European Open Data to be Included in UN Boundary Information Initiative
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European Open Data to be Included in UN Boundary Information Initiative

Harmonised European open data from official national sources is to be included in the United Nations Second Administrative Level Boundaries (SALB) initiative. EuroGeographics, which represents National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities from the whole of geographical Europe, is providing its 1:1 million scale topographic open dataset, EuroGlobalMap to assist the project’s aim of compiling global administrative boundaries data from authoritative sources.

EuroGlobalMap provides harmonised European open data covering 45 countries and territories, comprising six themes:

  • administrative boundaries,
  • names locations,
  • transport networks,
  • settlements,
  • elevation and
  • the water network.

It is available free of charge for any use under an open data licence and enables a wide range of applications, including mobile mapping, demographic and socio-economic analysis, hydrology, energy and environment modelling and education and research.

SALB, as a geospatial dataset on administrative boundaries, participates in the provision of ‘reliable geospatial information’ highlighted as key in the General Assembly Resolution 66/288 ‘The Future We Want’ for the implementation of sustainable development policy-making, programming and project operations. 

Linking Statistics to Geospatial Locations

It can play a crucial role in providing reliable global geospatial information for measuring and monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular by linking statistics to geospatial location as identified in General Assembly Resolution 70/1 ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.

Administrative boundaries have been highlighted as a priority “core global fundamental geospatial data theme” by the UN-GGIM which recognises the importance of SALB and encouraged Member States for active participation in the initiative. Currently, SALB accounts for over 80 participating Member States who have already provided either their contact details, submitted initial GIS datasets or finalised with the Secretariat a publically available SALB dataset.

Under the auspices of the UN Secretariat, SALB is jointly managed by the Geospatial Information Section of the Department of the Field Support (DFS) and the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), offices also responsible for the UN-GGIM Secretariat services.

 

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