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Hangzhou Forum on UN-GGIM & PCGIAP EB Meeting
Hangzhou, China, 24-26 May 2012
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The Hangzhou Forum on United Nations Global Geospatial Information
Management (UN-GGIM) provided a regional consultation mechanism and a
platform for the exchange of views, to discuss priority issues for the
regional implementation strategy of the UN-GGIM initiative. The Forum was
hosted by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and
Geoinformation (NASG) of China who organized this Forum jointly with the
Secretariat of the United Nations initiative on Global Geospatial
Information Management. The Forum was held at the Zhejiang Xizi Hotel,
Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The Forum provided delegates and
participants a better understanding of key issues UN-GGIM and international
organization need to focus on; an appreciation on the importance of
consultations at global, regional and local levels to agree and pursue
strategies towards managing all information spatially. This Forum was
supported by the United Nations sponsored Permanent Committee on GIS
Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) that held is Executive
Board meeting the day after the successful conclusion of the Forum.
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Participants of the 2012 Hangzhou Forum on United Nations initiative
on Global Geospatial Information Management |
Mr. Xu Deming, Vice Minister, Ministry of Land and Resources and
Director General, National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and
Geoinformation (NASG) of China officiated the Forum. Immediately after the
Official Opening segment, Dr Li Pengde, Deputy Director General of
NASG spoke on the development of China’s geospatial information followed by
Dr Vanessa Lawrence, Director General and Chief Executive of the
Ordnance Survey of Great Britain, and Co-Chair of the UN Committee of
Experts on GGIM, on the future and emerging trends in the geospatial world.
She remarked that Government’s role of setting standards and defining
information frameworks, its roles of adding authority to information; of
providing access to information and data sharing will continue.
The Forum considered the emerging trends in institutional arrangements;
evolving a new geodetic positioning framework and enabling positioning
infrastructure; considerations of data quality assurance framework
recognizing that the use of quality, current and authoritative national
geospatial information as a valuable and critical enabler for effective
decision-making for national Governments.
With recent global initiatives on responsible governance of tenure of
land, fisheries and forest and on spatially enabling governments and
societies towards whole-of-government efficiencies, citizen-centric delivery
systems and greater transparency and good governance, managing all
information spatially, the vision of GGIM, is crucial. Reliable (accurate
and honest) information depends on trusted data and hence data quality
assurance framework, in particular, geospatial data quality assurance
framework is fundamental. The Forum also considered new models in data
sharing and dissemination.
Dr Paul Cheung, Director, United Nations Statistics Division spoke
on the desirability of a statement of ethics and supporting code of conduct
for the global geospatial information profession. There is an emerging
consensus that the geospatial information community should address the issue
of ‘ethics’ in a coherent manner and promulgate a statement of ethics that
address principles on ethical behaviors for the profession in the
production, processing, analyzing and dissemination of geospatial
information.
We are witnessing newer generations of mobile and web services, mobile
and smart communication devices, volunteered information and open data are
becoming growing non-traditional means of acquiring information, such a
statement will provide guiding principles for all practitioners in
geospatial information world.
FIG President CheeHai Teo participated in the Forum and
facilitated the session on data quality assurance framework. He was joined
at the Forum by Dr. Gethin Wyn Roberts, Chair of FIG Commission 6
(Engineering Surveys), Mr. Lawrence Lau, Vice-Chair FIG Commission 6
(Engineering Surveys) and Dr. Pengfei Chen, FIG Vice-President elect.
Prior to the Hanzhou Forum, a number of delegates made an official visit
to NASG Headquarters in Beijing.
CheeHai Teo
FIG President
June 2012
Vice Minister
Deming Xu showing Dr Paul Cheung and
other official visitors to NASG Headquaters in Beijing the model of
the China’s Geomatics Park being developed near the Beijing Capital
Airport
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A replica of an ancient astronomical instrument in the entrance
lobby of NASG Headquarters in Beijing |
11 July2012
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