoting

greater use of geospatial

information are part of a new

frontier in harnessing science

and technology for advancing

sustainable development”

Mr.Wu HongboUnder-Secretary General, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, August 2012

Second session of the Committee of Experts

ggim.un.org

Decisions adopted to progress the effective development and coordination of global geospatial information:

• Establish a global geodetic reference framework

• Complete future trends in geospatial information management

• Gather global case studies that demonstrate the value proposition of GI

• Globally communicate the efforts of UN-GGIM in supporting the sustainable development agenda

• Regional entities undertake an assessment of existing regional efforts and priorities in context of the inventory of issues

• Progress issues related to standards setting in the international community

• Consider a shared statement of principles for the GGIM community

• Develop a global map for sustainable development

• Develop a global knowledge base for geospatial information

• Progress the integration of statistical and geospatial information

Second session of the Committee of Experts

ggim.un.org

Inventory of Issues

1. Developing a national, regional and global strategic framework for geospatial information

2. Establishing institutional arrangements and legal and common frameworks

3. Building capability and capacity, especially in developing countries

4. Assuring the quality of geospatial information

5. Promoting data sharing, accessibility and dissemination

6. Embracing trends in information technology

7. Promoting geospatial advocacy and awareness

8. Working in partnership with civil society and the private sector

9. Linking geospatial information to statistics

Second session of the Committee of Experts

ggim.un.org

42nd Session of the United Nations Statistics Commission

•Australia invited to undertake a Programme Review on geospatial activities in National Statistics Organisations

•To be presented February 2013

•Opportunity for the statistical community to discuss and contribute to issue 9: Linking geospatial information to statistics

Issue 9: Linking geospatial information to

statistics

ggim.un.org

The Second High Level Forum on Global Geospatial Information Management will be held from 4-6 February 2013 at the Qatar Convention Centre in Doha, Qatar

An Exchange Forum with the Geospatial Industry will be convened on Sunday 3rd February

Forum Agenda:

• Opening Ceremony and Ministerial Segment

• Session 1: Building a National Geospatial Information System: Driving Forces, Success Stories

• Session 2: Future Trends in Geospatial Information: Growing the Information Base, Promoting Greater Use

• Session 3: Developing an Effective Global Geodetic Reference Framework and Supporting Location-Based Services

• Session 4: Geospatial Information and Sustainable Development (Rio+20)

• Session 5: Challenges in Developing Core Global Reference Datasets

Second High Level Forum on GGIM

ggim.un.org

The third session of the Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) will be held from 24-26 July 2013 at the Corn Exchange Building, Cambridge City Centre, United Kingdom

It will be convened back-to-back with the Cambridge Conference which will be held 21-24 July 2013 at Churchill College, University of Cambridge

Third session of the Committee of Experts

ggim.un.org

• Regional Committee of UNGGIM for Asia-Pacific (UNGGIM-AP, formerly PCGIAP)

– Geodetic reference framework

– Spatial enablement and administration forums

– Data sharing and integration for disaster management

• Permanent Committee on Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Americas (PC-IDEA)

– Development of SDI best practices and applications

– Institutional strengthening, education and training

– Innovations for national mapping agency business models

• Committee on Development Information, Science & Technology Sub-committee on Geo-information (CODIST-Geo), UNECA

– Draft African Action Plan on Geospatial Information Management

– National SDI development in Africa

– Capacity building and outreach

– Inventory of geospatial data in Africa

Regional UN entities supporting GGIM

ggim.un.org

Concluding remarks

• Global Geospatial Information Management is recognised

institutionally and politically as important

• Two professional communities are engaged

– the statistical community through the United Nations

Statistics Commission

• the spatial community through the United Nations

Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information

Management

ggim.un.org

Concluding remarks – why engage?

UNITED NATIONS

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL