UN‑GGIM

U N I T E D N AT I O N S
COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON
GLOBAL GEOSPATIAL
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Future trends in geospatial

information management:
the five to ten year vision
SECOND EDITION

UN-GGIM | United Nations Committee of Experts on

Global Geospatial Information Management
UN-GGIM | United Nations Committee of Experts on
Global Geospatial Information Management
 UN‑GGIM
U N I T E D N AT I O N S
COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON
GLOBAL GEOSPATIAL
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Future trends in geospatial

information management:
the five to ten year vision
SECOND EDITION

UN-GGIM | United Nations Committee of Experts on

Global Geospatial Information Management 1
 This document was produced by Ordnance Survey
at the request of the United Nations Committee
of Experts on Global Geospatial Information
Management.

Lead Author: James Norris, Ordnance Survey.

All parts of the report may be reproduced provided

the source ‘Future Trends in geospatial information
management: the five to ten year vision, Second
Edition December 2015’ is cited.

2 UN-GGIM | United Nations Committee of Experts on

Global Geospatial Information Management
Contents

Acknowledgements and disclaimers 4

Executive Summary 5
Introduction 6
The role of geospatial information in measuring and monitoring the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 6
Maximising the value of geospatial information 7
1 Smart Cities and Internet of Things 9
1.1 Increased urbanisation leading to global challenges 9
1.2 The growth of Smart Cities 9
1.3 Connectivity through the Internet of Things 9
2 Artificial Intelligence and Big Data 11
2.1 Artificial Intelligence and machine learning 11
2.2 Value realised through Big Data 13
3 Indoor positioning and mapping 15
3.1 Trends in technology for indoor positioning 15
3.2 Integration between outdoor and indoor positioning 15
3.3 Standards 16
3.4 Requirements for mapping 16
4 Integrating statistical and geospatial information 17
4.1 Integrating different data sources 17
4.2 The role of standards 17
4.3 Integrated approach to the 2020 round of censuses 19
5 Trends in technology and the future direction of data creation, maintenance and management 21
5.1 ‘Everything happens somewhere’ – the new wave of data creation 21
5.2 Cloud computing 21
5.3 Open‑source 22
5.4 Open standards 22
5.5 Trends in ‘professional’ data creation and maintenance 23
5.6 Positioning ourselves in the next five to ten years 24
6 Legal and policy developments 25
6.1 Growing awareness within the Geographic Information (GI) community 25
6.2 Funding in a changing world 25
6.3 Open Data 27
6.4 Licensing, pricing and data ‘ownership’ 28
6.5 Privacy 28
6.6 Liability and the issue of data assurance 29
6.7 Disparities between legal and policy frameworks 29
7 Skills requirements and training mechanisms 31
7.1 Skills for effective organisations 31
7.2 Extractive value from a world of data 31
7.3 Education and advocacy 32
7.4 Investing in research and development 32
8 The role of the private and non‑governmental sectors 33
8.1 Making mapping accessible to the masses 33
8.2 The future role of the Private Sector 33
8.3 The future role of VGI and crowdsourced geospatial data 35
9 The future role of governments in geospatial data provision and management 37
9.1 The impact of change 37
9.2 Bridging the gap: coordination and collaboration 37
9.3 Marine geospatial information 39
9.4 Developing a national geospatial information infrastructure 39
9.5 Maintaining an accurate, detailed and trusted geospatial information base 40
Full list of contributors 43

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 Acknowledgements and disclaimers

This paper has been authored on behalf of the United A full list of those who have contributed can be found
Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial at the end of the report. We are grateful to every person
Information Management (UN-GGIM) by James Norris of and organisation for giving their time, either to provide
Ordnance Survey, Britain’s mapping agency. However, written contributions, attending the discussion forum, or
the content is entirely based on the First Edition, taking part in individual evidence gathering sessions and
contributions received in written form and the views allowing us to use their collective inputs in this report.
expressed during the discussion forum held in May 2015.
Hence the content does not necessarily reflect the views This paper contains information that is covered by
of the author, or his employer. While different, and at copyright and other intellectual property rights. All or
times conflicting, views were expressed by contributors, any part of the report may be reproduced provided
consensus on a number of major trends and themes were the source ‘Future Trends in geospatial information
forthcoming. management: the five to ten year vision – Second Edition,
December 2015’ is cited.

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Global Geospatial Information Management
Executive Summary

This 2015 edition of the Future Trends report recognises The role of National Spatial Data Infrastructures is more
that the most significant changes in the geospatial important than ever before. They can provide the means
industry will come not through a single technology, but to organise and deliver core geographies for many
rather from linking multiple technologies and policies. national and global challenges including sustainable
The first part of the report, which has been produced development. The paradigm of data availability is
through a global consensus process, focuses on the new changing; there is a huge increase in the tracking and
and emerging trends; these are explored through a series availability of real‑time data. It is no longer just for
of themes covering one or more topics. The second half mapping and delivery, but for integration, analytics,
of the report incorporates, where relevant, changes that modelling and aggregation.
have occurred in the trends identified in the first edition.
Work continues at a global level with international
Due to increased global urbanisation, it is expected standards. The widespread and effective application of
that more focus will be placed on urban environments. standards in many digital information fields is crucial not
The integration of smart technologies and efficient only for the continued effective use of internet‑based
governance models will increase and the mantra of products and services, but also for collaborations
‘doing more for less’ is more relevant than ever before. between different data organisations.
The emerging trends of Smart Cities and the Internet of
Things, coupled with of smart resource management Although views on policies for the use of authoritative
and interoperable services, will lead to a focus on citizen data are fairly consistent around the world, culture has a
services, better land management, and the sustainability big influence. Governments are moving towards being
of resources. commissioners of information rather than creating it
themselves. They are working increasingly closely with
The development of intelligent information‑processing private sector organisations and are able to add a stamp
technologies, will provide easier access to a wide of authority to data and services provided through
range of different services which were previously used public-private partnerships.
for separate applications. These include home and
industrial automation, medical aids, mobile healthcare, New data sources and new data collection technologies
intelligent energy management, automotive and traffic must be carefully applied to avoid a bias that favours
management, to name only a few. countries that are wealthier and with established data
infrastructures. The use of innovative tools might
The next five to ten years will see significant also favour those who have greater means to access
developments in the architecture of the internet. technology, thus widening the gap between the ‘data
Currently the internet is human‑orientated; the shift poor’ and the ‘data rich’.
towards machine learning and the adoption of the
Internet of Things will bring into play devices which Governments remain in a unique position to consider the
are, to all intents and purposes, autonomous and act requirements for geospatial information for society as a
independently whether or not anyone, or any system, is whole and will continue to play a key role in providing a
actively using them. reliable, trusted and maintained geospatial information
base. The exact role a government chooses to take in
There is an increasing tendency to bring together data geospatial information management, the challenges
from multiple sources: official statistics, geospatial faced, and the changes made will vary from country to
information, satellite data, big data and crowd‑sourced country.
data among them. For the full potential of these data
sources to be realised, it is agreed that data needs to be Governments retain a key role in ensuring that
accessible, interoperable and standardised. This theme comprehensive and robust frameworks are put in place
is recognised throughout the chapters of this report, and with related policies, resources and structures to ensure
stems from this need for users to be able to integrate that geospatial information is easily accessible to decision
different sources and types of information. makers in a coordinated way.

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 Introduction

The first edition of the report ‘Future trends in geospatial A bold new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
information management: the five to ten year vision’ is being established by the United Nations, including
has proved to be an important reference document. It 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169
has been appreciated by many different users and has associated targets. The SDGs were adopted and launched
provided a consensus view for the professional geospatial by the United Nations General Assembly in September
community to keep abreast of new trends in geospatial 2015, and will frame the global development agenda
information; particularly with the impact of these through to 2030. In order for the goals and targets to
geospatial technologies. be implemented and achievable, strengthening data
production and the use of better data in policymaking
The Committee of Experts, acknowledging the benefit and monitoring have been recognised as being critical.
and impacts that the first edition has had in the global
geospatial community, decided that an update to Many of the targets are thematically based and
the Future Trends report should be completed in geographic in nature. This provides an ideal opportunity
2015. This second edition updated report, prepared for the global geospatial community to ensure that
through a global consensus process, will form an the role geospatial information plays – improving
important contribution to the review of all aspects of the availability, quality, timeliness, integration and
the Committee’s work and operations, to be submitted disaggregation of data – in the development of the
to the Economic and Social Council in 2016. As well as targets and indicators is realized. They all occur in a
exploring new areas, this edition highlights changes to location‑based environment and geospatial information
the trends identified in the original report; showing how provides a fundamental baseline for the global indicator
the role of governments is changing and documenting framework, as well as for measuring and monitoring the
the increasing role that geospatial information will play as SDGs.
part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In tackling these major global challenges, governments
The role of geospatial information in measuring will face the problems of poor data quality, lack of timely
and monitoring the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable data and a lack of interoperability between different
Development sources of data. This may result in governments using,
and then relying on, inaccurate or low quality data on
2015 is a watershed year, providing a crucial opportunity which to base their decisions.
for the value of geospatial information to be recognised
by governments throughout the world. The United In developing countries, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Development is likely to be a trigger to accelerate the
concluded in 2015 after 15 years of effort. A global development and adoption of legal, technical, geospatial
framework of eight goals and 21 targets, designed to and statistical standards. These include, but are not
reduce extreme poverty and improve the lives of all limited to: openness and exchange of data and metadata,
the world’s citizens at local, national, regional and including interoperability of data and information
global levels, the MDG monitoring experience clearly systems; demographic and geospatial information,
demonstrated that effective use of data can help to including management and change.
galvanize development efforts, implement successful
targeted interventions, track performance and improve
accountability.

