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Regional Committee of United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management for Asia and the Pacific

(UN-GGIM-AP)

Working Group 3

Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure

Status Report 2015-2018

for the

7th Plenary Meeting of UN-GGIM-AP

Deqing, China

22 November 2018

Chair

Ms. Jie Jiang, China – jjie@nsdi.gov.cn

Vice Chairs

Mr. Simon Costello, Australia, Simon.Costello@ga.gov.au

Mr. Lee Sangho, Korea, addlsh78@korea.kr

Ms. Bayarmaa Enkhtur, Mongolia, bayarmaa.e@gazar.gov.mn

Mr. Reza Ahmadyieh, Iran, r.ahmadyieh@gmail.com

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1. BRIEF OF WORKING GROUP3

1.1 Background

Regional sustainable development must consider the diversity of situations of the UNGGIM-AP members. The balanced developing, interoperable and sharable Geo-spatial information in the region is essential for the regional sustainable development.

Many NSDIs have been established in the member countries. But a number of problems exist regarding the availability, quality, uniformity, accessibility and sharing of spatial information.

It is necessary to promote the common understanding of establishing a regional SDI by using unified data standards, developing an agreed minimum set of data themes, and to share or interoperate the SDI for location-based services.

1.2 Timeline

The work began 2015 and continued through 2018.

1.3 Membership of the Working Group

Chair:

Ms. jiang Jie

Director & Chief Engineer, Dept. of Geoinformation Service Platform

National Geomatics Center of China

E-mail：jjie@nsdi.gov.cn

Vice-Chairs:

Mr. Simon Costello

Branch Head, National Location Information

Environmental Geoscience Division, Geoscience Australia

Email: Simon.Costello@ga.gov.au

Mr. Lee Sangho

Geographic Information Department

National Geographic Information Institute, Korea

Email: addlsh78@korea.kr, addlsh940@gmail.com

Ms. Bayarmaa Enkhtur

Head of Geospatial information and technology Department, ALAGaC, Mongolia

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Email：bayarmaa.e@gazar.gov.mn

Mr. Reza Ahmadyieh

General manager of GIS and SDI, National Cartographic Center of Iran

Email: r.ahmadyieh@gmail.com.

2. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT THE 20th UNRCC-AP (corresponds to WG3)

The Conference:

Noting

• the increasing regional issues and location based services require the access and sharing of geo-spatial information among countries for regional sustainable development;

• the increasing demand for effective on-line location-based services from government, professional agencies and public;

• the establishment of national geospatial data infrastructures in some countries; while there are different levels of development of NSDI among the countries;

• national geospatial portals have been established in some countries to improve the accessibility and application of the data; while the interoperability among these portals may not be achieved;

• the problems regarding availability, quality, interoperability, accessibility and sharing of geospatial data among the countries;

• the need to keep the efforts technical in nature so as not to raise political concerns.

Recommends that

• Conduct a survey to investigate and assess the current status of NSDI development of the member countries, with focus on access, management, update, web-based services and sharing of data/service;

• Identify the common data standards, including data themes, specifications and metadata catalogue for regional SDI as well as common service standards, including interfaces and specifications for the interoperability of portals; draft data and service sharing rules;

• Conduct pilot project with some countries to test the mechanisms of sharing data under pre-drafted rules and integrate web-based services/portals for the interoperation of the NSDIs;

• Refine the data/service standards and data/service sharing rules based on the results of the pilot projects; develop guidelines on the use of these standards and rules for regional SDI; disseminate these guidelines to the countries of the region;

• Develop joint action programs for the provision of educational and training for the data sharing, portal construction, and application for regional SDI.

