Background
The project ‘Advancing Role of Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure (GKI) in World Economy, Society and Environment’, initiated by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and Geospatial World, brings together key stakeholders (government, industry, research, academia, etc.) from the geospatial, digital, and user industries to build an inclusive geospatial ecosystem. Over three phases, the project aims to create strategies and action plans for making fit-for-purpose geospatial data and knowledge services accessible on demand for use cases across sectors supporting sustainable development.
Progress
As part of the first phase of the project (January 2020 – May 2021) the geospatial knowledge concepts were developed, and the elements of GKI were defined through consultations with geospatial stakeholders from around the world. As part of the second phase of the project (June 2021 – October 2022), the project expanded the engagement beyond the geospatial stakeholders to 8 defined user communities, and the digital ecosystem, with the aim of understanding the evolving needs of user sectors, and developing better demand-driven geospatial products in collaboration with the digital industry. The second phase concluded with the release of the GKI Readiness Index and Value Proposition in World Society, Economy, and Environment report at the 2nd United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress.
Way Forward – Phase 3
Phase 3 of the project will use the report on GKI Readiness Index and Value Proposition in World Society, Economy, and Environment as the basis for further advancing GKI concepts. The focus of Phase 3 of the project is towards national advocacy. The phase will focus on reaching out to country-level geospatial, digital, and user communities, and providing strategic recommendations to co-create demand-based geospatial knowledge products for nation’s priority development sectors thereby supporting national development. The engagement with different countries will culminate in the development of nation-specific GKI recommendations reports for the development of holistic knowledge-centric national geospatial infrastructures.
