At the Geospatial World Forum (GWF) in Amsterdam, Paul Cheung of the United Nations Initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM) voiced the concern about their role that many national mapping agencies and other government organizations with responsibility for geospatial information have had since the advent of Google Map/Earth, private data companies like Digital Globe, Geoeye, TeleAtlas and Navteq, crowd-sourced geospatial data like OpenStreetMap, and open data policies adopted by many governments around the world.

Some of the key questions that Paul posed that reflect what a lot of national mapping agencies are asking

• Could the private sector be the sole producer of geospatial data ?
• What is the role and responsibility of government ?
• What is the relationship between the private sector and government ?  As regulator ? As competitor ?
• Do we need a collective voice among governments ?
• How do we work together in a join effort to build a global geospatial information system and a community of practice.?

Paul suggested that some of the reasons that governments have lost their leading role in managing national geospatial information are

• No clear direction, coordination, ownerhsip, policy or institutional arrangements
• The value of reliable, credible, and authoritative geospatial information not realized by many governments
• Geospatial capabilities have evolved in a fragmented and inconsistent manner, and with duplication of effort
• Governments are struggling to deal with privately sourced information – credibility, accuracy legitimacy, status

Paul’s argument is that governments need to be involved in national geospatial information because governments, not the private sector, have the mandate and accountability to maintain and deliver the base national geospatial information and that government needs to work in partnership with the private sector to fullfil its role and advance the geospatial industry.

The objective of the GGIM initiative is to help government fit into the new world of Google Map/Earth and the rest of the private geospatial industry.  Based on the assumption that neither the private sector nor government can do it all, the GGIM has a process in place to define the role of government in managing national geospatial information.  It has asked geospatial practitioners around the world to provide guidance on where they see the geospatial industry headed and their views on the roles of government and the private sector. 

At the GWF, Vanessa Lawrence of the Ordnance Survey chaired a session attended by about 40 people from private, government and academic organizations to review these findings. 

The ultimate goal is a white paper in about a year’s time that would help define the role of government in the new geospatial world.