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3. WORK PLAN OF WG3

No Activities/Steps Period Targeted goals

1 Conduct a survey to investigate and assess the current status of NSDI development of the member countries, with focus on access, management, update, web-based services and sharing of data/service

2015-2018 1st draft report in the middle of 2016; 2nd draft report in the end of 2017; final report in the middle of 2018

2 Identify the common data standards, including data themes, specifications and metadata catalogue for regional SDI as well as common service standards, including interfaces and specifications for the interoperability of portals; draft data and service sharing rules;

2015-2018 1st draft in the middle of 2016; 2nd draft in the end of 2017; final report in the middle of 2018

3 Conduct pilot project with some countries to test the mechanisms of sharing data under pre-drafted rules and integrate web-based services/portals for the interoperation of the NSDIs;

2016-2018 As soon as the cooperation established among countries including China, Korea, Indonesia, Mongolia, Viet Nam

Pilot projects be finished by the middle of 2018

5 Training courses on regional SDI, portal/platform and application

2016-2018 Pending on the availability of the fund, should be conducted before the ending of the pilot projects

6 Workshops, seminars co-organized with other International organizations

2016-2018 2017, co-organized with ISPRS

4. ACTIONS TAKEN BY WG3 SINCE THE 6TH UN-GGIM-AP PLENARY MEETING

a) INVESTIGATE AND ASSESS THE CURRENT STATUS OF NSDI: Designed a draft questionnaire on the status of NSDI development of the member countries, with focus on access, management, update, web-based services and sharing of data/service. The questionnaire has been distributed to member countries by the Secretariat of UN-GGIM-AP in June 2016. Analysis has been don based on the

received questionnaire （as shown in Annex A）.

b) IDENTIFY THE COMMON DATA STANDARDS: As the member of the UNGGIM Working Group on Global Fundamental Geospatial Data, communicate with the

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WG to share the activities and achievements of UNGGIM-AP WG3 on promote regional SDI interoperation. Investigated the data specification catalogue of INSPIRE and FGDC, and proposed a plan for common data themes and services for regional SDI, with compatibility of the fundamental geospatial data themes defined by UNGGIM Working Group on Global Fundamental Geospatial Data (as shown in Annex B).

c) CONDUCT PILOT PROJECTS: China Conducted a pilot portal for Regional SDI Service Interoperation, which can integrate on-line services released by different agencies and countries based on OGC standards. Successfully integrated the services published in Geospatial BNPB, the website developed by Indonesia and WG 2 (term 2012-2015) for disaster management. URLs of the on-line services are provided so users can integrate the services into their own systems, and provide menu to let users publish map layers or services via the Portal. Australia has made efforts on conducting pilot project with some countries to test the mechanisms of sharing data under pre-drafted rules and integrate web-based services/portals for the interoperation of the NSDIs. Efforts have been done on cross-country geo-spatial information sharing by define rules of on-line services interoperation. An agreement has been signed between the National Geomatics Center of China and ESRI on free access to on-line geo-information services for public use. Data-level sharing plan is also being made (as shown in Annex C).

d) ORGANIZE SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS: Organized 3 International Seminars on Construction and Application of Spatial Data Infrastructure in China (September 2017, May 2018, November 2018). The Seminar provided financial support to more than 60 participants from developing countries. Co-organizing the ISPRS Technical Commission Symposium on Developments, Technilogies and Applications in Remote Sensing, May, 2018, Beijing. Helped to organize the 1st ISPRS-UNGGIM National Mapping and

Cadastral Agencies Forum during the ISPRS Prague Congress in July, 2016（as

shown in Annex D）.

5. SUGGESTION TO FURTHER WORK

We suggest UN-GGIM-AP continue to promote regional SDI to support sustainable

development of the AP region. Further work can focus on:

⚫ Continue to form the rule and mechanism on spatial data sharing.

⚫ Follow up and adopt the common data theme defined by NGGIM WG on Global

Fundamental Geospatial Data.

⚫ Continue the pilot project on regional SDI portal.

⚫ Continue to organize seminars/workshops with the support from various

resources.

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ANNEX A: INVESTIGATE AND ASSESS THE CURRENT STATUS OF NSDI

A.1 Questionnaire on the current status of spatial data infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific region

A questionnaire was designed by WG 3 intending to take stock of the current status of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) of the Asia and the Pacific countries/regions. The information collected will eventually be used to promote the sharing of geospatial data/information/service of the member countries. The results of this questionnaire will be collated and disseminated to the related countries

The questionnaire includes 3 parts. Part 1 is the background information of the person filling the questionnaire. Part 2 is about organization and law on NSDI. Part 3 is about the data contents and formats in each NSDI. Part 4 is about the accessibility to the NSDI. Part 5 is about the on-line access and sharing of NSDI.