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Many of the sustainable development challenges are The paradigm of geospatial information is changing;
cross‑cutting in nature and are characterised by complex no longer is it used just for mapping and visualisation,
inter‑linkages which will benefit from using location as but also for integrating with other data sources, data
a common reference framework. To effectively measure, analytics, modelling and policy‑making. Once the
monitor and mitigate challenges we need to link geospatial data is created, it can be used over and over
demographic, statistical and environmental data together again to support a wide range of different applications
with the one thing they have in common – geospatial and services.
data.
Governments need to see this foundation geospatial
Geospatial technologies represent an invaluable information for its ‘value’, not for where it has come
tool for enhancing the capacity to benchmark and from or who owns it. Geospatial information needs to be
measure performance of sustainable development treated as an essential component in decision‑making
at different scales. As an example, enabling the processes, not just as a commodity that can be sold.
monitoring of progress at the sub‑national level can
help alleviate inequalities within countries, inform better Knowing where people and things are, and their
decision‑making and thus allow resources to be allocated relationship to each other, is essential for informed
to the areas that most need them. decision‑making. Not only is real‑time information
needed to prepare for, and respond to, natural disasters
Maximising the value of geospatial information and political crises, but location‑based services are
helping governments to develop strategic priorities,
One of the issues that this report seeks to remedy is that make decisions and measure and monitor outcomes.
many government officials and other stakeholders do
not fully understand what geospatial information is, and The reality of different professional communities having
more importantly the benefits it provides for sustainable the same intent in contributing to the United Nations
development initiatives. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides
the Committee of Experts the mandate to continue
Geospatial information is increasingly being used in its awareness raising and educational efforts at local,
Africa, but more capacity building will be needed to scale national, regional and global levels.
up existing initiatives and to bring innovative applications
from other parts of the world. As an example, the lack
of consistent up‑to‑date base mapping – fundamental
geographic datasets such as geodetic control, elevation,
drainage, transport, land cover, geographic names, land
tenure, etc. – across Africa remains a challenge.

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 © agsandrew/shutterstock

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1 Smart Cities and Internet of Things

1.1 Increased urbanisation leading to global 1.2.2 The integration of smart technologies and efficient
challenges governance models will increase, not least due to
the constant expansion of cities, and their demands
1.1.1 Today roughly 51 per cent of the world’s population on resources from a decreasing reserve. The mantra
live in urban environments1. There has been a of ‘doing more for less’ is more relevant than ever
substantial shift of population moving towards before. Ensuring the supply of commodities, the
cities, cities themselves have grown, and informal resilience to disasters, or the provision of health
settlements have got increasingly bigger. However, care and security services asks for smarter and
cities disproportionally consume physical and social more sustainable solutions. Merging a high quality
resources (circa 80 per cent) leading the United of life with resource sustainability drives much of
Nations to brand them the greatest challenge to the research to date. It is this combination of smart
mankind since we became social. However, they are resource management and interoperable services
also economic engines of commercial growth with that will become the focus of the Smart Cities
positive impacts on society. infrastructure.

1.1.2 This trend is projected to grow substantially not only 1.3 Connectivity through the Internet of
in the next five to ten years, but also further into Things
the future – it is estimated that by 2050 the global
population will be over nine billion, 80 per cent of 1.3.1 Information and Communication Technologies have
whom will live in cities. Such growth will continue a vital role in various applications, ranging across
to put strain both on resources and on existing the environment, economy, society, governance
infrastructure such as the availability of safe drinking and health. Deploying smart devices and appliances
water, electricity networks, transport networks, will increase the need for technological standards
waste management and property ownership. An and information exchange protocols to achieve
approach has started to develop to identify and full interoperability of all systems. The most
try to provide solutions to these problems through prominent examples can be found in the energy
a number of initiatives variously badged as smart sector where the Smart Meter is already being
cities, eco cities, safe cities, resilient cities or future widely adopted in some developed countries as a
cities to indicate a particular focus on the system. tool to enhance user experience – remote access
For the purpose of this report we shall use the to household appliances, reduced utility bills – and
generic term Smart Cities to refer to the ‘effective drive a reduction on total energy consumption,
integration of physical, digital and human systems supporting the goal of sustainability. We are likely
in the built environment to deliver sustainable, to see an increase in the interconnectivity of new
prosperous and inclusive future for its citizens2’. energy‑related systems such as electric vehicles,
storage devices or small scale renewable energy
1.2 The growth of Smart Cities systems at household level.

1.2.1 Even though the concept of Smart Cities and its 1.3.2 Beyond urban IoT systems, which are designed to
various guises is widely used it remains abstract support the Smart City concept, the development
and difficult to grasp. It is often sub‑divided into of intelligent information processing technologies
different dimensions, including smart mobility, will make intelligent sensing, and machine learning
smart environment, smart living, smart governance, widely available through information sharing,
smart people, and smart economy. Managing more collaboration and the intelligent use of large data
complex surroundings offers several opportunities sets. The easy access and interaction with a wide
for the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) range of devices finds application in different
which stretches across all these dimensions. domains, such as home and industrial automation,
medical aids, mobile healthcare, intelligent energy
management, automotive, traffic management, to
name only a few.
1
Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts From Economic
Growth, A Report of the Working Group on Decoupling to the International
Resource Panel, UNEP, 2011
2
PAS 181:2014 Smart city Framework: Guide to establishing strategies for smart cities
Image: Mexico City aerial view © shutterstock/Andrea Izzotti and communities

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 1.3.3 The IoT is not limited to the urban environment 1.3.6 A key factor of how the Smart Cities concept
– even though this may be the area that sees the develops will be how geospatial information is
fastest rates of growth. The network of sensors integrated into the architecture, standards and
linked to the internet can be used, for example, to best practices which are evolving. The importance
measure and monitor environmental changes in of location becomes apparent as every sensor/
inaccessible areas or to locate cattle in large remote item connected to the internet has a location, and
farms. in many instances, this location is a vital piece of
information that sets the context for the information
1.3.4 Monitoring and assessing the new technologies transmitted. Geospatial information becomes
and services will open new frontiers for particularly important when the sensor – or the
geographic information (GI) tools and systems. object to which it is attached – is moving.
The ‘omnipresence’ of geospatial Information in
our lives, whereby almost all pieces of data have 1.3.7 We are seeing geospatial information being needed
some form of location reference, will continue, with to assist the evolution of this connected ecosystem
location providing a vital link between the sensors and this will increase even further in the near
that will generate the IoT and the Uniform Resource future. The emergence and use of precise location
Identifier (URI) assigned to a thing or object information in this way offers great opportunities
within that connected world. In order to maximise and will see it form a core part of information
usability this will drive the demand for informative technology infrastructure. Nevertheless, use in
standardised metadata as part of geospatial data. this way will also present geospatial management
challenges over the coming years.
1.3.5 During the next five to ten years we may see
significant developments in the architecture of the
internet. Currently the internet is human‑orientated,
the change towards machine learning or the IoT
will need to take into account devices which are
to all intents and purposes autonomous and act
independently whether or not any person, or any
system is actively using them.

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2 Artificial Intelligence and Big Data

2.1 Artificial Intelligence and machine learning 2.1.5 Machine learning is moving beyond ‘hard‑coded’
algorithms to algorithms that continually learn
2.1.1 Our ability to create data is still, on the whole, ahead and update themselves, adapting to their
of our ability to solve complex problems by using environment. This is facilitated by the development
the data. There remains no doubt that there is a of powerful methods of ‘unsupervised learning’
huge amount of value still to be gained from the or ‘representation learning’ by which a machine
information contained within the data generated. may be instructed to seek structure within large
The growth in the amount of data collected brings quantities of apparently unstructured data.
with it not only a growing requirement to be able to
find the right information at the right time, but also 2.1.6 Processes based on these principles, and the
challenges of how to store, maintain and use the learning of geospatial concepts (locational accuracy,
data that is created. precision, proximity etc.), can be expected to
improve the interpretation of aerial and satellite
2.1.2 The creation of such huge amounts of data will imagery, by improving the accuracy with which
bring with it a requirement for the ability to geospatial features can be identified. They will
make sense of these data, which will, given the also be applied to complex geospatial analysis
importance of location to decision‑making, drive questions which may lead to new insights about
demand for geospatial identifiers in the data. the ways in which objects or their properties
The need to address this problem will rely on the are related, with applications in health, crime,
development of both Big Data technologies and agriculture, environment and so on. An example
techniques (that is technologies that enable the could be automatic identification of building
analysis of vast quantities of information within use from combinations of land cover, population
usable and practical timeframes) and artificial and transport networks. Tools like these may run
intelligence (AI) or machine learning technologies persistently on continuous streams of data, alerting
that will enable the data to be processed more interested parties to new discoveries and events.
efficiently.
2.1.7 Geospatial information is also an important input
2.1.3 The first edition of this report naturally assumed that for intelligent devices that need to be aware of
the users and creators of geospatial information and their surroundings. Many of the problems which
its services would be people, rather than machines machines are expected to solve will require
or robots. In future we may expect society to make extensive knowledge about the world around them.
increasing use of autonomous machines and robots, Thus AI needs to represent objects, properties,
thanks to a combination of ageing population, categories and relations between objects; all of
rapid technological advancement in unmanned which can be represented in geospatial databases.
autonomous systems and AI, and the pure volume Machines/robots will take advantage of AI to
of data being beyond a human’s ability to process it. understand geospatial information themselves,
and even ‘survey’ their surroundings to get the
2.1.4 Developments in AI are beginning to transform the geospatial information they need and process it in
way machines interact with the world. Up to now real time to do their job. The geospatial information
machines have mainly carried out well‑defined thus ‘surveyed’ and analysed may in turn be used to
tasks such as robotic assembly, or data analysis develop and update existing geospatial databases.
using pre‑defined criteria, but we are moving into
an age where machine learning will allow machines 2.1.8 Another branch of AI that has long been of
to interact with their environment in more flexible interest has been the expert system, in which the
and adaptive ways. This is a trend we expect to knowledge and experience of human experts
see major growth in over the next five to ten years is taught to a machine. Good results are already
as the technologies – and understanding of the obtained in cartographic generalisation, but
technologies – become more widely recognised. the increasing sophistication of expert systems
will make this more of a routine procedure. The
principle of collecting data once only at the highest
resolution needed, and generalising ‘on the fly’ as
required, can thus become reality.

