As Africa strives to reduce the digital divide between the continent and the rest of the world, it also endeavors to enhance the use of geospatial science and technology as one of the core technology for incorporating spatially-enabled information in the policy formulation and implementation. However, geospatial information services are currently provided by 'scattered' organizations that are difficult to access simultaneously to provide coherent set of services. African countries are going through a similar phase that many other countries have gone through in their GIS development whereby different sectors engage in GIS activities without coordination. An infrastructure approach, with institutional, regulatory and technical arrangements is required to coordinate the production, management and dissemination of geospatial information content in a manner that ensures that the decision makers, and the population at large, have access to such information when they need, where they need it, and in a form that they can use it easily.
In 2000, ECA convened an experts’ group meeting on the “Future Orientation of Geoinformation in Africa”. The meeting recommended that all geoinformation activities should be oriented towards the development of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) as the appropriate mechanism for making reliable information easily available for policy, investment, planning, management, monitoring and evaluation purposes at the regional and subregional scales. The report of the study was received by the second session of the Committee on Development Information, held in 2001 and became ECA’s guiding principle for its advocacy work in the area of geoinformation. Later, ECA established the CODIST-GEO Subcommitte in compliance with the “African Information Society Initiative” aiming at building-up an information society in Africa. This is in accordance with the regional integration goals, which foresee the necessity of information networks and of regional databases.
Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) are increasingly recognized as an indispensable part of the national information infrastructure of countries and that they need to be constructed and maintained as other elements of the infrastructure. SDIs enable the provision of, and access to, essential spatial data and information essential to social and economic development in modern societies. They are a robust response to the challenges that governments and societies confront in the use of spatial data and its transformation into information that is needed for decision-making.
The majority of developed countries, but also countries from developing regions, have established or are in the process of establishing their national spatial data infrastructures (NSDIs) as part of the implementation of their national information policies. In Africa, contrary to what is happening in other regions of the world, with few notable exceptions, little have been achieved in this direction.As part of its efforts to assist member States to reach socio-economic development, ECA has been carrying out –together with partners and other regional initiatives – a number of concatenated actions in promoting the development of SDIs, in particular at raising awareness among stakeholders and in facilitating the formulation of policies and strategies for the region as well as seeking to integrate geoinformation policies into the national ICT policies and sectoral e-strategies of Member States. The efforts led to the development at regional level of the African Spatial Data Infrastructures (ARSDI).
As per ECA support, there is increased awareness of African governments and other sectors of society on the importance of geoinformation in socioeconomic development as a tool to facilitate spatial data collection, access and use in the decision-making processes, both nationally and regionally.
However, as valuable as these individual activities are, it is clear that we also needs a systematic and comprehensive framework – a global approach for understanding, producing, managing and disseminating geoinformation products and resources in the context of the overall infostructures. This call for a coordinated continental (and beyond) framework for the sharing of information to avoid the risk that information sharing will develop in fragmented and inefficient ways. Moreover, with the growing number of global issues, including cross-border problems such as climate change, natural disasters, peace and security, no nation or region can solve its problem in isolation. This also calls for global coordination between Member States and international organizations with a formal mechanism for involving all stakeholders under the auspices of the United Nations (UN).
Against this background, the United Nations Secretariat has launched the Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM) initiative with aims at setting up a formal mechanism under the UN auspices to discuss and coordinate GGIM activities and by involving Member States as the key players.
The initiative has been matured in three preparatory meetings held respectively in 2009 and 2010 in Bangkok and 2011 in New York. During these meetings the discussion focused primarily on the proper role of geospatial information in the answers to the multiple crises and disasters and in view of the low availability of relevant information in some of the world, participants agreed on the need to coordinate the efforts of players worldwide. The involvement of the UN to hold a global forum in which member states will play the lead role in the development of a global policy to the attention of policy makers will build synergies between the decisions of regional cartographic conferences and facilitate quick responses to concerns and emergencies.
From the preparatory meetings, a general consensus has emerged on the need for a forum to better coordinate the activities of UN agencies, member states and other international organizations. The various meetings agreed on the need to create a committee of UN experts will meet to discuss issues that cut across the regions. A first forum will be organized in Seoul from 25 to 28 October 2011 and Africa should develop its own strategy to ensure an active participation in the process.
With respect to that ECA is providing regional focus and leadership for Geospatial information activities in Africa, the Commission is taking the role to lead the GGIM initiative in Africa, so as to ensure that it adequately reflects African issues and shape its direction and dimension to reflect the continent interest. The Commission is organizing the African Preparatory Meeting to develop a common vision and coordinate the contribution for the Africa region to the GGIM initiative.