The questionnaire has been distributed to member countries by the Secretariat of UN-GGIM-AP in June 2016.

A.2: Analysis to the Questionnaire on the Current Status of Spatial Data Infrastructure in AP Region

Ten replies have been received, including Bangladesh, Brunei, China, HKSAR, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Australia, Viet Nam. Analysis was made and reported to the Plenary Meeting and EB meeting of UN-GGIM-AP.

From the limited returned questionnaires, we can see that:

⚫ NSDIs are developed by the National Mapping Agency (NMA) in all country/region.

⚫ About 38% of the countries have Laws and Policies related to NSDI, and about 50% have not yet.

⚫ About 50% of the countries have standards related to NSDI, and about 38% have not yet.

⚫ Control Point, Road, Water, Administration Area, Land Cover, Elevation, Place Name are the most essential themes in NSDI.

⚫ Digital Ortho-photo, digital elevation model and digital topographic data are the most essential data types in NSDI.

⚫ Different Coordinate Referencing Systems are used by different countries/regions

⚫ 1:50000, 1:1000, 1:100000 are the most essential scale of the digital topographic data

⚫ Most countries/regions restrict access or limited circulation the data for public from domestic and abroad.

⚫ About 20% countries proved free access to public users, and 50% countries/regions provide free access to governmental users.

⚫ 40% countries provide on-line datasets order, while 50% provide on-line services.

⚫ 30% countries have the national portal for geo-information service based on NSDI, while 70% countries have plan to establish one or upgrade the one.

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⚫ Most of the countries/regions are interested in sharing some of the data in NSDI and on-line services with other countries/regions, while current only 20% countries has signed agreements with foreign countries/regions or international organizations on sharing data/ service based on NSDI.

Based on this analysis, we can get the following draft conclusions for improving the development of NSDI and the interoperability of Regional SDI.

⚫ Efforts on Law/Policies and standards for NSDI should be enhanced, and the one for regional SDI should be developed;

⚫ Unique Coordinate Referencing System should be adopted by different NSDI;

⚫ Efforts on establishing National Geospatial Portal can be done by UNGGIM-AP, by organizing technical training, seminar, workshop, and conduct pilot study and provide some demonstration/models/products;

⚫ Data/service sharing among countries/regions can be promoted because most of the countries are interested in it.

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ANNEX B: IDENTIFY THE COMMON DATA STANDARDS

B.1: Proposed a draft framework for regional SDI Investigated the data specification catalogue of INSPIRE and FGDC, and based on t

he experiences of data sharing in China, WG 3 proposed a plan for common data the

mes and services for regional SDI:

⚫ Manner of sharing: on-line services based on OGC Standards

⚫ Rule of sharing: access license issued by the service owner

⚫ Content of services (scale and resolution defined by the service owner):

– Images

– Administration area and boundary

– Traffic (Road, Railway)

– Land Cover

– Water

– Point of Interests

– Metadata

– Others

⚫ Geodetic Reference: use the frame proposed by WG1

B.2: Connection with UNGGIM WG on Global Fundamental Geospatial Data

The establishment a Working Group on Global Fundamental Geospatial Data Themes was requested by the UN-GGIM Committee of Experts at its Fifth Session in August 2015 as per decision 5/103 Determination of global fundamental geospatial data themes. The overall objective of the Working Group is to bring together differing information on fundamental geospatial data themes with a view to developing an agreed minimum set of global fundamental geospatial data themes. The Working Group will produce a first draft of a Resolution on Global Fundamental Geospatial Data Themes for the Committee of Experts to consider taking to the General Assembly.

Some investigation has been done and the data themes has been made.

As the member of the UNGGIM Working Group on Global Fundamental Geospatial Data, we communicate with the WG to share the activities and achievements of UNGGIM-AP WG3 on promote regional SDI interoperation. And provide suggestions and comments to the data themes and specifications.

