کاشی سنتی رنجبران : Fourth Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference

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Fourth Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference

Fourth Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference

1402/09/30

Fourth Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference Cape Town 13-15 March 2000

The Committee on Development Information (CODI) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and its role in orienting geoinformation policies and activities in Africa.

Orlando Nino-Fluck DISD/ECA nino.uneca@un.org

In the area of geographic information technologies the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has been implementing activities for more than four decades through its former Cartographic and Remote Sensing Unit of the Natural Resources Division and now through the Geoinformation team of the Development Information Services Division (DISD) in its efforts to assist the African countries to improve the management and their natural resources and the environment as part of the Commission’s overall mandates.

A very important activity encompassing the comparative advantages of the Commission has been the organization and servicing of the United Nations regional cartographic conferences for Africa a legislative and subsidiary body of the Commission. Currently the functions of this Conference were subsumed in May 1997 by the Committee on Development Information (CODI) one of the seven technical Committees established by the XXIII session of the African Ministers responsible for socio-economic development when reviewing of the intergovernmental machinery of ECA. CODI addresses three specific sectors of development information namely: ICT statistics and geoinformation. At ECA we believe that the synergy that will be gained will benefit all aspects of information for development. The First meeting of CODI was successfully held in June 1999. In addition to the plenaries three subcommittees were established for each of the tree areas. In this regard the sub-committee on Geoinformation (CODI-Geo) replaced the tenth United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Africa. It is worth noting its dual role as a legislative and policy body in the region giving priority to strategic and policy issues and its role as a regional forum promoting the exchange of ideas and information on experiences best practices new developments and trends in technologies and methodologies in the various areas of geo-information.

NSDI RSDI and GSDI where among the issues addressed by the meeting and a resolution was passed urging African countries to develop policies and strategies for the establishment of national geospatial data infra structures; to define as part of the national geo-information policy national data standards in line with regional and international parameters; and asking the sub-committee on geoinformation to determine the most appropriate manner in which the African region participates in the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure.

The Economic Commission for Africa will continue during the present biennium its efforts to encourage African governments and societies to invest in the production maintenance and management of geospatial data and to stimulate the development of integrated datas standards and other elements of national and regional geographic information infrastructure. In this context and as a follow up of the recommendations made at CODI ECA will undertake in the following months a study of the orientation of GIS activities in Africa whose results will be presented to the next meting of CODI for subsequent approval of the ECA Conference of Ministers ECOSOC and the General Assembly. The study will explore emerging and modern concepts for managing geographic data that take into account the development of nation-wide- spatial information networks and reflect a stronger civil society and private participation.

Without anticipating the outcome of the study it is our view that the Spatial Data Infrastructures as they are being conceptualized are without any doubt a robust response to the challenges that the African region confronts vis-à-vis the contribution of geoinformation in the development process which can accommodate the various needs and peculiarities of the region. We find there essential elements that are practical solutions to the major constraints for the use of geoinformation and most importantly they contain the policies and strategies that are crucial to their successful implementation and sustainability.

ECA further believes that partnership cooperation is essential to the success of the output. An appeal is made to participant organizations and individuals at GSDI 4 to join hands with ECA in this exercise.

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