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Summary - Regional OECS GIS Needs Assessment

June 22nd, 2016

“Many of the challenges we face are crosscutting in nature and characterized by complex inter-linkages – thus they are challenges

which can benefit from unleashing the power of location as the thing they have in common. Hunger, poverty, disease, disasters, climate

change, deforestation, urbanisation and environmental challenges, they all happen somewhere over space and time.”

United Nations initiative on Global Geospatial Information

Management (UN-GGIM)

+ What is Geospatial Intelligence?

n  Actionable Knowledge. It is the ability to discover, describe, understand or

anticipate the human impact of an event or action within a space, time

environment.

n  A Process. It is the ability to identify, collect, store and manipulate data to

create geospatial insights through critical thinking, geospatial reasoning

and analytical techniques

n  A Profession. It is the ability to present knowledge in a way that is

appropriate to the decision-making environment Source: Dr. Todd S. Bacastow, Professor of Practice for Geospatial Intelligence College of Earth and Mineral Sciences PENN State University

“The Caribbean will need to significantly strengthen data generation and statistical capacity at national and regional levels, especially in light of the SDGs wider remit. Despite some improvement, the absence of basic data, timely and disaggregated, on social, economic and environmental issues,

and sectors, is evident to Caribbean researchers and must be also to policy and decision-makers. It is fully recognized, at the same time, that

small size is counter-intuitively a handicap in generating, interpreting and disseminating data. There may be fewer people to count but the sunken costs in statistical infrastructure - increasingly technology and high-level

skills - remain, and this can be prohibitive, especially for small island states and Least Developed Countries”

UN ECLAC Report - “The Caribbean and the Post-2015 Sustainable

Development Agenda

Towards strategic harmonization of OECS geographic data-ecosystems

OECS GIS Ecosystem

REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY

+ GIS and Sector Priorities Sector   Objective One   Objective Two  

Environmental

Sustainability  

Effectively manage natural resources and

build resilience to the adverse impacts of

climate change and anthropogenic hazards  

Support the identification of renewable

energy and energy efficiency improvement

opportunities  

Public Health   Facilitate the enabling environment for the

reduction of the incidence, morbidity and

mortality from HIV and non- communicable

diseases  

Support Improved response effectiveness

for public health hazards and threats  

Agriculture and

Food Security  

Enable more inclusive and eff icient

agricultural production systems at local,

national and regional levels  

Support the development of strategies to

increase resilience to threats to agriculture

and natural resources-based livelihoods  

+ GIS and Sector Priorities Sector   Objective One   Objective Two  

Crime and

citizen security  

Facilitate mechanisms to strengthen the

efficiency and effectiveness of the justice

and security institutions, systems and

service delivery  

Support strategies aimed at reducing the

incidence of crime and youth violence  

Social

Inclusion

   

Bolster capacity to achieve efficiency and

cohesiveness of social protection programs  

Support optimisation of delivery social

security programs particularly in the informal

economy  

Economic

Growth and

Employment  

Facilitate the strengthening of tourism and

agriculture sectors  

Support the targeting of education and

employment opportunities particularly for

youth and women  

GIS Framework

Source: Covela GIS Ecosystem Considerations, Dec 2015

+ Stakeholders and Governance

Any effective governance system comprises representation from key stakeholders from all agencies and institutions that intersect with GIS. A healthy governance system advocates continuously for GIS and attempts to break the institutional barriers that prevent the realization of its value. This group deals with matters of:

n  Coordination and Partnerships

n  Regulation, Policy and Standards

n  Operational Strategy and Structure

+ Data Architecture

n  Structure and Standards for Geospatial Sources

n  Structure and Standards for Geospatial Formats and Inputs

n  Structure and Standards for Data Sharing

+ Technology Architecture

n  Integrated Internet-based architecture

n  Interoperable solutions and open standards

n  Automation and Streamlining

n  Shared services and applications

+ Technology Architecture

n  Integrated Internet-based architecture

n  Interoperable solutions and open standards

n  Automation and Streamlining

n  Shared services and applications

+ Operations and Performance

n  Skilled Resources

n  Capacity Building

n  Structure and Strategy to enable coordination

Summary of Findings of Existing

Geographic and Geospatial

strategies, systems, technologies,

policies and processes in use

within the OECS

+ Three Groups

1.  Governance Stakeholders – Executives with oversight or responsibility for the fulfillment of socio economic and / or environmental development objectives