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ANNEX C: CONDUCT PILOT PROJECTS

C.1: Pilot on establishing the Regional SDI Portal

The pilot was developed by the team from National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC). One website (http://unggimap.tianditu.com/demo/ ) has been established based on the Chinese National Geo-information Service Platform “MapWorld”, taking the reference of the data themes, data sharing rules, OGC standards defined by UN-GGIM-AP WG3.

The development of the pilot portal at the continued practice. Abundant geo-information has been integrated and shared, including multi-scale maps covering the whole Chinese territory, some countries in Asia-Pacific Region. The portal also integrated the information published by USGS, and in Geospatial BNPB (the website developed by Indonesia and UN-GGIM-AP WG 2for disaster management during 2012-2015.

The portal also provided the ‘Add layers’ menu to let users add on-line services from different website, to overlay them with the data from the portal.

Fig.1 Pilot Regional SDI Portal

Map Layers in the Portal:

⚫ Image Map, including 250 meter (global area), 30 meter ( AP area), 2 meter ( China and some AP countries), 0.5 meter ( more than 500 Chinese Cities);

⚫ Terrain shading map, based on 90 meter SRTM (global area), 25 meter DEM (China area), 10 meter DSM (some AP countries);

⚫ Place names (in English, Chinese), including global area administrative place names, natural place names and POIs, especial detail in China area.

⚫ Place names (in Mongolian, Uighur), including administrative place names, natural place names and POIs in part of China, and Mongolia.

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⚫ Global Land cover 30: Global land cover data at 30 meter resolution with 10 different classes for years 2000 and 2010. It is developed by China and distributed by UN.

⚫ Services from USGS, etc.

⚫ Peta Ancaman Bencana, Peta Risiko Bencana: Disaster management information developed by Indonesia.

Fig.2 0.5 meter image in China Fig.3 30 meter image in Bangladesh

Fig.3 2 meter image in Laos Fig.4 1 meter image in Pakistan

Fig.5 90 m DEM Fig.6 10 m DSM

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Fig.7 Global Land Cover 30

Fig.8 Disaster Management Information from Indonesia

Standards used in the Portal:

OGC WMS and WMTS are used for releasing the services.

Functions provided by the Portal:

⚫ Map browse

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⚫ Place name searching and positioning (in English and Chinese)

Fig 9 Searching and positioning “Colombo”

C.2: Pilot on cross-country service sharing

The pilot has been cooperated by the National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC) and Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). The following has been conducted:

• National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC) :

‒ release web services based on NSDI via National Geospatial Portal MapWorld, following OGC Standards

‒ Authorize ESRI to access the services and integrate them into the ArcGIS On-line for public use;

‒ Integrate related services from ArcGIS on-line into the National Geospatial Portal MapWorld.

‒ Data-level sharing plan is being made, data benchmarking is carrying on, including traffic features and place names.

• Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)

‒ release web services via ArcGIS on-line, following OGC Standards

‒ Authorize NGCC to integrate them into the MapWorld for public use;

‒ Gave the dataset “ StreetMap Premium for ArcGIS Asia Pacific HERE” to NGCC

for testing and benchmarking.

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C.3: Pilot done by Australia

Australia has made efforts on conducting pilot project with some countries to test the mechanisms of sharing data under pre-drafted rules and integrate web-based services/portals for the interoperation of the NSDIs.

Australia is a federation of states, territories and the Commonwealth (national) government. Management of fundamental geospatial information is the responsibility of various agencies across these levels of government.

Australia’s Foundation Spatial Data Framework program is wrapping up its investigation of identifying the approximately 900 datasets and data products which form the basis of our national spatial data infrastructure. The delivery policies and mechanisms for each dataset are being identified, as well as its mandate, funding, quality, location in the supply chain, and uses.

The delivery mechanisms for Australia’s fundamental geospatial datasets are many and varied. Based on investigations through the FSDF program, there are at least 52 ways in which users can find fundamental geospatial datasets, but only 27 of these allow a user to consume the datasets. There is no single way in which a user can access all fundamental geospatial information in one location. The investigation has also highlighted potential duplication in back-end infrastructure, which is leading to opportunities for custodians to collaborate on sharing infrastructure and dataset management overheads.

