GLOBAL SPATIAL DATA - CHALLENGES, ISSUES AND

TRENDS

Roger LonghornSecretary-General, Global SDI Association (GSDI)

gsdi.org / rlonghorn@gsdi.org

Principal SDI Consultant, Compass Informatics Ltd, DublinExternal expert, International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Marine SDI W.G.

Steering Group, International Coastal Atlas Network (ICAN) IOC IODE Project

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GSDI’S GLOBAL CONNECTIONS

• GSDI Special Consultative status with UN ECOSOC, May 2014

• GSDI links to UN GGIM (UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management)

• GSDI supports and promotes the GEO Data Management Principles

• GSDI on Joint Board of GI Societies (JBGIS)• MoUs with FIG, ISPRS, ICA, ISDE, OSGeo

(forthcoming)

IRLOGI WORKSHOP - GIS IRELAND 2015 - 1-2 OCTOBER 2015

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FUTURE VISIONS INSPIRATION

UN “Future Trends in Geospatial Information Management: The Five to Ten Year Vision” - Second

Edition, 2015• First edition produced in 2012/2013• Trends are supported by similar studies conducted at

regional (trans-national) and national level• e.g. RICS – ‘Our changing world: let’s be ready’ - April

2015

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TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGYAND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Data creation, maintenance, management – and use

‘Everything happens somewhere’ (events) and ‘happens some time’ (temporal) and ‘everything is somewhere’ (location-based ‘things’ – tangible and intangible).

‘Cloud computing – benefits and risks – “bring processing to the data, not data to the processing.”

Open Source – spreading ever more widely (cost, training and support issues)

Open Standards – issues resolved in the geo world?

Professional data creation and maintenance

Non-professional data creation and use

IRLOGI WORKSHOP - GIS IRELAND 2015 - 1-2 OCTOBER 2015

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“FUTURE TRENDS IN GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: THE FIVE TO TEN YEAR VISION”

“Governments need to see foundation geospatial information for its ‘value’, not for where it has come from or who owns it.”

“Geospatial information needs to be treated as an essential component in decision-making processes, not just as a

commodity that can be sold.”

• Many mind-sets still need changing.

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microUAVs – a disruptive technlogy

Growth of use in past 12 – 24 months & forecast growth (2010-2020):o global market for UAVs in 10 (2020) years will be approximately $22

billion (U.S. = 75–80% of the market).

Impediments:o Regulation and policy disparity across nations (commercial use prohibited).o Privacy issues still not addressed or resolved.o Safety issues not addressed (yet – see collision stories).o ‘Official’ use versus ‘private’ use is confusing policy makers & impeding

policy development.

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SATELLITE IMAGERY

• Imagery is down in price.• Improved coverage, resolution, and timeliness – more

players.• Advances in automated image processing methodology

and software.• Technology offers global coverage & near 24/7.• Impact of microsatellites and clusters, example: DMCii.• Imagery companies become information companies.• “there is no value in a pixel”

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SPATIAL APPS DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

• Lack of underpinning spatial knowledge of developers leading to unintended results.

• Lack of knowledge of IPR in data, software & services – or paying attention to licensing issues.• IPR in Open Source & Open Data

• Apps development is an uncontrolled aspect of the software industry – both good and bad aspects.

• New tools put apps development into the hands of everyone.

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TECHNOLOGY VERSUS POLICY GAP FOR SPATIAL DATA

• Technology advances much more rapidly than ability of policy and regulation to keep up.

• Policy makers do not always fully understand the technology – or take trends (rapid and near future evolution of technology) into account when changing policies or making new regulations.

• Regulating ‘technology’ is not the same as regulating ‘data’ or products or services created using the technology.

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SMART CITIES AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS• Global challenges created by increased

urbanisation in radically different environments• By 2050, 80% of a forecast global population

of 9 billion will live in cities.• “The greatest challenge to mankind since we

became social”.• Connectivity through the Internet of Things

(IoT) and social media.• Need Open Data & Open Platforms to permit

ready integration of datasets from multiple sources and disciplines – hence – ‘citySDI’.

