Should the CCMEO Act? Results of the Canadian Geospatial Readiness Survey are in
CGRI-2018, GeoBuiz’ 18
When GoGeomatics saw that Canada had dropped 3 spots on the 2018 Geospatial Readiness Index, we wanted to gauge the reaction of the Canadian geomatics community. The Geospatial Readiness Index rates countries based on their effectiveness in giving guidance to governments with the intent to optimize the benefits of spatial analytics and location intelligence technology for economic and social value by 2025.
It’s an important ranking because it tells us a little about Canada’s status in global geospatial community. Now that Canada has slipped from 4th to 7th place, we want to know what GIS professionals think about the state of the sector, and whether we should be working to change our place in the Index.
To find out, we published our Geospatial Readiness Survey. In the survey, we asked your opinion on the Index, whether you were concerned by Canada’s ranking, whether you think Canada should work harder to raise its ranking, and who should lead Canadian efforts in geospatial readiness.
Our survey told us that Canada’s ranking in the Index had caught your attention: 78% of survey responses said that Canada’s decline on the Index was cause for concern, and 89% said that Canada should work harder to rank higher on a global scale in geospatial readiness. Interesting results came from our inquiry into who you thought should be leading Canada’s efforts on Geospatial readiness: 44% said NRCan and the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) should be taking on the foremost leadership role, followed by the grassroots community, including geospatial technicians, specialists, and GIS managers (29%). 14% would like to see the business side of the Canadian geospatial private sector lead the charge; 7% would nominate the various provinces and municipalities for the role; and 3% were for Canadian non-governmental organizations, including associations and think tanks.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 0% wished to put Canadian politicians in the geospatial driver’s seat.
Image by Geospatial Media + Communications
Looking at the results, it’s obvious that the Canadian geospatial community is deeply invested in our performance on the world stage, and they wish to see GIS prioritized in governance and policy-making. Our industry professionals place their trust primarily in NRCan and the CCMEO to communicate the scientific and technological resources that our sector provides to government decision-makers and the general public, where it can be put to the best use. But there are also clear indicators that the community relies on GIS technicians, specialists, managers, and businesses to become leaders at home and provide guidance to our government on how to optimize geospatial data.
The final question we put to the Canadian geospatial community was, “Do you want read more about Canada’s efforts in regards to Geospatial Readiness and issues like these on GoGeomatics Canada?” The response was affirmative with 82% of respondents said “Yes” they wanted to read more about these efforts. Lets hope that we get more new from the CCMEO on their efforts in these regards so Canada can take a leadership position in this important area.
What do you think about the results of our survey? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