One of the means by which national fundamental geospatial datasets are able

to be viewed is through the NationalMap (www.nationalmap.gov.au).

NationalMap has been developed in Australia using the Cesium mapping platform, which is open source, as a basis for the development of a mapping and analytical software platform called TerriaJS. NationalMap is set up such that any dataset with any type of spatial reference – such as coordinates, addresses, localities, administrative boundaries, postcodes etc – can be automatically turned into a geospatial dataset as a web service and published into NationalMap within a day. Datasets with restrictions – in Australia, this includes the cadastre and some transport datasets – can be published under agreement as WMS services.

Demand for use of fundamental geospatial data off-line is still very strong in Australia. Geoscience Australia released a new cloud-based delivery platform called ELVIS – the ELeVation Information System - in January. ELVIS has saved Geoscience Australia significant operating costs and reduced the delivery times of large unrestricted elevation datasets from days to a matter of minutes. Users can customise the data to suit their needs. ELVIS is being trialled to delivery elevation and imagery datasets for our partner agencies in our states and territories, and is also being looked at by commercial and international agencies. ELVIS’ three components – the “warehouse”, the processing engine, and the front-end discovery and delivery portals – have been designed to be technology-agnostic; any component could be replaced by open-source or proprietary technology when required.

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ANNEX D: ORGANIZE SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

D.1: The 1st International Seminar on Construction and Application of SDI

On behalf of the UN-GGIM-AP WG3, we organized the International Seminar on Construction and Application of Spatial Data Infrastructure during September 15-22, 2017 in Chia. The Seminar was hosted by National Geomatics Center of China with the special fund of the Asian regional cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More than 20 officers from surveying and mapping agencies of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other developing countries attended the Seminar. Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture and Wuhan University provided support.

The Seminar was composed by 2 periods, including Beijing part (Sept. 15-17) and Wuhan part (Sept. 18-22). The agenda of Beijing period focused on practices aspects by lectures on construction, maintenance and application of SDI, and technical visit to some company with related techniques/software/hardware. While the Wuhan period focused on academic aspects via 10 high-level International Workshops organized by International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).

Lectures in Beijing were delivered by experts from National Geomatics Center of China, National Quality Inspection and Testing Center for Surveying and Mapping Products, Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Surveying and Mapping, SuperMap Group, China TopRS Technology Company Co., Ltd., Hi-Target Surveying Instrument Co., Ltd. Topics covered concepts, methods, technologies, software, hardware and application cases of SDI. Technical exhibitions and technical visits to Beijing Geoway Software Co. Ltd. and SuperMap Group were arranged. Policies to support the foreign students studying in Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture was also introduced.

During September 18-22, the participants took part in the 10 international workshops and related commercial exhibition of the ISPRS Geospatial Week 2017. Technical visit to Wuda Geoinformatics Co., Ltd. and the State key laboratory of information engineering in surveying, mapping and remote sensing were also organized.

The organizer of the Seminar provided financial support to all participants, including the accommodations during Sept. 14-22, 2017, travels between Beijing and Wuhan, and registration fee for the ISPRS 2017 Geospatial Week.

All the participants are very satisfied with the programme and the accommodations of the Seminar. They said this Seminar was a very good platform for the officers and experts from Surveying and Mapping Agencies of developing countries to learn achievements in China, and to promote international cooperation.

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D.2: The 2nd International Seminar on Construction and Application of SDI

UN-GGIM-AP WG 3 organized the 2nd International Seminar on Construction and Application of SDI during May 2-10, 2018 in China. It was sponsored by the Special Funding for Regional Cooperation in Asia, Established by the Chinese government. It was co-organized by the National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC) and Capital Normal University (CNU). And supported by International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).

The Seminar was held in Beijing during May 2-10, 2018. It consisted of two periods. The first part (May 2-6, 2018) focused on lectures on construction, maintenance and application of SDI, and technical visit to some company with related techniques/software/hardware, while the second part (May 7-10, 2018) was the International Symposium organized by ISPRS Technical Commission III on Remote Sensing.