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2.1.9 Cartographic visualisation skills will remain an 2.2.5 One of the central challenges when using big
important tool through which data can be spatially data is to derive information and knowledge from
interpreted. New methods for interpreting and the massive amounts of raw data which is being
representing data in a meaningful way to inform produced. This challenge is exacerbated by very
human decision‑makers will need to be developed high data volumes and high rates of data change.
alongside the processing of information. Intelligent The ongoing increase in the number of mobile
systems may also be employed to develop new phones has given rise to a generation of users who
ways of conveying complex spatial relationships to expect real‑time information at their fingertips. Real
human observers. Developments of augmented and time information is not a new context. However in
virtual reality will allow humans to interact with data recent times the number and variety of domains in
in new ways. which real‑time information is a basic requirement,
transport, logistics, disaster management to name a
2.2 Value realised through Big Data few, has significantly increased.

2.2.1 The value of AI to the geospatial industry in this 2.2.6 Efforts should be devoted to integrating involuntary
sense is closely related to the Big Data issue. The sensors – mobile phones, RFID sensors and so
sheer processing power available to researchers on – which aside from their primary purpose may
will mean machines can be used to analyse and produce information regarding previously difficult
interpret, often in real time, quantities of data that to collect information. This leads to more real‑time
would be beyond the capacity of human resources. information being generated.

2.2.2 Big Data solutions have moved a long way in the last 2.2.7 While the proliferation of devices generating ‘raw
five years, and are now a real part of everyday life. location data’ may reach most corners of the globe,
For example, search engines such as Yandex and the funds necessary to collate and manage the data
Google collect vast quantities of data, can combine in an effective way may not be so well distributed.
this data with other sources of information, such Many developing nations have leapfrogged in areas
as mobile phone information and provide services such as mobile communications, but the lack of core
such as directing car drivers away from areas of high processing power may inhibit some from taking
congestion. advantage of the opportunities afforded by these
technologies.
2.2.3 The future of data will not be the conflation of
multiple data sources into a single new dataset, 2.2.8 Big Data technologies will be used to overcome the
rather there will be a growth in the number of challenge of data volume, velocity and variety. The
datasets that are connected and provide models to continuing use of cloud computing capabilities will
be used across the world. As mentioned above, the allow anyone to access scalable and on‑demand
need for more flexible information, stored in usable processing power from anywhere in the world. In
databases will see the continued rise of NoSQL countries where securing funding to develop a base
technologies and linked data techniques. geospatial infrastructure is still the primary focus,
the collection of basic geospatial data is likely to
2.2.4 There is a growing trend for the majority of Big Data remain the priority.
applications to use de‑facto standards, technologies
and platforms. It has been suggested that there will
need to be a universal means to discover, publish
and maintain data; this can be supported by the
adoption of open standards. As the use of big data
becomes more common, there will be a growing
need to move from technology supporting big data
analytics and visualisations, to data about the data –
that is provenance, quality, and so forth.

Image: Sand dunes © shutterstock/Volt Collection

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3 Indoor Positioning and mapping

3.1 Trends in technology for indoor positioning 3.1.4 Meanwhile, outdoors the various global (GPS,
GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou) and regional satellite
3.1.1 Indoor positioning is an increasingly important constellations (QZSS, IRNSS) are in orbit and
research area and new technologies to exploit the receivers have been built into many kinds of devices,
ability to find location within buildings or other mobile phones being a prime example. The result
structures are becoming increasingly available. of this is that the number and diversity of types
With satellite positioning largely ruled out by the of location based services using satellite based
attenuation effects of the building’s walls, a number positioning systems will probably only expand in
of different technologies have arisen. These have the future.
included the use of wireless networks, inertial,
magnetic, infrared, ultra-wideband, air pressure 3.2 Integration between outdoor and indoor
sensors, ambient light, ultrasound, Bluetooth and positioning
RFID tags. All have advantages and disadvantages in
terms of coverage, infrastructure required, accuracy, 3.2.1 The proliferation of location information from both
precision and reliability, but as a group these indoors and outdoors presents issues of integration.
technologies are gaining a higher user base. This is particularly the case for indoor positioning as
there are so many different technologies involved,
3.1.2 The trend towards development of indoor few standards and the localised nature of an
applications using geospatial data has been driven indoor positioning system has resulted in design
by commercial opportunities identified by the fragmentation.
private sector. Applications have been developed to
offer consumers price reductions and personalised 3.2.2 However, there is considerable effort being given
marketing. However it is not only the commercial to integrating the many sources of information.
sector who are benefiting. For example wireless The aim is seamless access to appropriate location
tracking of mobile phones has often played a critical information regardless of protocols, networks,
role in the crime, security and traffic management/ frequency bands, and physical environments, as the
routing fields. user moves between outdoor and indoor locations.

3.1.3 The miniaturisation of RFID devices/tags such 3.2.3 As the theme of indoor/outdoor positioning
that they can be attached to or incorporated develops further, issues will arise as to where do
into virtually any object including, for example, traditional mapping providers ‘stop’ mapping.
people, animals, clothing or individual sheets of Does mapping stop at the footprint of the building,
paper (e.g. bank notes), along with their low cost, or continue inside. This will have an impact on
creates the opportunity to locate or find objects a number of different industries such as utility
indoors and outdoors with a very high level of providers.
accuracy. Active RFIDs (as opposed to passive ones)
require power in order to broadcast location, as
well as other information, and there are new ways
of generating that, such as through motion. This
could have important implications for the kind
and pervasiveness of RFID tags and the amount of
location information which becomes available.

Image: Hong Kong © shutterstock/leungchopan

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 3.3 Standards 3.4 Requirements for mapping

3.3.1 The integration will need some advancement in the 3.4.1 A prerequisite for indoor navigation is digital
creation of standards both for the technology itself maps of all larger buildings which are in public use
and the data generated from it. There are advances (hospitals, exhibition halls, stations, airports, town
being made in this area but the key issue is that halls etc.). Thus there will be a shift towards indoor
much of this data is ‘proprietary’ and not available mapping initially driven by the consumer market.
for use in publicly available applications. As such the The third dimension will take on a new significance
development of open standards is slow. There are and hence coverage in 3D will have to be included in
some existing standards coming from the Building procurement budgets over the coming years.
Information Management (BIM) sector such as IFC
and InDoorGML for modelling and sharing indoor 3.4.2 There is a counter argument which is referred to
space data. InDoorGML is the latest Open Geospatial in the chapter on AI which says that the growth in
Consortium (OGC) standard focused on mobile the IoT may lead to not having to ‘map’ a building
indoor location applications (specifically navigation). as all the connected devices will indicate where
The more challenging issue is the development the building is, especially when the devices start
of standards for indoor location detection/ interacting with each other and therefore surveying
computation technologies. This may continue to their environment. However, these are really just
be a brake on the development of seamless indoor/ two aspects of the requirement for a richer set of
outdoor location applications. base information inside buildings on which to base
navigation applications.

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4 Integrating statistical and geospatial information

4.1 Integrating different data sources 4.1.4 One option identified for this is to disaggregate
data at high levels down to small area geographies.
4.1.1 As well as geospatial information, Governments This will increase the need to evaluate and adopt
and government bodies are increasingly reliant alternative statistical modelling techniques to
on statistical data to inform policy and decision ensure that statistics can be produced at the right
making. As resources become constrained, it is geographic level, whilst still maintaining the quality
increasingly important to make sure they are used in to allow them to be reported against. A new model
the most effective way possible. Geography is often has emerged recently of linking authoritative data
the medium through which statistics are interpreted sources, for this to be successful it will require
whether at global, regional, national or sub‑national increased cooperation between the statistical and
level. As the need for better statistics increases so geospatial communities to allow data sources to be
does the need for greater integration of statistics linked at the lowest geographic level.
and geospatial information, resulting in so called
spatial statistics. 4.1.5 Delivering spatial statistics at local levels through
to regional and global levels will require a global
4.1.2 One of the major drivers over the near‑ to mid‑term geo‑referencing system to be in place. The statistical
for the better production of statistics is the need to community needs therefore to contribute to the
monitor and report against the SDGs at a national, development of the UN Global Geodetic Reference
regional and global level. Pledging that ‘no one Frame, and help to shape the requirements for
will be left behind’, the SDGs will require National spatial statistics.
Statistical Offices (NSOs) to consider how to work
collectively together to develop a global indicator 4.2 The role of standards
framework and to address the challenges of
producing information at the right scale. 4.2.1 One of the biggest challenges that have faced
both the statistical and geospatial communities
4.1.3 Delivering the statistics to monitor the progress of is the diversity of the semantic terminology used
the SDGs will also require NSOs to work together to describe statistical geography. Where different
with the geospatial community to identify and terms are used to describe the same or similar
develop requirements for spatial statistics within processes in the production of spatial statistics (such
and across Member States. This includes covering a as geo‑enable, geo‑statistics, geospatial statistics,
wide and diverse range of statistical and geospatial geo‑referencing), this makes it difficult to compare
variables, and needs to include a temporal element. outputs and metadata from different sources. The
same can be said for the terminology used between
the different communities of users, not just limited
to statistics and geography.

