Doug Specht, Senior Lecturer in the Westminster School of Media and Communications and Chartered Geographer, has contributed his views to the most recent United Nations (UN) report on Future Trends in geospatial information management.
Specht drew upon his research in geospatial technology, ethics, and international development to provide insights that have been used to form the report, which provides a consensus view of the development and future direction for geospatial information management over the next 10 years.
The first chapter of the report provides a high-level analysis of the top global geospatial drivers and trends that are predicted to have the greatest impact on geospatial information management over the next five to 10 years.
The chapters that follow provide relevant updates on the trends that were identified in the previous two editions, to which Specht also contributed. The report concludes by producing a brief overview of the topics covered by all Future Trends reports.
The report, which was produced by the UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UNGGIM), marks the beginning of a crucial decade for both sustainable development and geospatial information management.
Talking about the report, Specht said: “Earth Observation, Volunteered Geographic Information, International Data Standards and National Spatial Data Infrastructures are all helping to move society closer to achieving the ambitious aims of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). The work of UNGGIM and reports such as this are invaluable in ensuring that we are taking a co-ordinated and well monitored approach to this work that will help avoid the failures of the millennium development goals.
“This global effort led by UNGGIM, Open Geospatial Consortium, and TC211, the geospatial group of the International Standards Organisation, to push for global standards for data will ensure that geospatial technology and geographers are at the core of the efforts to achieve the SDGs and improve the health of the planet and the lives of people around the globe.”
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