Linkages between Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Geospatial Information in brief

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a universal development agenda for all countries and stakeholders to use as a blueprint of action for people, planet and prosperity. The agenda is anchored by seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), associated Targets, and a global Indicator Framework. Collectively, these elements enable countries and the global community to measure, manage, and monitor progress on economic, social and environmental sustainability. The agenda encompasses multiple dimensions; including time bound targets and space (geographic location location). Additionally, stresses the need for high quality, timely, reliable and disaggregated data, including earth observation and geospatial information in the area of follow up and review. Understanding the spatial dimension, the “data revolution” requires the integration of traditional statistical data with geospatial and earth observation data. Indeed, such integration (non- spatial and spatial data) presents a far richer data picture for policymakers that goes beyond the geospatial data revolution.

http://www.oecd.org/iaos2018/

The use of geographic information systems is an important means of implementation for the SDGs: A framework for advancing the application of geographic science to measure, analyse, and monitor indicators associated with the goals and the multitude of projects that support their achievement, platform used to collect, produce, manage, and share the data needed for decision-making. Additionally, it focuses on where resources and initiatives should be supported on the ground and promote data driven government action, potential to provide a platform for discovery, exploration, and sharing that can lead to an understanding of both local and global challenges. Through massive data contributions from current and future GIS users worldwide, GIS can contribute new methods to comprehend the complexity of our world; understand, address, and communicate the sustainable development issues we face; and act collectively.

The major challenges that could hinder the use of geospatial data for monitoring SDGs include and not limited to:

• Lack of capacity, that includes, technical expertise, resources (hardware, software) and accurate data both at National and local levels.

• Lack of consensus on the need to integrate the National Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDIs) into the various levels of government development plans.

• The challenge of capacity development, knowledge transfer and enabling technologies and capabilities from data-rich countries to data-poor countries.

• Limited access to Geospatial data: High-resolution satellite imagery as well as matching statistical data to be integrated (For example, High-resolution population data is required in the computation of indicator 11.3.1 on Land consumption).

• Financial implications on hardware and software.

• Limited/lack of coordination across government and data sharing related to the SDGs.

In conclusion, the success of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will require coordination and working together of the National Statistical Offices and the geospatial community to monitor the progress of the SDGs (Spatial statics and relationship patterns among the different variables-disaggregation). In addition, there is a need to promote spatial data transparency at regional, international, national and local level support the SDGs implementation process.

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