Page 1 of 3 Next  Prof. Stig Enemark President of the International Federation of Surveyors FIG, Denmark This perspective looks at the current global agenda in terms of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their relevance to the global geospatial community. Issues such as tenure security, pro-poor land management, and good governance in land administration are all key issues to be advocated in the process of reaching the goals. The MDGs represent a wider concept or a vision for the future, where the contribution of the geospatial community is central and vital. This relates to the areas of providing the relevant geographic information in terms of mapping and databases of the built and natural environment, providing secure tenure systems, and systems for land valuation, land use management and land development. The work of the surveyors and geospatial experts is about infrastructure investment both in physical and technical terms, which make other decisions better and more reliable. The perspective also looks at the future especially in terms of technology development and the strategic direction for developing the Geospatial Reference Systems (GRS) and the Spatial Data Infrastructure. These future directions are highly relevant since GRS underpins all geospatial data including fundamental geospatial data sets for the cadastre, topography, geophysics, environment, natural resources, transport, utilities and emergency management. FACING THE GLOBAL AGENDA The areas of surveying and land administration are basically about people, politics and places. It is about human right, engagement and dignity, policies and good government, and places in term of shelter, land and natural resources. By taking this approach FIG, as the overall global organization of land professionals, pursue sustainable development in both an economic, social, governmental, and environmental sense. The areas of surveying and mapping, spatial information management, cadastre and land management provide a basic platform for poverty eradication and development. This is why FIG is deeply committed to achieving the MDGs. The MDGs form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. The United Nations Millennium Summit, September 2000, established a time bound (2015) and measurable goals and targets for combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination of women. These goals are now placed at the heart of the global agenda. The MDGs is a powerful concept towards development, security and human rights for all. Land professionals such as surveyors play a key role in this regard in terms of providing some of the fundamental preconditions for development. These preconditions are also embedded in the Millennium Declaration and spelled out in the targets and indicators for achieving the MDGs. It is obvious that the MDGs address some of the most fundamental issues of our times. It is also obvious that only a few of these issues relate to the work and the world of the surveying community. But in any case, as stated by Kofi Annan (UN, 2005c) “We will not enjoy development without security, we will not enjoy security without development, and we will not enjoy either without respect for human rights. Unless all these causes are advanced, none will succeed. ” FIG, as an international NGO recognized by the UN, should make the world understand the important contribution of surveyors in this regard and cooperate with the UN agencies such as UNDP, UN-HABITAT, FAO, and the World Bank to optimize the outcome of our common efforts. FIG should identify their role in this process and spell out the areas where the global surveying and geospatial profession can make a significant contribution. Issues such as tenure security, pro-poor land management, and good governance in land administration are all key issues to be advocated in the process of reaching the goals. Measures such as capacity assessment, institutional and human resource development are all key tools in this regard. SURVEYING AND LAND ADMINISTRATION Land administration systems (LAS) provide a country’s infrastructure for implementation of its land-related policies and land management strategies. The term Land Administration refers to the processes of recording and disseminating information about the ownership, value and use of land and its associated resources. Such processes include the determination of property rights and other attributes of the land that relate to its value and use, the survey and general description of these, their detailed documentation and the provision of relevant information in support of land markets. The importance of capacity development in surveying and land administration at the organizational level has been usefully quantified in Great Britain (1999) by research that found that approximately £100 billion of Great Britain’s GDP (12.5% of total national GDP, and one thousand times the turnover of OSGB) relied on the activity of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. Less exhaustive studies in other European countries have pointed to similar figures. The importance of geographic information continues to grow, with a range of SDI initiatives at local, national, regional and global level, so there is reason to believe that the figures would be increased rather than reduced if the GB study were to be repeated today. With these very significant numbers, as well as the central importance of sound land management, the importance of solid, sustainable organizations in the field of surveying and land administration is clear.
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