Side event: Innovations in integrating geospatial and statistical information for the SDGS

Session 1: Integrating Statistical and Geospatial Information (60mins)

• The Global Statistical Geospatial Framework: Implementation Guidance
In its decision 10/106, UN-GGIM urged Member States to continue efforts towards the adoption and implementation of the Global Statistical Geospatial Framework (GSGF) and to support institutional coordination and collaboration between national statistical offices, national geospatial information agencies and other relevant stakeholders to support the ongoing implementation of the Framework, especially in the context of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Committee also requested the Expert Group on the Integration of Statistical and Geospatial Information (EG-ISGI) to provide practical guidance in the production and use of integrated geospatial information. To practically respond to this mandate, the EG-ISGI has developed this GSGF Implementation Guide to assist countries with implementing the GSGF and enable them to produce geospatially enabled statistical data for national to global decision-making. 

• The Integration Of Statistical And Geospatial Information In Central America: Vulnerability Index For Covid-19 (30 mins)
The Central America Project on integration of statistical and geospatial information was developed under the framework of the line of action for cooperation and regional collaboration of the United Nations Regional Committee on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM: Americas), being financed by the Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH)through its’ Technical Assistance Program and led by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Mexico and the United States Census Bureau. The main objective of the Central America project is to add value and broaden the region's knowledge on the integration of statistical and geospatial information. With the emergence of the COVID -19 pandemic, the project'stechnical team made the decision to focus on how they could assist decision-makers in Central America with their response to COVID-19; for which the vulnerability index for COVID-19 was replicated based on the vulnerability index methodology developed by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) of Colombia. The main purpose of the segment is to emphasize the importance of the integration of statistical and geospatial information. This will be done by presenting the work and results of the Central American project´s efforts to assist decision-makers in Central America with their response to COVID-19 by developing a vulnerability index based on the methodology created by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) of Colombia.

Session 2: Geospatial Information for Sustainable Development

•  The SDGs Geospatial Roadmap (35mins)
The SDGs Geospatial Roadmap aims to communicate the value of the support already provided to the IAEG-SDGs, SDG Custodian Agencies, and Member States, providing practical guidance for geospatial information vis-a-vis the SDGs, and elaborates on the vision to see geospatial and location-based information being recognised and accepted as official data for the SDGs and their global indicators. It achieves this by demonstrating how to ‘build the bridge’ between the statistical and geospatial actors working within the global indicator framework, using the Committee of Expert’s frameworks, norms and guides. In contextualizing the Committee’s practical guidance for bringing geospatial information to the SDGs, the SDGs Geospatial Roadmap demonstrates how to ‘build the bridge’ between the statistical and geospatial actors working within the global indicator framework. Implementing the Roadmap will help further contextualise and communicate the work of the Committee of Experts to the broader “data” community, inclusive of the statistical community.

•  The use of alternative sources and techniques for the integration of statistical and geospatial information. (25 mins)
The convergence between statistical and geospatial information has been revitalized as a fundamental strategy to fulfill and monitor the commitment of States with global, regional and national agendas. This convergence enables to gather in real time large volumes and detailed data on social, economic and environmental aspects, produced by alternative sources and formats. In the midst of this process, it is needed to prioritize the opportunities that arise, not only from accessing and integrating this data, but also from exploring techniques to design and produce information based on the use of technologies such as Big Data, Science and Data Analysis, Machine learning, Earth Observations, among others, in order support public policies and decision making. In this sense, Colombia’s National Statistical Office this segment shares new experiences in the use of novel sources and techniques that support the integration of statistical and geospatial information to address global, regional and national challenges, while strengthening the capacities and cooperation between the entities and organizations that produce geospatially enabled statistical data.