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18 UN-GGIM | United Nations Committee of Experts on
Global Geospatial Information Management
4.2.2 There is currently a gap between the standards 4.3 Integrated approach to the 2020 Round of
used for the publication of statistics, and those used Censuses
for the publication of geospatial information that
makes the integration of statistical and geospatial 4.3.1 Any statistical spatial framework that is produced
information more difficult at the working level. to support the production of spatial statistics
Existing statistical standards such as SDMX contain should include the use of geospatial workflows and
little geographic referencing within their structure technology, as a key to advance on the integration
which makes it difficult to link SDMX outputs to of geospatial and statistical information. The work
the geographic framework they operate within. required for the greater integration of statistics and
Likewise, the existing metadata standards such as geospatial information needs to be done within
ISO‑19115 do not contain the elements that show the timescales of the 2020 Round of Censuses. As
integration with statistical datasets. Both the the lead‑in time to deliver any census is significant,
statistical and geospatial communities will need to these challenges need to be considered now if
cooperate more extensively to support a greater standardised approaches are to be put in place in
integration of geographic and statistical standards. time.

4.2.3 One approach that may develop further during

the next five years is the development of a Table
Joining Service (TJS) standard. This standard offers
a web service interface that enables the automatic,
service oriented joining of tabular and geographic
data across the web, while keeping the data
distributed at the data providers source location.
The TJS specification – an OGC standard – is
relatively new and so far only very few ready‑to‑use
implementations of server‑side and client‑side
software exist.

Image: Eixample, Barcelona © shutterstock/Iakov Filimonov

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20 UN-GGIM | United Nations Committee of Experts on
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5 Trends in technology and the future direction of data creation,
maintenance and management

5.1 ‘Everything happens somewhere’ – the new 5.2 Cloud computing

wave of data creation
5.2.1 It is widely recognised and accepted that today and
5.1.1 It will continue to be the case that the most in the future more and more information will be
significant changes in society won’t come generated and stored. In the IT professional world
about from singular technologies – but from ‘cloud computing’ is strongly believed to be the
the combination of multiple technologies. The only way to keep up to date with user demands
geospatial community is itself one of the best for data storage and retrieval, management and
examples of this principle. The now ubiquitous analysis. Commercial organisations offer software,
nature of mapping is only possible from the platforms and infrastructures directly connected to
universal availability of global positioning, the a cloud‑based environment.
increased reduction in the size of computers and the
ability to store and distribute large volumes of data 5.2.2 Growing concerns around the issues of data storage
over different technologies. have led to the creation of unstructured databases
such as those using NoSQL which allows it the
5.1.2 Data creation remains both active and passive. Users freedom to be freeform and queried. Scalability and
of social media are creating ever increasing amounts performance are important, as are classifications of
of spatially located information, without it being a data. This does present a problem when users are
conscious decision. Sharing a picture or updating a trying to store structured data for a specific purpose.
profile of where you are is not a conscious effort to
create and provide geospatial information, but the 5.2.3 The use of cloud computing has risen substantially
user is being geo‑referenced. in the last decade, and has become the current
favoured storage option. Cloud computing offers
5.1.3 The information generated through use of social many benefits (reduction in operating costs,
media and the use of everyday devices will further reliability and scalability of service provision).
reveal patterns and the prediction of behaviour. This However there are also challenges, for instance
is not a new trend, but as the use of social media quality and security issues are still to be solved or
for providing real‑time information and expanded clarified before some kinds of data are transferred to
functionality increases it offers new opportunities the cloud.
for location based services.
5.2.4 Use of the cloud either Private – hosted entirely
5.1.4 The sensor systems and collection platforms are not by an organisation for it to use, or Public – hosted
just collecting the location and the properties of elsewhere in a shared manner, provides a means to
that location, but also the time that the information host and serve significant volumes of data without
was collected, providing an important and the accompanying investment cost needed to own
foundation variable for so many applications and the necessary technologies independently. Due to
services. This is an important and growing trend the costs associated with creating a public cloud
which is expanded in more detail later in the report. service, it is possible that not all countries will have
access to them. Therefore there’s a risk that the
5.1.5 There is a growing body of evidence which suggests technological gap will grow.
that location enabled technologies are drawing
strong dialogue and debate. The different ways 5.2.5 Users will want to receive the right information
policy and legal frameworks are developing are also at the right time. To achieve this, and in light of
discussed later in the report. the volumes of data available, the geospatial
computation required will increasingly be
non‑human in nature. Accurate results will be
generated automatically and provided directly
to the end user. The earlier chapter on artificial
intelligence explored this trend in more detail.

Image: Mini Stack in Phoenix, Arizona © shutterstock/Tim Roberts Photography

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 5.2.6 However, experience is uncompromising in 5.3.5 Several National Mapping and Cadastral Authorities
showing that the geospatial community must (NMCAs) have already adopted open‑source
understand its customers. In business, as in national solutions into some of their services, and these
security, faster and more informed decisions will should be seen as examples of how open‑source
give the edge over rivals and threats. This is not and proprietary software can work together for the
just achieved by technology but by intelligent benefit of the organisation and citizens.
skilled analysis from people who understand the
decision‑makers’ problems, responsibilities, intent 5.3.6 As with any technology, significant education
and time‑pressures. It’s not just about data and tools is required on the total cost of ownership of
as these can be used by the competition. Geospatial open‑source technology. While there is an upfront
analysis is first and foremost about solving economic benefit from using open‑source software
problems, not producing products. – it may be free of charge – it can be expensive to
customise and maintain and this depends on the
5.3 Open‑source community using the software, and the in‑house
knowledge of the user.
5.3.1 Community driven open‑source software
developments have matured over the last five 5.4 Open standards
years, and are being used by a growing number of
government organisations. Private companies are 5.4.1 The widespread and effective application of
increasingly focused on the technical support of standards in many digital information fields is
open‑source software. crucial not only for the continual effective use of
internet based products and services but also the
5.3.2 For the purposes of this section, open‑source collaborations between different data organisations.
software can be defined as the provision of
source code that is available at no cost and for 5.4.2 There are a number of organisations, both at
use by anyone for any purpose3. The opposite of national and international level, who are responsible
open‑source software is proprietary software, where for the development of standards for use in
a user normally has to pay to access the software acquiring, implementing, maintaining and using
and abide by a number of restrictions is its use and geospatial information. At an international level,
distribution. these are led by the OGC and the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) in
5.3.3 Increased information and awareness of how partnership with broader technology standards
open‑source software can benefit organisations organisations to ensure interoperability.
enables both organisations and governments to
better understand their needs. This coupled with 5.4.3 Standards should be developed and adopted at a
an understanding of requirements, for example national or regional level. Failure to do so can lead to
different levels of security, means there is real choice the creation of local rules, but does not contribute
between open‑source and proprietary software. to the regional or global interoperability.

5.3.4 The drive by some governments towards greater 5.4.4 Since the last Future Trends report was published,
acceptance of open‑source solutions has helped both OGC and ISO, in conjunction with the
to remove many barriers to wider adoption of International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO),
open‑source software. Ready‑to‑play solutions, have worked closely with UN‑GGIM to produce a
capable of operating in a micro‑project environment standards guide, and a companion document4 5.
will make it easier for different concepts to be These documents give an overview of the
showcased to senior decision‑makers. Use of the importance and availability of technical standards
Agile project methodology is helping to drive down for the geospatial community. Although these
development times whilst increasing flexibility in documents have enabled governments to
delivering fit for purpose solutions. implement geospatial standards, work still needs
to be done to raise the awareness of geospatial
3
http://opensource.org/osd
4
http://ggim.un.org/docs/meetings/GGIM4/E-C20-2014-8_Essential Standards
standards, and relevant policies.
Guide for UNGGIM.pdf
5
http://ggim.un.org/docs/meetings/GGIM4/E-C20-2014-8_Companion Document
UNGGIM Essential Standards Guide.pdf

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5.4.5 Work continues at a global level with international 5.5.4 Developments in technologies and data models
standards. A report on the initiatives by the for 3D information and mapping needs to have
international standards organisations on their the ability to link to the locations of citizens, this is
continued collaborations, building on the important for a number of reasons including public
aforementioned standards guide and companion safety or predictive modelling for national security
document, was endorsed at the Fifth Session of the or crisis management response. As well as moving
UN-GGIM Committee of Experts meeting in August towards the integrating of 4D information, another
2015. The report focuses on the enrichment of the area of growth is likely to be in the area of predictive
areas of case studies, business value proposition, analysis – possible future consequences, mapped
data capture, quality issues and related policies. using predictive algorithms. This may focus on the
real time social‑dynamic information.
5.5 Trends in ‘professional’ data creation and
maintenance 5.5.5 Positioning and navigation in real‑time to
centimetre‑level has been a real growth area, both
5.5.1 As well as the new themes identified at the indoors and outdoors. A mass market continues
beginning of the report, there are a number of to develop for systems based on accurate GNSS,
trends that have been making steady progress over integrated with other sensors, such as in driverless
the last five years; this section explores some of the vehicles.
changes.
5.5.6 4D is particularly relevant in the context of real‑time
5.5.2 Since the last report there seems to have been information; this has been linked to virtual reality
a breakthrough from 2D to 3D information, and technologies. Developments relating to virtual
this is becoming more prevalent. Developments reality have been moving forward over the last
in remote sensing have created opportunities to five years, to a point where near‑real‑time virtual
collect increasingly accurate 3D information about worlds can be created. The need to incorporate
our environment. Software already exists to process locational information within these virtual worlds
this information, and to incorporate the time is dependent on the use and function of the
information to create 4D products and services. It environments.
is recognised that a growth area over the next five
to ten years will be the use of 4D information in a 5.5.7 The trends highlighted above could be promoted
wide variety of industries including: transport – and enhanced further through the publication
driverless car technologies, building construction – of user case studies on the UN‑GGIM Knowledge
integration into BIM, and environmental monitoring. Base. This will allow others to discuss and explore
The temporal element is crucial to a number of different options available.
applications such as emergency service response,
for simulations and analytics, and the tracking of 5.5.8 Imagery continues to develop at a steady pace.
moving objects. Greater coverage, quality and resolution has been
achieved by the availability of both low‑cost and
5.5.3 The need to collaborate between different areas of affordable satellite systems, and unmanned aerial
specialism leads to an opportunity for public-private vehicles (UAVs). This has increased both the speed of
partnerships to develop focused on delivering new collection and acquisition in remote areas, but also
and enterprising solutions. One example has been reduced the cost barriers of entry.
the development and effective adoption of BIM, the
drawing together of different information sources, 5.5.9 There has been a rapid uptake and use of UAVs
and using location to attach and link them together. and their related technologies in recent years.
This increase has led to discussions around the
tightening of security controls around the use of
UAVs in several countries.

