Integrated digital and geospatial applications have assisted decision makers in providing accessible and affordable services. Examples from several socio-economic sectors, such as disaster risk management, crop monitoring, poverty mapping, land accounting, and ocean and air pollution monitoring, have demonstrated the power of integrated digital technology applications and geospatial data to process, manage and deliver better services to end users and ultimately benefit people and inform practices, processes and policies with foresight (ESCAP/79/18).
With support from ESCAP members, associate members, and cooperation partners, the secretariat continues to make efforts to demonstrate the usefulness of innovative geospatial applications in the implementation of the Asia-Pacific Plan of Action on Space Applications for Sustainable Development (2018–2030) and the Jakarta Ministerial Declaration on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific. This regional workshop is a part of this broader effort. It will bring together participating countries, experts, and other stakeholders to promote innovative geospatial information applications to help advance the SDGs, including capacity building for leveraging innovative space applications to map pandemic, flood and wildfire hotspots and enhance resilience to disasters, enhancing air pollution monitoring though integrating space-derived and ground data, effective sharing and managing the geospatial information, integrating spatio-temporal data in local SDGs monitoring and decision-making, drought and climate-resilient agricultural monitoring.
Recommendations and key insights from the regional workshop will be shared with the twenty-seventh session of the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee on the Regional Space Applications for Sustainable Development Programme (ICC-27), which will be convened from 25 to 27 July. The ICC is the body that provides ESCAP with policy and technical advice for the most effective use of space technology and applications for achieving sustainable development of the region. In addition, discussions and recommendations related to the disaster risk reduction and resilience thematic priority of the Plan of Action will be conveyed to the eighth session of the ESCAP Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction (CDRR-8), which will be convened during the same period.
Contact information:
Space Applications Section (SAS) [email protected]