Help plug data gaps, urges senior UN official

"We must establish partnerships so that we can tap into commercial data and information sources to bridge data gaps," he said. Speaking at the Eye on Earth Summit in Abu Dhabi, Zukang stressed that, for policy to be based on science and facts, data and information must be widely and easily accessible. "It must also be in formats usable for decision-making, and in public domains," he said.

Zukang said that accurate data collection would enable governments, civil society and business to make effective policies and decisions on sustainable production and consumption. All governments, institutions and communities "must collect and maintain critical data and information for fact-based decision-making on sustainable development issues."

According to SciDev.Net, Zukang said that advanced technologies were now available for collecting and analysing data on ecosystems and societies. Geospatial information systems (GIS) could be used in areas such as food security, sustainable agriculture and sustainable energy and could be applied in land-use management and disaster preparedness.

Zukang said the UN had recognised the critical role of GIS in advancing sustainable development, and the recently established UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management would seek to improve the management and coordination of geospatial information around the world. But while GIS was capable of measuring progress on economic, social and environmental issues, there were no published reports bringing together these three pillars of sustainable development. "The future cannot wait. We all know this," Zukang concluded.

Read the full article on www.scidev.net.