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 5.5.10 UAVs can provide real-time information to decision- 5.6.4 To ensure long‑term sustainability and optimal
makers on the ground providing, for example, benefit from shared geodetic infrastructure, each
information for disaster management. They are participating government is strongly encouraged
an invaluable tool when additional information to maintain their portion of the network at the
is needed to improve vital decision making highest possible quality. Current participation in
capabilities and such use of UAVs will increase. the development of geodetic infrastructure is an
all‑volunteer best‑efforts basis. Countries involved
5.5.11 It is very likely that there will be a big trend towards in, or benefiting from, the GGRF should make a
the development of regulations for the use of UAVs formal commitment of support/participation at a
for capturing remote sensed content, including mutually agreeable level.
greater privacy and security laws over the next five
to ten years. How governments decide to regulate 5.6.5 Long term commitment of governmental support
the use of UAVs will have significant implications for developing and maintaining domestic
for their use and their value. The role of UAVs and infrastructure is critical to strengthening the value
satellites is increasing but some fundamental at any participating countries contribution to the
information cannot be collected from an aerial GGRF, and crucial for the long‑term sustainability of
image – addresses, for instance. such a global asset.

5.6 Positioning ourselves in the next five to ten 5.6.6 Coupled with GGRF, positioning technology
years is evolving to a level that now enables the
combination of geometric and gravimetric
5.6.1 One trend that was highlighted as an area for techniques for high‑precision gravity
growth in the first edition of the report was geodesy measurements. Gravimeters utilising atomic
and global positioning. This is an area that has seen interferometry can be used to bridge the gap
significant progress over the last five years. One of between both space‑based and terrestrial
the key drivers to this has been the creation of a UN gravimetric instruments to obtain high‑precision
Resolution on a Global Geodetic Reference Frame gravity measurements. Precise measurement of
for Sustainable Development. This Resolution has the gravity field enables numerous other geodetic
been drafted by UN‑GGIM and was adopted by the observations, such as the determination of the
United Nations General Assembly in 2015. earth’s rotation.

5.6.2 The Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF) is a 5.6.7 An evenly distributed global network of
necessary tool to help address the growing demand standardised geodetic observatories equipped
for more precise positioning frameworks. It is also with the highest‑precision clocks and gravimeters,
essential for effective decision making and a vital alongside satellite based positioning and
underpinning infrastructure which is applied in geometry will ensure continued progress in
areas of natural hazard and disaster management, both technological development and support of
climate change and sea level monitoring, geospatial secondary infrastructure worldwide.
information, mapping and navigation by society at
large every day. 5.6.8 Through a global effort over the next five to ten
years we are likely to have a seamless, durable,
5.6.3 The adoption of the Resolution is the first step in unified geodetic infrastructure on land, in the air
creating a common infrastructure to maintain and and at sea, with uniform global referencing.
improve national geodetic frameworks. However,
key areas that still need addressing include the
commitment to funding by governments, and the
adherence to common standards, international
obligations and coordinated policies.

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6 Legal and policy developments

6.1 Growing awareness within the Geographic 6.1.5 Awareness is growing within the geospatial
Information (GI) community community of the impact that laws and
policies have on geospatial information and its
6.1.1 Since the publication of the first edition of management. However, the development of
the report, there have been several positive technologies continues to outpace the changes
developments regarding legal and policy issues. in the legal and policy frameworks. As a result,
This section highlights some of these new new products and services that collect and
developments, and provides an update on some of use geospatial information will face increasing
the issues previously discussed. resistance due to outdated, and in some cases
inconsistent, legal and policy frameworks.
6.1.2 One of the biggest developments in the area of
legal and policy has been the growing awareness 6.2 Funding in a changing world
by the international community of the impact that
laws and policies can have on the collection, use, 6.2.1 The previous report noted that government and
storage and distribution of geospatial information. governmental bodies involved in the collection
Law‑makers and policy‑makers alike are beginning and management of geospatial information have
to understand the governmental, economic and traditionally been reliant on public money to fund
societal benefits of geospatial information, this their activities. On the whole this is a trend that
has led to the two communities starting to work has continued over the last 20 years or longer, the
together to make sure geospatial information can majority of countries still rely on funding from
be developed while taking into account differences public appropriations.
in legal and policy approaches.
6.2.2 Although other funding models exist, for example,
6.1.3 As expanded on later in the report, the growing central government grants to organisations and the
trend of governments, organisations and private growth of public-private partnerships, convincing
citizens to use unmanned aerial vehicles has led to governments of the value of geospatial information,
problems with the use of the technology in their the benefits it brings and the need for sustainable
national airspaces. Those who have successfully funding, remains a challenge.
integrated the technology are now faced with
concerns over privacy and even national security. 6.2.3 In response to funding pressures, there is a trend
emerging towards data being produced ‘out
6.1.4 A number of law makers and regulators have of house’, and many new business models are
expressed privacy concerns regarding the collection emerging that will include new processes and
and use of geospatial information in technologies validation tools to integrate external data into the
such as mobile devices and intelligent transport official databases. This recognises that authoritative
systems. In many cases law makers are defining data doesn’t necessarily have to come from an
privacy differently for each emerging technology official source; there are examples where some
and applying different terms and conditions governments have moved from data collection and
on the use of geospatial information. Because provision towards data facilitation and certification.
geospatial products and services cut across many
different technology platforms and industry 6.2.4 It is often left up to individual government
domains, organisations that wish to use geospatial departments, rather that the government as
information from different providers will need to a whole, to demonstrate the value of GI as an
understand and comply with each different set of indispensable part of the national infrastructure.
regulations or laws, where they apply. This should not only underline the authority and
accuracy of the data but also the defined quality,
the long‑term availability and the consistent
maintenance, irrespective of commercial interests.
In a marketplace that is increasingly dominated by
regional platforms and international data providers,
the challenge will be to receive sufficient funding to
achieve these tasks.

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26 UN-GGIM | United Nations Committee of Experts on
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6.2.5 The availability of some information free at the point 6.3 Open Data
of use inevitably leads to questions about the cost
at the point of use for other sources of information. 6.3.1 The drive towards access to government‑generated
In general, content is not cost‑free, either to collect geospatial information free at the point of use will
or to manage, yet the increasing availability of continue to develop. Economic models are likely to
geospatial information free at the point of use develop around open data, as was the case around
increases the challenge of articulating the cost of the move towards the use of open-source software.
data collection, management and maintenance Such economic models may rely on governments
and securing the necessary funding to ensure this pursuing an open data policy to make open data
happens. This issue is accentuated by other sectors more accessible, more homogenous and more
increasingly using and incorporating apparently structured.
‘free’ geospatial information into the solutions they
provide. 6.3.2 Governments may choose to provide information to
their citizens free of charge either out of principle,
6.2.6 Due to the high costs associated with the because they believe in doing so will improve
production of geospatial information it is important, public life, or because they believe in doing so will
when constructing business cases, to clarify the stimulate economic growth. New technologies may
benefits from investment in geospatial information continue to reduce costs; but there will continue
and state how geospatial information contributes to to be costs associated with the creation, provision,
the development of society in all aspects. management, dissemination and maintenance of
the content.
6.2.7 In countries with less‑developed mapping resources
and National Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDIs), 6.3.3 More and more countries will adopt open
relatively high proportions of national capital are data policies, in which the access to geospatial
likely to be spent on capture and maintenance information will improve. This trend towards
programmes, as awareness and understanding growth can be seen in the increase of countries
of the value of having accurate and maintained participating in the Open Government Partnership
geospatial information supporting other policy (OGP). Initially launched in 2011, the OGP has grown
priorities increases. from 8 participating countries to 65 in 2015. In all
of the OGP countries, governments and the civil
6.2.8 Due to their many benefits, National Location societies are working together to develop and
Strategies and National Spatial Data Infrastructures implement open data reforms.
have become more prevalent, and will continue
to grow over the next five to ten years. Some of 6.3.4 It has become clearer over the past few years
the benefits include the ability to make location that the quality of open data, both governmental
data and processing services available to a wider and crowdsourced, varies considerably in quality,
audience, and proven return on investment capital. completeness and consistency, particularly when it
is assembled from many different sources. Even with
6.2.9 Over the last five years, more case studies have organisations that are experienced in data supply,
emerged demonstrating the value of geospatial there can be variations in formats from one release
information to national development. As this to the next, often without prior warning, which
awareness grows, it is likely that more governments caused difficulties to users. National geospatial and
will view accurate geospatial information as an statistical agencies are uniquely placed, within the
essential building block of their country, and will see community of geospatial partners, to ensure data
it as a necessary allocation of resources. quality. This responsibility will continue to grow as
the volume of additional crowdsourced and open
data increase.

