Ashraf AboArafe
Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – represented by the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information – hosts the 12th meeting of the Arab Committee of Experts of the United Nations on Geospatial Information Management; which will be held during the period from 2-6 February in Jeddah Governorate.
The committee is one of the regional committees emanating from the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management, which was established with the aim of supporting joint Arab action and exchanging expertise and technologies to enhance the role of geospatial information in economic, social and environmental development in the Arab region, as the Kingdom – represented by Geospatial – chairs the committee after being re-elected as president for three consecutive sessions, in addition to assuming the position of the General Secretariat of the committee.
The meeting hosts a number of officials, experts and specialists representing the Arab member states, representatives of the Secretariat of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management, in addition to a group of the most prominent international experts and international organizations related to geospatial information; To exchange visions, experiences and best regional and global practices, and to follow up on the progress of the Committee’s work through its working groups, as the Committee performs its tasks through 3 working groups; the Geodetic Reference Working Group, the Geospatial Governance Working Group, and the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework Working Group.
The meeting witnesses the celebration of the Arab Committee of United Nations Experts on Geospatial Information Management of 10 years since its first meeting held in February 2015 in Riyadh.
On the other hand, the Committee’s meeting witnesses an accompanying meeting of the High-Level Group for the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework emanating from the United Nations Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management, through which it discusses the roles and responsibilities related to its priority activities for the year 2025 identified by its working groups, in an effort to prepare the team’s plan for the year 2025 within the framework of contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
At the same time; As an extension of its efforts to promote and spread geospatial awareness and knowledge, Geospatial is holding a number of workshops accompanying the committee meeting, targeting beneficiaries from the public and private sectors, in addition to the academic and non-profit sectors. Through these workshops, Geospatial will review the Kingdom’s experience in building and developing the national geospatial infrastructure, governing geospatial data, and preparing its policies, standards, and specifications in accordance with international best practices, which enhances the reliability of this data, ensures its protection and sustainability, and contributes to maximizing its impact in enabling various development fields. It is worth noting that Geospatial works – according to its organization – to organize the surveying, geospatial information, and imaging sector; including representing the Kingdom internally and externally in relation to its specializations, and coordinating with its counterparts in other countries and international bodies and organizations related to the sector.
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