• Data integration issues are yet to be resolved, but will be both standards and software dependent. IRLOGI WORKSHOP - GIS IRELAND 2015 - 1-2 OCTOBER 2015

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INTEGRATING GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION

• Integrating from multiple data sources (and types)• Radically different types of data can be ‘spatial’

• Integrating from multiple data owners/custodians (access & IPR)

• Standards required – what standards & who produces these?

• Statistical data as a driver• Global involvement of statistical offices in SDI

development• Integrating for the global 2020 Round of Censuses

• Other drivers (e.g. disaster monitoring and management)

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BIG DATA CHALLENGES

• IDC report forecasts a forty to fifty-fold increase in data we capture between 2010 and 2020, to 40 zettabytes (a zettabyte = 21 zeros!)• or … “six terabytes of data will be stored for each of the world’s

inhabitants by 2020, equivalent to the text contained in three million books”

• How is different data collected? (vastly different data types involved)

• Can it be combined? (integrating methodologies)• Who owns it or is official custodian? (for access and

permission to use; licensing; preservation; maintenance; …)IRLOGI WORKSHOP - GIS IRELAND 2015 - 1-2 OCTOBER 2015

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GLOBAL RESPONSE TO BIG DATA CHALLENGES

• RDA (Research Data Alliance)• Big Data Analytics Interest Group (130 members

globally)• Big Data Analytics (methodologies and tools needed)• Big Data skills shortages – arrival of the ‘Big Data

Scientist’• Advances in Artificial Intelligence and machine

learning• Research funding!• Encouraging Public Private Partnerships (PPP)• Moving from Big Data to Smart Data.

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BIG DATA INITIATIVES IN EUROPE

• Socio-economic targets:• up to 30% of the global data market for European

suppliers,• 100,000 new data-related jobs in Europe by 2020,• 10% lower energy consumption, better health-care

outcomes and more productive industrial machinery.• European Big Data Value Association includes data

providers, data users, data analysts and research organisations.

• 2.5 billion euro PPP partnership agreement, operational from January 2015

• Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA)IRLOGI WORKSHOP - GIS IRELAND 2015 - 1-2 OCTOBER 2015

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LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES & DEVELOPMENTS

• Awareness of the data issues within the GI community.• Funding in a changing world – government v. industry v. PPP.• Open Data and Open Source software – impact.• Licensing, pricing and data ownership/custodianship.• Privacy challenges – relating to technology (microUAVs) and data

use.• Liability and data assurance (data quality challenges).• Global disparities between legal and policy frameworks.

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SKILLS REQUIREMENTS AND TRAINING MECHANISMS

• Skills for effective organisations• ‘Information Management’, not just ‘GIS’• Analytical skills, not just programming

• Extracting value from Big Data (analytics challenges) – Big Data Scientists

• Education and advocacy• When to start skills development – primary, secondary, tertiary

schooling?• Educational funding requirements.

• Investing in research and development – very uneven playing field globally.

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ROLE OF THE PRIVATE INDUSTRY AND NON‑GOVERNMENTAL SECTORS -ACADEMIA, NGOs, CITIZENS

• Mapping & services that are for - and accessible to - the masses.• Citizen-centric mapping and location services.

• Future role of the Private Sector?• Open Data / Open Source issues.• Value adding, IPR and the ‘bottom line’.• Apps development.• Standards development and adoption. (e.g. OGC as an example)

• Future role of civil society (VGI and crowdsourced geospatial data)?

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FUTURE ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS IN GEOSPATIAL DATA PROVISION AND MANAGEMENT

• Bridging the gap: coordination and collaboration with industry, academia and citizens.

• Marine spatial information (IHO Marine SDI Working Group & S-100).

• Developing national SDIs – the scorecard today.• Maintaining accurate, detailed and trusted ‘official’ geospatial

information.• Ensuring accessibility to spatial data for all sectors of society –

businesses, citizens, academia.IRLOGI WORKSHOP - GIS IRELAND 2015 - 1-2 OCTOBER 2015

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FUTURE TRENDS – MY PREDICTIONS

• Crowdsourcing will continue to grow as advances in technology and apps development permit ever more data to be collected by ‘non-professionals’.