Image: Mato Grosso do Sul, Pantanal, Brazil © shutterstock/BMJ

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 6.3.5 Users have increasingly come to rely on the 6.4.2 Data ownership issues will continue to evolve in the
accuracy, long-term availability, and detail of next five years. Historically, intellectual property
geospatial information and use it as a base for issues around geospatial information were relatively
decision making. Any degradation in quality will be simple – the role of the data creator, processor and
noticed and will impact the decisions made, so the publisher were generally well defined. However
need to continually and reliably fund investments is the growth in the amount of data, the number of
a challenge for any government. different actors in the data creation process, and
the interconnectivity of these parties are likely to
6.3.6 This has led to a developing market for businesses raise issues around data ownership. Some of these
that merge, enhance, reformat, augment and issues can be addressed through the effective use of
provide other quality control processes on the raw metadata and adherence to international standards.
open data. When the source data is very raw this
allows the refined data to be sold thereby funding 6.4.3 The ongoing drive for cheaper access to information
the enhancement process. The costs to the data and the increasing richness of the information
consumer are however generally far below that available means that the pressure to monitor and
which would be charged to collect and manage the licence information at feature level, rather than at
data from scratch. local, national or regional level will increase.

6.3.7 Even though there has been a trend towards 6.4.4 The lack of a multi‑national legal or policy
governments making data open, there is no framework in place to deal with these issues will
universal definition of open data. This has led to need to be considered. Data acquired in one
the creation of many differing open data licences country is likely to be processed in a second country
around the world. Each of these licences has by a corporate organisation domiciled in a third
different terms and conditions, making it very country. Meanwhile the data itself is held ‘in the
difficult to combine different datasets globally. If cloud’. Determining the legal framework, liabilities
organisations are unable to easily combine open and warranties and so on will remain unclear
data from a variety of organisations, the potential without an attempt at a global accord. These issues
benefits of open data may not be realised. are not unique to geospatial information.

6.4 Licensing, pricing and data ‘ownership’ 6.5 Privacy

6.4.1 The topic of licensing, pricing and data ownership 6.5.1 Concerns around location‑based privacy have
continues to be of importance to creators and users not been answered since the publication of the
of data. As was reported in the first edition, the first edition of the report. In normal daily life a
licensing of data in an increasingly online world is person’s location can be determined in many ways,
proving to be very challenging. There is a growth in for example through CCTV systems monitoring
organisations adopting simple machine‑readable traffic flow, sharing information on social media,
licences, but these have not resolved the issues to using RFID enabled cards to enter buildings.
data. Emerging technologies such as web services With the increased ability to integrate data from
and the growth of big data solutions drawn from different sources there is an increasing possibility of
multiple sources will continue to create challenges determining a person’s location by the information
for the licensing of data. they provide to different systems.

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6.5.2 Concepts of what information should be kept 6.6 Liability and the issue of data assurance
private vary between cultures, age groups, interest
groups and other demographics. They also evolve 6.6.1 Although NMCAs, like most other GI providers, try
over time, sometime quite quickly, as has been to exclude formal warranties and liabilities the data
shown by the growth of social media sites where and services of NMCAs are considered reliable and
sharing personal information, including location, trusted. Some of the reasons for this authoritative
has become a feature, and in some cases an responsibility include the absence of profit motives,
accepted norm. professional competencies and tested quality
assurance procedures.
6.5.3 In contrast to other aspects of geospatial
information, cadastral and land registration is 6.6.2 The issue of liability for the quality and accuracy
currently considered as personal data, although of data has not developed in the way the previous
there are examples of such data being open. Privacy report discussed. However, the issues over quality
and the well-defined procedures of land registration and accuracy may drive a dividing line between
must be protected against duplication and crowd‑sourced and government/commercial data.
corruption. The big differences between existing
land registries and cadastral systems will ultimately 6.7 Disparities between legal and policy
prevent cross-border harmonisation. frameworks

6.5.4 Cybersecurity is a continual threat to privacy, 6.7.1 As mentioned above, legal and policy regimes differ
where malevolent ‘hackers’ do not respect privacy significantly from country to country and between
policies. These policies are not just related to different regions, and will continue to do so in the
personal information, but also government and coming years. The availability of global datasets may
business information as well. Powerful encryption help to simplify the complexity of legal and policy
technologies and other security protection, both issues.
software and hardware, will increase in importance.
6.7.2 There is still a major possibility that significant
6.5.5 The issues described above are exacerbated when disparities will emerge over the next five years
citizens move around the globe. In most cases the between countries where legal and policy
information they publish, and the means by which frameworks have developed in line with
they do it remain the same, but the rights over the technological changes and whose governments
use of the data and the associated legal protections have developed frameworks to enable the growth
may radically change. of location or spatially‑enabled societies, and
those countries where such frameworks have not
developed. Ensuring that this divide does not occur,
or at least limiting its affects, represents one of
the major challenges within the legal and policy
environment in the future.

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7 Skills requirements and training mechanisms

7.1 Skills for effective organisations 7.2.2 The specialist will have to bring assurances and
certainty to solutions, driving a need for ‘probability
7.1.1 The understanding of skill requirements and analysis’ within the geospatial world where
training needs is a core component in ensuring predictive analysis is taking place. As mentioned
the value of geospatial information is maximised. in the previous report, the number of experts who
Early identification and action on these issues truly understand the interrelationships between
is vital, as there can be a long lead time in the data models and data flows is still quite low in most
development of appropriate capability and database companies and government departments.
technical training. Demand is very likely to exceed
the pace of development. Skills are not only 7.2.3 Data models continue to evolve to answer the range
needed in traditional geospatial roles, but also of questions and manage the increased volumes
in data collection and analysis. Capacity building of data. The techniques and processes developed
of producers and users of geospatial information through Big Data analysis and AI will still need data
will increase the understanding of geography and experts who understand the complexities of linking
spatial relationships. The closer and more involved geospatial and non‑geospatial data with the ability
governmental organisations are with academic to realise the potential benefits. This expertise
institutions the greater the number of professionals will be spread across different sectors, computer
with an understanding of geospatial principles. science and mathematics, for example. Therefore
appropriate education needs to be developed in
7.1.2 In many regions there is a lack of people qualified to conjunction with the academic sector.
effectively manage and utilise geospatial information.
In the next five to ten years the geographical location 7.2.4 In the future, the traditional role of the geospatial
of software developers and data managers will analyst will be different from now. However, the
become less important with many programming importance of GI experts will not diminish as data
needs taken care of remotely. This relies on outputs will still need to be interpreted for policy‑
understanding local needs and requirements to and decision‑makers. These experts are becoming
develop solutions that are fit for purpose. more comfortable with interpreting unstructured
data, and will continue to find effective channels for
7.1.3 Many of the critical issues where geospatial communicating their results.
information can assist are found in developing
nations. There is a role for non‑governmental 7.2.5 The development of robust open‑source
organisations and development agencies to ensure technologies has gained momentum over the last
that there is an effective skills base developed to five years and increasingly sits alongside proprietary
provide the benefits of a spatially-enabled society. solutions. Developers need to be comfortable in
both environments and specialising in only one
7.2 Extractive value from a world of data programming language will no longer be sufficient.

7.2.1 If we take a simplistic view, skills are required at 7.2.6 The skills requirements noted above will have a major
three different levels; common user, the policy impact on governmental organisations. The adoption
decision-maker and the geospatial specialist. of data‑driven rather than cartographically‑driven
The first requires general education to ensure all geospatial content will see a fundamental shift in
users have some understanding of how data and the skills base and costs. Leading NMCAs are already
applications can benefit them in wide-ranging finding that their data management staff are more
circumstances, and also of the limitations. This also costly to employ than those of their cartographic
requires an understanding of the provenance of and data collection units. Hence, there is a need to
data and the value of an analysis or visualisation. empower and give the workforce the skills needed
The second usually depends on information to deal with the technologies of the future. For
provided by others, but needs an understanding of those countries with less‑developed NMCAs, there
how data is processed and linked. The third must is an opportunity to educate and seek the skill sets
also understand the environment in which they needed to accomplish the goals and objectives of the
work, going beyond traditional GI skills. geospatial organisation.

