Speaker Bio & Abstract
Global Geospatial Information Management
United Nations
BiographyGreg Scott is the UN's Inter-Regional Advisor on Global Geospatial Information Management for the recently established United Nations initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), an inter-governmental mechanism created by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in July 2011. Greg provides high level strategic policy advice and leadership in the coordination and implementation of UN-GGIM initiatives, particularly with the Member States and related International Organizations involved in national, regional and global geospatial information management. He is responsible for developing the substantive content for the UN-GGIM Committee of Experts, the UN-GGIM High Level Forum's, international technical capacity development workshops, and other international fora.
Prior to joining the UN Statistics Division in 2012, Greg led the National Geographic Information Group in Geoscience Australia, delivering Australia's national topographic mapping and derivative geospatial programs. He spent more than 20 years in Geoscience Australia in a number of key roles, including: undertaking applied research to assess the risks from natural and anthropogenic hazards to Australian communities; developing the methodological approaches, analytical tools and techniques to model critical infrastructure dependencies and inter-dependencies, and the flow on consequences of failure; and delivering independent high level scientific analysis and technical advice in the use of geospatial information for emergency management, critical infrastructure protection, and lifeline network functionality.
Greg possesses formal qualifications in cartography and survey mapping, has a Graduate Diploma in Geography from the Australian National University, and has a strong spatial analysis and modelling background.
AbstractWith emphasis on ‘all countries’ being able to measure and monitor development progress with good policy, science, technology and especially data, the SDGs are highly dependent on geospatial information and enabling technologies as the primary data and tools for relating people to their location and place, and to measure ‘where’ progress is, or is not, being made, particularly at sub-national and local levels. However, the provision and exploitation of geospatial information and technologies to support the implementation of the SDGs is not yet being mainstreamed; it is not occurring by default! A transformational change – a digital transformation – is urgently required. For the most developed countries, achieving digital transformation is difficult enough. For developing countries, realising digital transformation remains completely out of reach, as they are yet to bridge the ‘digital divide’; attain effective and sustained access to digital technology, the Internet and the corresponding computer literacy that is needed to contribute to the global information society. To exploit the emerging science, data, analytics, enabling tools and technologies, particularly through web services, developing countries must now extend well beyond the digital divide; to bridging the ‘geospatial digital divide’. This presentation introduces and details the ‘geospatial digital divide’ and the complex, including policy, challenges that continue to exacerbate the ability for developing countries to bridge this divide, connect to the vast amounts of data and technology, and accelerate human progress.