UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management – Future trends in geospatial information management: the five to ten year vision
This via the UN document titled "Future trends in geospatial information management:
the five to ten year vision"
At the inaugural meeting of the Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM), held in Korea in October 2011, it was decided that there was a need to document the thoughts of leaders in the geospatial world as to the future development of this world over the next 5 years and then looking further out, to thoughts as to its development over the next 10 years. In particular, the Committee was interested in how these developments will contribute to the local, national and global strategic agendas of economic growth, social cohesion and wellbei ng, environmental sustainability, disaster management, public safety and good governance.
A number of experts and visionaries across a wide range of aspects of the geospatial community – from data collection experts , academics and major users of geospatial information, through to leading figures from the private sector and the Volunteer Geographic Information (VGI) movement – have been invited to contribute their views on the emerging trends in the geospatial world. Responses have now been received from individuals across the broad spectrum of the geospatial community.
This paper briefly summarises the main themes and trends identified in these responses. It is designed to inform further discussion to take place alongside the Geospatial World Forum in Amsterdam in April 2012. Output from that session will then be used to develop further iterations of the document to be presented to the Committee for review at its second formal meeting in New York in August (13-15 th August 2012). Final editing will take place based on the content of the discussions at this meeting and a final paper will be presented at the Second High-Level Forum on GGIM in Qatar in 2013
Executive SummaryThe use of geospatial information is increa sing rapidly. There is a growing recognition amongst both Governments and the private sector that an understanding of location and place is a vital component of effective decision making. Citizens with no recognised expertise in geospatial information and who are unlikely to even be familiar with the term are also increasingly using and interacting with geospatial information, indeed in many cases they are contributing to its collection.
As with all technology-driven sectors, the future is difficult to predict. However, this paper takes the views of a recognised group of experts from a wide range of fields related to the geospatial world and attempts to offer some vision of how this is likely to develop over the next 5-10 years.
This paper will look at a number of aspects of the geospatial world in order to attempt to provide a tangible vision of where this commun ity, providers, practitioners, and users, are heading. Based on contributions received, these trends have been broken down into broad themes covering major aspects of the geospatial world, as follows: data creation, maintenance and management; uses of geospatial data; trends in technology; legal and policy developments; skills requirements and training mechanisms; the future role of National Mapping Agencies; and the role of the private sector and volunteer geographic information