UN Working Group on Legal and Policy

Frameworks for Geospatial Information

Management

INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP

ON LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS

FOR GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA

16-17 FEBRUARY, 2019

Geospatial Technology Now Is Pervasive 2

Creating a Geospatial Ecosystem 3

Universities, Citizens, NGOs

Industry Government

Geospatial

Community

Data

Provider

Data

User

Data User

Data

Provider

Data

Provider

Data User

Resulting In Rapid Growth in Many

Diverse Uses of Geoinformation

Social Media

Geotagged photos, tweets,

Smart phone apps

Business Intelligence

Big Data

Open Data

Law Enforcement

Smart Grid

Tracking (assets, loved ones)

Sustainable Development

Infectious Disease

Disaster Response

Climate Change

Protecting Endangered Species

Smart Cities

Insurance

Intelligent Transportation Systems

4

Geospatial Community: New Paradigm

An international ecosystem that

collects/uses/stores/distributes geoinformation.

Cuts across technology platforms, industry groups and user

communities.

Products and services increasingly being developed

based upon aggregation all types of data collected

from diverse sources.

Innovation is being done by all stakeholders in the

community

As a result policies/laws that impact the collection,

impact, and distribution of geoinformation in one

segment will impact others.

5

Spatial Law

The legal and policy issues impact the

collection/use/storage/distribution of geoinformation

Privacy

Intellectual Property

Licensing

National Security

Open Data

Liability

Unfortunately policy/legal communities don’t understand geospatial

technology, geoinformation, and/or the geospatial community

6

UN-GGIM Survey: Privacy 7

UN-GGIM Survey: Liability 8

UN-GGIM Survey: Homeland/National

Security 9

UN-GGIM Survey: Licensing/Data Sharing 10

Concerns are Impacting Adoption of New

Technologies

Spatial law cuts across technology platforms

Outdated laws and policies are slowing adoption of technologies

that collect/use location and other types of geoinformation

UAVs

Commercial Satellites

Uber

Smart cities

Autonomous Vehicles

Impact of resulting laws and policies likely to be much broader than intended

Proposed Convention on

Geoinformation

Like a Treaty

Was Pushed by International

Bar Association (IBA)

Filling the Current Legal/Policy

Void

IBA is doing what lawyers often

do – fix with laws and

regulations

Summary of Key Provisions

Covered all types of geoinformation

Called for each entity who processes geoinformation to create a

“Custody Record”:

Details of each transfer

Each stage of processing

Notes on models and standards used or interface requirements

observed

All person who had custody - Including government agencies other

than geoinformation “generated” exclusively for “national security

purposes.

Working Group On Legal and Policy

Frameworks for Geospatial Information

Objectives

Play a leading role in raising awareness and highlighting the importance of sound policy and legal framework for geospatial information management at the highest levels to promote development, innovation, production consumption, distribution of geospatial information in the midst of rapidly changing societal norms towards access to Big Data and other types of information;

explore appropriate policy and legal frameworks for geospatial information management proactively, taking into consideration that good policy and legal frameworks will evolve over time, and respond to societal progress and technological developments; and

support the Committee of Experts in the development of norms, principles and guides, including any regional capacity development initiatives, to significantly increase the availability and accessibility of geospatial information so as to create high-quality, timely and reliable products and services from geospatial information to address the Sustainable Development goals and other critical local, national, regional and international issues.

Working Group On Legal and Policy

Frameworks for Geospatial Information

Chair

Ms. Malgorzata Drewniak, Lantmäteriet (Sweden)

Members Include:

Australia

Austria

Canada

China

Finland

Malaysia

Mexico

Tonga

Centre for Spatial Law and Policy

Working Group On Legal and Policy

Frameworks for Geospatial Information

Action Plan

Regular meetings

Approve Compendium on Licensing of Geospatial

Information

Review Legal and Policy Strategic Pathway for

Implementation Guide

Review and Provide Input on Use Case(s)

Future Plans

Tabletop Exercise

White Paper

Discussion Items

Who should participate in Working Group

On Legal and Policy Frameworks for

Geospatial Information from UN-GGIM Arab

States?

Are there unique legal and policy items

that from UN-GGIM Arab States

perspective that should be included?