• microUAVs and associated image processing technology will transform access to and use of spatial data globally – while adding to the glut of Big Data!

• User-friendly apps development tools will lead to exponential growth in apps, especially for mobile devices.

• Ever more government data will become fully ‘open’, globally – free and unrestricted access and use (by popular demand).

• IPR issues will continue to plague the geo information industry.• AI developments in other disciplines will be taken up by spatial tools

developers. IRLOGI WORKSHOP - GIS IRELAND 2015 - 1-2 OCTOBER 2015

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THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

 

Roger LonghornSecretary-General, Global SDI Association (GSDI)

gsdi.org / rlonghorn@gsdi.org

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RESOURCES / REPORTS – FUTURE TRENDS

•  UN GGIM Report: “Future Trends in geospatial information management: the five to ten year vision” - Second Edition, 2015

http://ggim.un.org/docs/meetings/GGIM5/Future%20Trends%20in%20Geospatial%20Information%20Management%20%20the%20five%20to%20ten%20year%20vision.pdf

 • RICS report - Our changing world: let’s be ready - April 2015

http://www.rics.org/be/knowledge/research/insights/futuresour-changing-world/

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RESOURCES / REPORTS - BIG DATA CHALLENGES

•  RDA (Research Data Alliance) - Big Data Analytics - https://rd-alliance.org/groups/big-data-analytics-ig.html; https://rd-alliance.org/groups/big-data-analytics-ig/wiki/rda-big-data-analytics-interest-group-charter.html;

• Worldwide Big Data Technology and Services - 2012-2015 Forecast - http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/worldwide-big-data-technology-and-services-2012-2015-forecast (PDF report)

• NESSI - Networked European Software and Services Initiative - (http://www.nessi-europe.eu/default.aspx?page=home)

• Data Value Chain - https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/elements-data-value-chain-strategy

• (UK) Big Data Analytics - An assessment of demand for labour and skills, 2012-2017 - http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/big-data-analytics-assessment-demand-labour-and-skills-2012-2017

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RESOURCES / REPORTS - BIG DATA TO SMART DATA

•  http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/home/pictures-of-the-future/digitalization-and-software/from-big-data-to-smart-data-why-big-data-has-to-become-smart-data.html

• http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/home/pictures-of-the-future/digitalization-and-software/from-big-data-to-smart-data-facts-and-forecasts.html

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RESOURCES / REPORTS - microUAVs

• Links: http://unmanned-aerial.com/small-uav-coalition-pushes-congress-for-micro-uav-provision/; http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=18295; http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/12/22/industry-proposes-a-micro-drone-rule-as-regulatory-deadline-looms/

• UK - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11541504/Where-is-the-legal-line-in-flying-drones.html

• Canada - http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/standards/general-recavi-uav-2265.htm?WT.mc_id=21zwi

• George Cho paper (34 pp) on UAV policy (2013): http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/JlLawInfoSci/2013/10.html.

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RESOURCES / REPORTS - SATELLITE IMAGERY

• http://www.space.si/en/automatic-optical-satellite-data-processing-chain/• http://www.gdacorp.com/satellite-image-processing• https://www.gaf.de/content/data-processing• DMCii - http://www.dmcii.com/?page_id=9275

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RESOURCES / REPORTS - EU POSITION ON OPEN DATA

http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/open-data-0

Communication on Open Data - http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0882:FIN:EN:PDF

Legislation on re-use of public sector information (PSI) - https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/legislative-measures 

Non-legislative measures supporting open PSI - https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/non-legislative-measures-facilitate-reuse 

Open Data Portals - https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/open-data-portals

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RESOURCES / REPORTS - OECD OPEN DATA

• OECD Open Government Data projecthttp://www.oecd.org/gov/public-innovation/opengovernmentdata.htm

• Working Paper “Open Government Data: Towards Empirical Analysis of Open Government Data Initiatives” – http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/open-government-data_5k46bj4f03s7-en