Image: Egyptian Desert © shutterstock/Frank Wasserfuehrer

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 7.3 Education and Advocacy 7.3.7 There is an opportunity to develop easily accessible
educational tools and software materials for both
7.3.1 While there is a trend for more professionals without research and education which could be delivered
a geospatial background using geospatial data for through online training tools such as webinars and
decision making, these professionals have little or online courses. These can provide both general
no understanding of the underlying principles of education as well as more specific training.
geography. This leads to an increasing need for
governments to incorporate experts in geospatial 7.4 Investing in research and development
science in their high‑level advisory groups.
7.4.1 Investment in research and development in all
7.3.2 Significant progress has been made towards sectors is vital to both the development of the skills
educating policy‑ and decision‑makers, planners required in the future, but also in order to ensure the
and analysts at the highest levels in governments potential benefits of emerging trends are realised.
and NGOs. This has enabled the value (economic,
business and social) of geospatial data to be 7.4.2 Current research areas reflect many of the current
recognised and continues to lead to better and future trends that have been identified for the
decision making. The use of geospatial information industry, including more effective and automatic
in consumer applications has moved beyond processing of sensor data, the development of
simply displaying ‘points and colours’ on a map, location‑based applications and the integration of
to providing tools which allow users to create, high volumes of unstructured data. As suggested in
manipulate and share data themselves. This is the earlier theme of AI, complex geospatial analysis
evidenced by the growing trend of health ‘apps’ questions are being asked, and answered, in a wide
where the user can upload cycling or walking range of areas including relationships between
routes. objects, their properties and real‑world locations.
The benefits of these developments are being
7.3.4 A wider issue is the training and education of a realised at an earlier stage, and are being put to use
broader community of developers and users of in a wide range of organisations.
location‑enabled content. At the same time there is
a need for more automated approaches to ensuring 7.4.3 A challenge that has been identified will be to
the non‑geospatial professional community get the encourage the adoption of new technologies in
right data at the right time. developing countries in order to decrease the
technology gap. Many developing countries have
7.3.5 Investment in formal training in the use of an advantage due to the lack of legacy systems
geospatial data and its implementation is still and technologies which restrict change and this
indispensable. Technical training schemes in specific will enable them to leapfrog some developed
areas of design, acquisition, production, processing countries. This can be achieved through support
and integration, will complement traditional from international agencies to develop programmes
academic offerings, although may not be at the to promote research and development within
undergraduate or graduate level. these countries. Continuing to develop strong
partnerships with standards organisations will also
7.3.6 Education is not only linked to formal training be crucial to ensuring research results can be used
and development. Several NMCAs including and deployed in different user environments.
Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden have been
developing and using their data to create models
for the games industry. As these models are used
in applications which have a much wider reach that
‘traditional’ geopspatial data it can promote the use
of geospatial much more widely. Gamification is an
area where geospatial data can be an important
input when creating digital learning tools.

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8 The role of the private and non‑governmental sectors

8.1 Making mapping accessible to the masses 8.2.2 These big companies have a global perspective
and can supply both data and services virtually
8.1.1 The web, smart devices and the increase in spatially anywhere in the world. Increasingly, smaller SME
related services has ushered in an era where companies are operating in the specialist niche
public users are not only consumers of geospatial fields.
information, but also act as producers of enriched
geospatial data. Over the last five years, the ever 8.2.3 Despite the increased availability of spatial
increasing availability of smart devices and the ever data, certain users will always require the use of
expanding extent of communications networks, authoritative data. A key challenge will be for users
coupled with sensor‑web enabled infrastructures to be able to distinguish between, access and utilise
(as discussed in the earlier chapter) means there the most appropriate data for specific uses.
has been a substantial increase in the use, and
production, of geospatial data. 8.2.4 As previously identified, if this trend towards
location data being provided by private sector
8.1.2 Previously the public had a limited consumption of companies continues, there is a risk that the
geospatial information, but ubiquitous computing only unique attribute provided by public sector
techniques are providing the infrastructure for organisations could be the certification of data as
the public to produce, distribute and consume authoritative. Given different working methods and
geospatial information. This infrastructure provides resourcing strategies, even this role could come
seamless access from anywhere at any time, to under threat from the private sector.
easy‑to-use geospatial information and services.
8.2.5 Increasingly important is the third sector. NGOs
8.1.3 Available and accessible geospatial information can, and do, offer systems and solutions to help
provides an opportunity to improve the quality governments and citizens when governments face
of life of citizens. The challenge is to ensure that shortfalls in funding – or where there is no defined
geospatial information is available anywhere at business case for services. NGOs need to work
any time whist respecting the principles of privacy, collaboratively with other third sector foundations
intellectual property and national security. as they are increasingly working in the same area of
geospatial information.
8.1.4 The reduction in the barriers to entry, the growth
of the web and mobile mapping has massively 8.2.6 Cost and efficiency requirements will see many
increased the role of the private sector and the government departments outsourcing many
volunteer community over the last decade. Global processes to the private sector in the coming years.
brands and organisations have made digital Much of the income generated by satellite and
mapping accessible to the masses. aerial imagery providers will continue to come from
governments and NGOs.
8.2 The future role of the Private Sector
8.2.7 The geospatial industry continues to move rapidly
8.2.1 Historically the majority of location data was from data collection and provision to providing
collected, maintained, and distributed by public more comprehensive geospatial services, and
sector bodies such as NMCAs. More recently, private extending their business models to provide
companies have played an increasing role as both customised analytical services. The ability to provide
data providers and service providers. High profile government and commercial firms with deep
examples such as Google, with its Google Maps analytic capabilities rather than data provision has
and Google Earth facilities, Microsoft, Apple, SAP, emerged as one of the key differentiators in the
Nokia HERE, Facebook and Twitter all exist as global market today.
companies in the location space.

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8.2.8 An added risk for the private‑sector data creator will 8.3 The future role of VGI and crowdsourced
be the move towards open data, since high‑quality geospatial data
maintained data created by NMCAs could, at the
mandate of a government, be released free of 8.3.1 Due to the massive increase in the use of geospatial
charge for use by citizens. This could threaten information, Volunteered geographic information
previous streams of income or at least necessitate a (VGI) groups such as OpenStreetMap and WikiMaps
shift in where in the value chain they should place have come a long way towards popularising
their focus. the collection of geospatial data. VGI can act
as a valuable mechanism to encourage public
8.2.9 The increasing amount of data created offers huge participation and citizen engagement in geospatial
potential for the private sector to add value to information.
existing geospatial information databases. The
increasing role of private sector organisations in 8.3.2 VGI can take various forms, one of which is
interpreting and analysing this information leads commonly referred to as citizen science. In the
to enhanced services to consumers, businesses environmental field citizen science represents
and governments. This is very likely to lead to more an important relatively new way of monitoring
public‑private partnerships (PPP). It may also lead environmental changes with the potential of
to more direct commercial contracts, or licenced implications for policy implementations. Tools to
services, to governments and commercial users. enable citizen science to take place in an orderly
way have been developed, and new ways of
8.2.10 As recognised by the World Bank Group, PPPs obtaining VGI, verifying its validity, and managing
combine the skills and resources of both the public content are constantly evolving.
and private sectors through sharing of risks and
responsibilities. This enables governments to 8.3.3 While in some countries the availability of
benefit from the expertise of the private sector, crowdsourced data may be an addition to a wide
and allows them to focus on policy, planning and range of other sources of geospatial information, in
regulation be delegating day‑to‑day operations. To others it may be an essential ingredient for social
achieve this, the private sector will need to exploit and economic development, particularly in areas
its understanding of, and capability in, geospatial where no, or only limited, data is currently available.
information to provide value back to governments.
This will also open up markets and industries that 8.3.4 As well as generating data, VGI remains a valuable
have until now adopted geospatial information on a mechanism to encourage public participation
very limited basis. and engage and empower citizens. Again in
countries where other sources of data are less
readily available, this public participation may be a
necessity as opposed to a choice.

Image: Nysa City, Poland © shutterstock/Mariusz Szczygiel

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 8.3.5 The concept of citizens’ observatories, although 8.3.8 The previous report suggested that while VGI
not new, is on the rise. They provide a means for brings with it many benefits, certain aspects mean
diverse communities of users to share technological that we are unlikely to see it erode the need for
solutions, information about products and services quality‑assured and trusted geospatial information.
through appropriate communication networks While in some areas VGI may provide an essential
including social media. A further benefit of VGI and information source, its reliance on the voluntary
of active crowdsourcing will be as an educational contributions of a group of dedicated individuals,
tool, teaching citizens the value of geospatial the lack of a quality assurance regime, and the
information in daily life. absence of a regular maintenance regime, will
not remove the need for a wide range of core,
8.3.6 A benefit of these citizen observatories is the quality‑assured, geospatial information.
engagement of the public in mapping processes.
As community knowledge systems are built on 8.3.9 Government organisations can, and do, work
this information, citizens will experience the in partnership with active members of the VGI
value of geospatial information in a more direct community. There are many examples of NMCA
and firsthand way, potentially reaping direct and data being incorporated in to volunteer mapping
significant benefit from geospatial information that databases; changes to government licensing can
they themselves have helped to generate. enable further collaboration between governments
and VGI communities. Currently it is perceived that
8.3.7 There is a common assumption that all VGI and there is a significant gap between authoritative
crowdsourced data is open. In many cases this is and crowd‑sourced data. This gap will reduce
not the case and there is a distinction between in the next five to ten years as collaborations
community‑based initiatives and private‑ or between all organisations increase – this includes
public‑efforts supporting a professional VGI incorporating government‑sourced data and
organisation in cost‑efficient data gathering. The governments exploring ways to incorporate both
latter, where many companies encourage their passively‑ and actively‑created user‑generated data.
users to add and/or collect their own private data,
requires a more open and collaborative attitude
from both professional organisations and volunteers
providing the data. Both ‘open’ and ‘closed’ VGI
data play an important and necessary part of the
wider data ecosystem. ‘Closed’ VGI data will not
necessarily support published policy objectives.