2.  Institutional stakeholders – Managers or Executives of a GIS function or organization

3.  Users - beneficiaries and users of GIS information

Governance Needs

Assessment

Target: Executives with oversight or responsibility for the fulfillment of socio economic and / or environmental development objectives

+ Sources and Uses of Data

Sources of Data

Census Data

Civil Registration

and Vital Statistics

Household Surveys

Agricultural surveys

Other Administrative

Data

Economic Statistics

Geospatial data

+ Quality of the Current Data Experience

Chart showing the level of importance of various attributes of data against respondents’ level of satisfaction of organisational performance.

+ The Geographic and Geospatial Data Experience

Chart showing the purpose and use of geo data in the decision making process

+ Increasing the Awareness and Use of Geospatial Data

Institutional

Needs Assessment

Target: Managers or Executives of a GIS function or organization

+ The GIS Organisation

+ The GIS Function

Chart showing the purpose and use of geo data in the GIS function

+ Data Sources 40% of

respondents use 12 sources

40% of respondents use 10 sources

“Some of the main issues in using and sharing GIS data in the Eastern Caribbean remain technical, e.g. data formats and

interoperability, while strengthening the institutional basis for the sustainability of the platforms is a key action that will lead to

policy-level commitments on data openness. This will be relevant in the future, when new tools that could replace the

GeoNode technology become available” Source: World Bank.

(2012) Geospatial Data Sharing & Disaster Risk Management in

the Eastern Caribbean

+ GIS Technology Traditional GIS Architecture Internet-based GIS architecture

•  Multiple software platforms in use: •  Open Source GIS, Internet GIS, Desktop GIS, CAD GIS, Business Mapping, and Mobile GIS •  Desktop GIS still the most widely used, closely followed by Open Source GIS.

•  100 percent of respondents still claim to use premise-based hardware in all areas: data acquisition, data management and analysis and data output and presentation.

+ Increasing awareness and use of Geo Data

User Needs

Assessment

Target: Beneficiaries and Users of GIS Information

+ Environmental Sustainability - Respondents’ perceived level of importance placed on geospatial data to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Environmental Sustainability - Respondents’ perceived level of satisfaction on the quality of their data experience to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Key Observations

n  Geospatial data is recognised as extremely important in supporting the delivery of environmental sustainability development objectives.

n  60 percent of GIS users are moderately / very / extremely satisfied with the quality of the data experience to access the required geospatial data in support of the development agenda.

n  Vulnerability assessments and planning tops the list of most important data themes for management and is also the area where users are generally most satisfied with the quality of the data experience

+ Agriculture and Food Security- Respondents’ perceived level of importance placed on geospatial data to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Agriculture and Food Security- Respondents’ perceived level of satisfaction on the quality of their data experience to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Key Observations

n  Geospatial data is recognised as extremely important in supporting the delivery of agriculture and food security development objectives.

n  52 percent of GIS users are moderately / very satisfied with the quality of the data experience required to support the development agenda.

n  Vulnerability assessments and planning also tops the list of most important data themes for management and is also the area where users are generally most satisfied with the quality of the data experience

+ Social Inclusion - Respondents’ perceived level of importance placed on geospatial data to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Social Inclusion - Respondents’ perceived level of satisfaction on the quality of their data experience to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Key Observations

n  A significant portion of GIS users do not recognize or see themselves as qualified to determine the importance of geo data in supporting the delivery of development objectives in this sector.

n  38 percent of GIS users see geospatial data as moderately / very important in supporting the delivery of development objectives in this sector.

n  48 percent of GIS users are somewhat to moderately satisfied with the quality of the data experience required to support of the development agenda.

n  0 percent of GIS users are extremely satisfaction or even very satisfied with the quality of the data experience to access required geospatial data.

