The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) released ‘Geospatial Practices for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific 2020’ report on November 18, 2020. The report details the regional status and progress in areas such as disaster risk management, natural resource management, connectivity, social development, energy, and climate change. It features 100 best practices from over 25 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, on inclusive and sustainable development.
The report highlights applications of geospatial information and the vital role that it can play in the future.
Geospatial Information
‘Geospatial information’ refers to the digital data set that provides geographical features of exact locations on the Earth. Geospatial information provides real-time digital image of a particular area and the happenings taking place with exact specification of time and geographic location in the form of coordinates, address, city, and PIN code.
The application of geospatial information provides comprehensive solutions to compelling issues in the areas of health, education, food security, agriculture, disaster risk reduction, resilience-building, etc. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, geospatial information has played a key role in educating people about the spread of the disease and ensuring food security, agriculture, energy, disaster risk reduction, and resilience-building. These inputs have proved extremely useful for national development planning and decision-making.
However, there remains some gaps and challenges on the effective use of geospatial information and the report addresses them.
About the 2020 Report
The 2020 report is devised for policy makers and decision makers working towards sustainable development as it reflects clear linkages to both economic and social values.
It deals with the advantages and significance of affordable and accessible geospatial data, tools, and innovations to increase its potential benefits to the countries. The report provides an overview of the regional status and progress in the identified thematic areas: (1) disaster risk reduction and resilience; (2) natural resource management; (3) connectivity; (4) social development; (5) energy; and (6) climate change. It features more than 80 good practice examples from the region.
The report also talks of trends and innovative technologies, employed within the Asia-Pacific region so that countries can activity incorporate innovative responses within their relevant geospatial information applications.
The ‘Asia-Pacific Plan of Action on Space Applications for Sustainable Development (2018–2030)’ was adopted in 2018. It is an inclusive and country needs-driven blueprint to expedite space and geospatial applications and digital innovations to support countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.
The report includes national progress examples providing a baseline for measuring future progress and initiatives in the region in one publication.
Some of the highlights of the report are as follows:
- The world faced the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which had put further strain on already fragile development efforts.
- None of the UNESCAP member nations was on track to fully achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the next decade.
- It is vital that countries leverage past, present, and emerging technologies, including geospatial technologies, for achieving the SDGs and ensure that no one is left behind.
- Using space technology and the geospatial information to support the SDGs is of prime necessity.
- Some countries undertook ‘night-light’ satellite images monitoring the impact of lockdowns, ‘heatmaps’ to chart out communities vulnerable to the pandemic and its socio-economic consequences, real-time situational analysis, and dashboards integrating a wide range of critical information to support decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The examples are cited to show the role of space applications and geospatial data in giving location-based and temporal data to make an overall data map and snapshots on the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Policymakers need to consider seven key factors to best integrate geospatial information applications into their planning and actions towards achieving the SDGs. These are: investments to cultivate national experts; incorporating geospatial information into national institutions and platforms; integrating geospatial data with other data sources and policies; providing open data access; and encouraging local to international collaborations.
- Countries, within the region, are using space applications for disaster risk reduction in 18 practices with regard to innovation, disaster assessment, emergency response, international cooperation, agroecosystem resilience, and drought monitoring.
- In the context of natural resources management, geospatial applications involved 15 practices which included inputs for environmental monitoring, land use change, precision agriculture, and managing water supply. Focus was laid on agricultural monitoring and planning, water management, marine and coastal management, and land use management.
- Countries, within the region, have contributed to connectivity-based sectors, using geospatial information in eight practices. These focus on access to telecommunication services, transport management and traffic navigation, urban and territorial planning, and smart cities.
- The report explores 18 practices where countries use space applications and geospatial information for social development, such as in quick response, hotspot mapping, and policy impact analysis. The report showcases the importance of policies and strategies for data sharing and harmonising data and statistics for evolving coordinated policy measures. The focus is on urban planning, health management, contamination and pollution, and knowledge.
- In nine practices, countries within the region, are using geospatial applications to contribute to climate-related sectors. These are climate modelling and projections, vulnerability and risk mapping, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon and environmental monitoring, and collaborations to build capacity toward climate resilience.
- There are six practices where the countries are using geospatial applications to aid in energy-related sectors, with a focus on renewable energy infrastructure and open-access information portals.
Recommendations
The report recommends seven key factors to leverage geospatial information for sustainable development. Geospatial data should be accessible, available, actionable, and affordable to benefit people and inform practices, processes and policies. The seven key factors are:
(1) invest in cultivating national experts;
(2) integrate geospatial data with other data sources;
(3) use geospatial data for creating, implementing, and monitoring policies;
(4) incorporate geospatial information into national institutions and platforms;
(5) ensure privacy, safety, and ethics of data;
(6) provide open data access; and
(7) collaborate on local to international levels.
ESCAP has come up with a ‘Space+’ initiative to aid in the implementation of the plan of action and incorporate the seven factors mentioned. The objective is to:
– leverage frontier technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), cloud computing and big data;
– involve end users across sectors including youth and private sectors;
– more effectively manage information by setting up regional or national cloud-based metadata platform; and
– involve enhanced partnership with global and regional stakeholders for effective implementation.
The Indian Context
The report cited the role being played by ‘BHUVAN’ and ‘MOSDAC’, India’s national geo-portal, developed and hosted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in combating COVID-19. It mentioned efforts by ISRO to leverage its geospatial tools in assisting the central and state governments towards containing the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting sustainable development projects in the country. BHUVAN provided services in six ways: tracking, identifying hotspots, vegetable markets, food needed, home isolation, and pollution. Similarly, MOSDAC helped accessing data, information, and geo-physical parameters regarding weather and ocean state forecasts including data on cyclone tracks, intensity and landfall forecast, high intensity rainfall, cloudbursts, and heat waves.
The report appreciated India for making significant progress in responding to the demands of today’s cities by incorporating robust space technologies and geographic information system (GIS) into the urban planning, transport management, and traffic navigation techniques.
It mentioned the development of the road asset management system for the national highways which is a flagship project by the National Highways Authority of India along with ISRO and the World Bank. The project is to aid in accurate and scientific maintenance, planning, enhancing road safety measures, and planning of the development of the national highways network in India.
The report stated that ESCAP, with the support of India, helps young professional officials from developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region to join a nine-month course on remote sensing and global navigation satellite systems at the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia Pacific, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
The ESCAP, the largest regional inter-governmental platform, acts as a centre to promote cooperation among countries in the Asia Pacific region to achieve inclusive growth in a sustainable way. With 53 member states and nine associate members, it provides countries with useful analytical products that shed insight into the evolving economic, social, and environmental dynamics of the region. It provides valuable policy advisory services, capacity building, and technical assistance to governments to support countries’ sustainable and inclusive development ambitions by addressing the gaps.
© Spectrum Books Pvt Ltd.