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9 The future role of governments in geospatial data provision and
management

9.1 The impact of change 9.1.5 Governments remain in a unique position

to consider the requirements for geospatial
9.1.1 We are moving towards more networked societies, information for society as a whole and will continue
where relationships are more fluid, less predictable to play a key role in providing a reliable, trusted and
and implicitly defined. These networks are maintained geospatial information base. The exact
characterised by centralised and decentralised role a government chooses to take in geospatial
elements. In these networks, authority is based information management, the challenges faced, and
on organisations contributing to the network, it is the changes made will vary from country to country.
‘earned’ credibility and trust, and it is ‘added value
dialogues’ with stakeholders. With an ecosystem like 9.2 Bridging the gap: coordination and
this, legitimacy becomes as important as legality. collaboration

9.1.2 Governments around the world are finding that 9.2.1 The next five to ten years is likely to see more
funding for geospatial data collection is under collaboration between different sources. As a
pressure, and alternative non‑government data result the value of governmental information may
sources are becoming more prevalent, reliable be defined by the success of integration between
and sustainable. In effect, some believe that socio‑economic and geospatial information.
governments are no longer the monopoly provider The design of public policy will rely on evidence
for many data sets. This, combined with the trend gathered from multiple sources of data.
towards open data provision reduces the revenue
generation provision for governments and leads to 9.2.2 As mentioned in the chapter on the role of
further financial pressures. VGI, additional data sources offer significant
opportunities to enrich existing and future
9.1.3 As mentioned earlier in the report, the geospatial databases. As such, and combined with
public‑private partnership will continue to develop, pressures to reduce costs, it will remain increasingly
but essential roles for both the public and private important for governments to facilitate coordination
organisations will continue to exist – this also between all sources of information.
applies to scientific organisations and NGOs. The
focus of governments should be on the citizen, 9.2.3 Finding new ways to join information into
while the private sector approach should continue nationally recognised datasets is not only an issue
to be user‑centric. for geospatial data. Key to the successful delivery
of integrated data will be the development of
9.1.4 These pressures are forcing governments to standards and methods to assure the quality and fit
consider their roles as providers of reliable of different information sources.
geospatial data. The UN-GGIM Regional Committees
are considering what data themes should be 9.2.4 As well as the focus on linking geospatial and
considered ‘core data’, that is, themes for which statistical information, there has been a growth
the governments need to provide reliable and of interest in the interoperability and integration
harmonised content. It’s critically important for of marine and terrestrial information. This
governments to implement public policies related development is of upmost importance to coastal
to sustainable development in a coherent way and island states.
among countries or for the digital economy to
develop services that can be exploited without
requiring country specific adoption. As mentioned
in previous paragraphs there is a risk this could lead
to a shift in the role of governments from collection
and provision to facilitation and certification of
these core datasets.

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9.3 Marine geospatial information 9.4 Developing a national geospatial
information infrastructure
9.3.1 The demand for marine geospatial information,
for uses other than safety of navigation is growing 9.4.1 Moves to increase the number of government
at high speeds with regards to the blue economy, decisions which are based on geospatial data will
security and emergency requirements for a wide require a robust geospatial information policy to
range of users. Easy access, interoperability and plan, conduct and evaluate achievements of each
integration of marine geospatial information project. GI projects could, under a singular GI policy,
sources in an e-government environment will be effectively managed by separate government
develop to meet these growing needs. agencies all working towards a common goal. The
measurement and monitoring of a GI policy will
9.3.2 Many countries already have an established National enable governments to show the contribution of
Spatial Data Infrastructure, or have initiatives in geospatial data and enables the identification of the
place to do so. The marine element is often less well value of geospatial information to decision-makers.
developed, and there is a tendency to start building
spatial data infrastructures on spatial products and 9.4.2 As well as being constructed using technical
not spatial data. The need for better integration architecture, spatial data infrastructures need to
of marine data is becoming increasingly apparent, be underpinned by a ‘social infrastructure’, that
this has led to some countries implementing the is the conscious design of an environment that
marine‑oriented elements of the NSDIs at an encourages a desired range of social behaviours
accelerated rate. leading towards a desired aim or set of aims. There
is recognition that analysis of networks both within
9.3.3 Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures are expected and across organisational boundaries provides
to support activities such as coastal zone a new way of understanding and developing
management, planning of energy production at collaborations beyond typical formal, hierarchical,
sea, fishing, environmental protection of the marine organisational structures in which work is usually
environment and maritime spatial planning to name organised. Social architecture provides a means of
a few. understanding and implementation of information
infrastructures.
9.3.4 The development of hydrographic data models
– such as the IHO’s Universal Hydrographic Data 9.4.3 There is a role for governments to consider
Model – will be a strong enabler of enhanced data and promote the existence of a spatial data
sharing across a diverse range of purposes. Many infrastructure within each country. This should
hydrographic datasets have the potential to be also include other relevant areas of knowledge,
used across a wide range of uses, the establishment including national systems of geographical and
of robust governance models and changes in statistical information; this is supported by technical
organisational culture remain some of the biggest committees.
barriers to exploiting hydrographic data.

Image: Coast of lake in autumn © shutterstock/Miks Mihails Ignats

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 9.4.4 Effective governance alone is insufficient to steer 9.5.3 As more organisations become involved in
information infrastructure initiatives. Efforts also the collection and distribution of geospatial
need to focus on facilitating, encouraging and information, the geospatial marketplace will also
stimulating the community participation needed to witness change. As well as having a vital role in
move towards a common infrastructure framework. ensuring the availability of a trusted geospatial
A broad range of activities must be coordinated in information base, government regulatory
such a way that they become mutually reinforcing. bodies may need to grow their awareness and
understanding of the geospatial marketplace to
9.4.5 The exact role a government chooses to take will ensure that competition and practices continue
invariably vary from country to country, however to remain fair. With the continued growth in social
governments will have a key role in ensuring that media as a communication tool, governments will
comprehensive and robust frameworks are put in also have to communicate and demonstrate to an
place with related policies, resources and structures increasingly diverse audience the value and quality
which ensure that geospatial information is easily of government data.
accessible to decision‑makers in a coordinated way.
9.5.4 A number of uses of geospatial information rely
9.5 Maintaining an accurate, detailed and on the provision of information that is detailed,
trusted geospatial information base provided to a high level of specified information
across an entire country, is trusted, and regularly
9.5.1 Since the last report, technologies have continued maintained. Recognising the increase in value of
to develop, and the barriers to entry into the data sources, a continuing role for NMCAs will be
large‑scale mapping environment reduce. There to define and maintain quality standards and data
has been an increase in the number of private currency programmes for the data that is required
sector organisations competing in areas which by governments for their operation. Governments
have the potential for a high economic return. As a are still in a unique position to carry out this role,
consequence, data may become cheaper in certain and to assess the levels of detail required to deliver
high‑value areas, but in others it will therefore such information.
increase in price. This may lead to licensing by
attribution becoming more common. 9.5.5 In some nations, governments and their agencies
whose main role is data collection are likely to move
9.5.2 Private sector providers will continue to need to towards incorporating consultancy services and the
justify all collection and maintenance based on a management of complete geospatial frameworks,
return on investment. The private sector will not into their mandates. Governments, in the role
recognise the Public Task that many public sector as authoritative suppliers of quality geospatial
mapping organisations operate under, this could information, will become increasingly aware of
have the consequence of restricting sales in certain the increased value of geospatial information for
areas. If the government sector, operating under sustainable economic and social development.
an open data mandate, switches away from certain
geographies or attributes, there is a risk that the
move towards open data could falter or even
reverse.

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9.5.6 The opening chapters of the report refer to the 9.5.8 Geospatial information can provide an interesting
linking of geospatial information with statistical opportunity to improve the quality of life of citizens;
data. Governments will play a vital role in ensuring the challenge is to have the tools available to
that frameworks are in place so that there are closer demonstrate its performance in economic, social
alignments between official bodies who supply and political spheres.
data relating to statistics, the economy, and land.
These frameworks will increasingly be involved 9.5.9 As highlighted by the video ‘Everything that
in the cooperation and collaboration between happens, happens somewhere’, produced by United
different data providers and the management of Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
geospatial information, to ensure that the benefits and available on the UN DESA YouTube channel,
of a spatially‑enabled society are realised. geospatial information has a key role in delivering
sustainable social and economic development
9.5.7 As mentioned above, the role of governments as across the globe. As economic and social issues,
an authoritative supplier of quality, detailed and coupled with the adoption of the UN SDGs, continue
accurate geospatial information, drawing together to be increasingly cross‑border in nature, we will
a wide range of valuable sources of information, see a growth in regional and global cooperation
will become increasingly crucial as the awareness between governments, regional bodies and
of the value, and therefore the use, of geospatial supranational agencies such as the UN.
information increases among decision‑makers.
End‑users should be able to consume
government‑assured spatial data with a level of trust
in its quality and provenance.

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Full list of contributors

We are grateful to all of the below who have contributed

to this report either through providing a written
submission or by taking part in the discussion forum
during May 2015. We recognise that, despite our best
efforts, some contributors may not be listed below. We
apologise if this is the case and ask that anyone who
wishes to be recognised in the list in future publications
to email [email protected].

Contributions from UN Member States and Observer

States are listed by UN naming conventions, rather than
by individuals who submitted the report. The designation
of any individuals relates to their position when they
made the submission.

• Austria • EuroGeographics
• Bahrain • European Commission
• Canada • European Environment Agency
• Colombia • European Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information
• Czech Republic • International Cartographic Association
• Denmark • International Hydrographic Association
• Egypt • Open Geospatial Consortium
• Finland
• France • Paul Box, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation,
• Germany Australia
• Italy • Andrew Coote, ConsultingWhere Ltd
• Iraq • Mahmoud R. Delavar, University of Tehran, Iran
• Japan • Steven Hagan, Oracle
• Republic of Korea • John Kedar, Ordnance Survey International
• Latvia • Professor Gottfried Konecny, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany
• Malaysia • Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, Co‑Chair UN‑GGIM
• Mexico • Peter Miller, ITO World Ltd
• The Netherlands • Kumar Navulur, DigitalGlobe Inc
• Norway • Steven Ramage, Ramage Consulting Ltd
• Oman • Carl Reed, Carl Reed & Associates LLC
• State of Palestine • Ed Parsons, Google Inc.
• Poland • Kevin Pomfret, The Centre for Spatial Law and Policy
• Romania • Greg Scott, UN‑GGIM
• Saudi Arabia • Doug Specht, VOZ Geographic Information Systems
• Sweden • Rombout Verwimp, GEO Solutions
• Switzerland • Maurits van der Vlugt, Location Solutions, Mercury Project Solutions
• Togo
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• Uruguay

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