The United Nations is placing geospatial information more firmly within its wider strategic frameworks, a shift EuroGeographics says it strongly welcomes. Speaking at the 16th Session of the UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), the nonprofit association made this point across a series of interventions, arguing that greater UN emphasis on geospatial data is essential to raising the sector’s profile. Central to this support is the newly established UN-GGIM Europe Working Group on Data in Response to Global Agendas, tasked with weaving geospatial information into the development frameworks of the future, an initiative EuroGeographics backed unreservedly.
Sallie Payne Snell, secretary general and executive director, said: “Geospatial information is widely recognized for its vital role in addressing global and regional challenges, but its greatest impact comes when we work together. We warmly welcome UN-GGIM: Europe’s new Working Group which is an important step in anchoring geospatial information into global development and regional policy frameworks beyond 2030. EuroGeographics is well placed to support this work by drawing on our experience of using case studies to demonstrate the value of authoritative data and further strengthen its profile among policymakers.”
She added: “As part of our wider commitment to a stronger, more connected international community, EuroGeographics will continue to bring European perspectives to UN-GGIM. This includes practical solutions that improve access to official information such as our new harmonized large-scale dataset EuroCoreReferenceMap – the foundation for a European Geospatial Data Infrastructure – and our licensing agreements for Copernicus Services and Copernicus Reference Data Access Portal (CORDA) developed through our long-standing partnership with the European Environment Agency.”