+ Crime and Citizen Security- Respondents’ perceived level of importance placed on geospatial data to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Crime and Citizen Security- Respondents’ perceived level of satisfaction on the quality of their data experience to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Key Observations

n  50 percent of GIS users see geospatial data as moderately / very important in supporting the delivery of development objectives in this sector.

n  88 percent of GIS users are somewhat to moderately satisfied with the quality of the data experience required to support of the development agenda.

n  0 percent of GIS users are extremely satisfaction or even very satisfied with the quality of the data experience to access required geospatial data.

+ Public Health - Respondents’ perceived level of importance placed on geospatial data to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Public Health- Respondents’ perceived level of satisfaction on the quality of their data experience to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Key Observations

n  A significant portion of GIS users do not recognize or do not see themselves as qualified to determine the importance of geo data in supporting the delivery of development objectives in this sector.

n  53 percent of GIS users see geospatial data as moderately / very important in supporting the delivery of development objectives in this sector.

n  70 percent of GIS users are somewhat to moderately satisfied with the quality of the data experience required to support the development agenda.

n  0 percent of GIS users are extremely satisfaction or even very satisfied with the quality of the data experience to access required geospatial data

+ Economic Growth and Employment- Respondents’ perceived level of importance placed on geospatial data to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Economic Growth and Employment- Respondents’ perceived level of satisfaction on the quality of their data experience to derive the information related to the stated data theme below  

+ Key Observations

n  A significant portion of GIS users do not recognize or see themselves as qualified to determine the importance of geo data in supporting the delivery of development objectives in this sector.

n  44 percent of GIS users see geospatial data moderately / very / extremely important in supporting development objectives in this area.

n  44 percent of GIS users are not / somewhat / moderately satisfied with the quality of the data experience required to support the development agenda.

n  0 percent of GIS users are extremely satisfaction or even very satisfied with the quality of the data experience to access required geospatial data

+ Increasing the Awareness and Use of Geospatial Data

+ Emerging Recommendations

n  More collaboration among agencies with GIS capability; 

n  The creation of common processes and policies governing the use and distribution of data;

n  Common standards so that data from various sources can be easily manipulated;

n  More training in the importance and use of geospatial information in decision making; and

n  More reliable and resilient information and communications technology.

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Prepared by: Rhea Yaw Ching

Executive Director, Covela Foundation Principal Consultant, Covela Consulting LLC

rhea@covela.org

THANK YOU

+ About the Presenter Rhea Yaw Ching is an experienced executive having spent over two decades in senior executive roles for multinational corporations in the Caribbean and Latin America in sectors including telecommunications, manufacturing, distribution and the environment. She serves in strategic advisory roles to governments, international development organizations and multi stakeholder agencies with an emphasis on:

n  Institutional strengthening; Capacity building; Business process reengineering; Technology integration ; Policy and regulatory harmonization

She is currently is the Managing Director and Principal Consultant at Covela Consulting, a US-based advisory services organization focusing on critical aspects of ICT-enabled development including internet governance, open data, innovation ecosystems, data security, logistics, electronic commerce and human resource development. She also serves as Executive Director of Covela Foundation, a non- profit that promotes economic growth, social inclusiveness and civic participation in the Caribbean.

Ms. Yaw Ching holds a BSc Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, an MBA from Warwick Business School and Executive Certification in Social Entrepreneurship from Stanford University.

Rhea Yaw Ching Executive Director, Covela

email: rhea@covela.org

@rheayawching