In the last week of August 2021, the Eleventh Session of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) took place.

One notable document that came out as part of Agenda Item 4 is a new report called Geospatial Industries Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It has been prepared for and on behalf of the UNGGIM – Private Sector Network (PSN) by a team of research and subject experts of Geospatial World led by Ananya Narain – Director, GW Consulting. It draws analysis and insights with respect to geospatial industry and innovation trends, the concept of digital twinning and sectoral workflow embedment for advancing the sustainable development goals. The report has been prepared under the guidance of Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Chair, UNGGIM – Private Sector Network and CEO of Geospatial World. On the last page, the collective authors acknowledge the reports prepared by the World Geospatial Industry Council, which have been referred for the preparation of Geospatial Industries Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At the core of the revolution
In this report, the UNGGIM Private Sector Network explains how geospatial infrastructure is at the core of the ‘data-driven innovation revolution’. PSN calls it ‘a foundational and enabling pillar of the data ecosystem that encompasses data, technology, policy, and people’. The report highlights the role of geospatial infrastructure in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which lead to geospatial-enabled innovations such as Digital Twins. The report also highlights the value-impact of a dynamic geospatial infrastructure in the world’s socio-economic sectors. Again, mainly focusing on achieving the United Nations’ 2030 agenda for sustainable development. The report concludes with a set of key recommendations for the critical stakeholders of the geospatial ecosystem to facilitate the diffusion of geospatial infrastructure, ie. data and information to advance geospatial technological progress globally.

Download Geospatial Industries Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) here