UN-GGIM

The Fourth Meeting of the United Nations Expert Group on the Integration of Statistical and Geospatial Information (EG-ISGI) was convened in Stockholm from 9-10 November 2017. This Expert Group meeting was graciously hosted by Statistics Sweden and attended by 29 participants, 22 of whom represented their national agencies coming from 15 Member States. The meeting followed on from the UNECE/UN-GGIM: Europe Workshop on Integration of Geospatial and Statistical Standards that was held from 6 - 8 November 2017, which many Expert Group members attended and helped organized.

The objective of the Expert Group meeting was to review recent decisions of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) and the United Nations Statistical Commission relating to the Global Statistical Geospatial Framework, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2020 round of Population Censuses, and to discuss and plan future activities of the Expert Group. This Expert Group meeting and the Workshop on Integration of Geospatial and Statistical Standards fostered increased collaboration between the statistical and geospatial communities, agreed on joint actions for addressing interoperability issues between statistical and geospatial communities, and determined a clear prioritized work program for the Expert Group.

The Expert Group work program is now focusing strongly on members working to complete detailed definitions of the five principles in the Global Statistical Geospatial Framework, and providing guidance material for aspects of these principles. These materials will enable and support activities, amongst others, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2020 round of Population Censuses, and nationally, evidenced based policy and decision making.