There were 26 participants from Surveying and Mapping Agencies of Association of 13 Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other developing countries participated the seminar. During the 1st week, 20 lectures were delivered by top-level experts from China, USA, Finland, Japan and Turkey, on the state of arts on National SDI and geodetic datum, Geoinformation quality control, Chinese mapping satellites, Chinese Navigation Satellite system Beidou, methods and techniques on how to use the SDI to support Disaster management, Ecosystem and forest management, public health, and urban mapping, as well as introduction to latest Chinese software and hardware products and abilities for overseas services. And 4 technical visits were arranged to companies and National Geomatics Center of China. During the 2nd week, all participants attend near 60 oral and poster sessions with 190 oral presentations and 320 poster presentations, as well as the symposium dinner.

The organizer of the Seminar provided financial support to all participants, including the accommodations during May 1-10, 2018 and registration fee for the ISPRS TC III Symposium. We also cover the international travel cost for 10 participants from Least Developed Countries (LDC, defined by UN), including Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Laos, Pakistan, Nepal,Sierra Leone. All participants were satisfied with the seminar.

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D.3: The 3rd International Seminar on Construction and Application of SDI

The 3rd International Seminar will focus on Standards and Techniques of Spatial Data

Infrastructure. It will be held in Wuhan and Deqing, China during November 14-21, 2018.

The organizer of the Seminar will provide financial support to about 20

technical officers from Surveying and Mapping Agencies of developing countries in Asia-

Pacific and other regions, including the accommodations during November 13-21, 2018,

and travels between Wuhan and Deqing. Limited international travel cost will be provided

to participants from LDC countries.

The Seminar will consist of two periods. The first part (November 14-17, 2018) focuses on

lectures and technical visits in Wuhan, while the second part (November 18-21, 2018) will

be the United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress in Deqing.

D.4: Co-organize the ISPRS Technical Commission Symposium

WG co-organized the Mid-term Symposium of ISPRS Technical Commission III on "Developments, Technologies and applications in Remote Sensing" in Beijing, China, during May 7-10, 2018. The symposium is to provide a platform for scientists, experts and technicians in the field, to present the latest developments and applications, to discuss cutting-edge technologies, to exchange research ideas, and to promote international collaborations.

There were total 763 participants from 52 countries and regions took part in the symposium, among them 34 invited guests, 10 student volunteers, 54 exhibitors, and 16 visitors. Total 48 ISPRS officers attended this symposium, including 4 Honorary Members, 5 Council Members, and 39 Working Group officers.

There were 18 themes, including 16 on the Working Group topics, 1 special theme

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and 1 joint theme with UNGGIM-AP. 510 full papers were published, including 467 papers in the ISPRS Archives and 43 in the ISPRS Annals.

The symposium included the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony, the dinner, 1 keynote session, 39 oral sessions, 18 poster sessions and 1 technical exhibition. There were 190 presentations in the oral sessions, 320 presentations in the poster sessions and 12 exhibitors in the exhibition session. In the symposium, 8 participants were awarded the Travel Grants by the ISPRS Foundation, one author was awarded the Young Author Award and two paper were awarded the Best Poster. International Seminar on Spatial Data Infrastructure and Applications SDI, and ISPRS Summer School were held as the joint-event of symposium. An joint UNGGIM-ISPRS session was organized.

D.5: The 1st ISPRS-UNGGIM National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies Forum

WG 3 helped to organized the 1st ISPRS-UNGGIM National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies Forum during the ISPRS Prague Congress on 14-15 July, 2016. The Forum was opened by Greg Scott, Global Geospatial Information Management, United Nations Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Total 4 sessions were arranged, with the topic of Imagery for National tasks, 3-dimensional geoinformation, Geospatial data infrastructures, Quality assessment of geoinfomation. Officers and experts from National Mapping Agencies of Ireland, U.S., Spain, Saudi Arabia, France, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, China, Ethopia, Finland, UK, Swiss, India, etc. made the presentations.