Global Geospatial Information Management and Sustainable Development: Some Observations

Location determines a whole range of activities, whether economic, social, or cultural, everywhere in the world. Location is also a powerful way to organize many types of information, from population and soil patterns to climate change and roadways. This data can be manipulated and used in limitless ways: land-use planning, transportation, housing, energy usage, environmental assessment, social policy and so much more.

Modern tools to manage this data are also powerful, none perhaps more so than cybercartography, which blends digital online maps with location-specific cultural information and interactive tools, such as audio recordings and photographs, to enhance the cartographic information, creating what Fraser Taylor calls “living atlases.” Taylor, Director of the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre of Carleton University, introduced the world to the power of cybercartography in 1997. In his presentation, he will discuss the importance of geospatial information in analyzing key socio-economic problems and fostering sustainable development. He will also talk about the new United Nations Initiative on Geospatial Information Management that seeks to address key global challenges through more effective use of global geospatial information.

Please attend his lecture, “Global Geospatial Information Management and Sustainable Development: Some Observations”

When: Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Where: IDRC, W. David Hopper Room A-B, 150 Kent Street, 8th floor, Ottawa, ON

Dr D. R. Fraser Taylor is a Distinguished Research Professor and the Director of Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University in Ottawa. He has been recognized as one of the world’s leading cartographers and pioneered the introduction of computing in cartography. Fraser is a member of the UN Committee of Experts on Geospatial Information Management.

Fraser Taylor was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2008 in recognition of his achievements. In 2013, he was awarded the Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal, the highest award of the International Cartographic Association. In 2014, he received the Canada Council for the Arts’ Killam Prize for Social Sciences, one of Canada’s most prestigious awards.

He has published widely in the fields of geographic information processing, cartography and international development and the relationship between these fields. Fraser has extensive experience in rural development in Kenya and worked as an education officer for the Government of Kenya for five years. He served as the President of the International Cartographic Association from 1987 to 1995. He received his MA and PhD in Geography from the University of Edinburgh and did post graduate work at the University of London and Harvard University. He has honorary degrees from the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo and the Universidad Católica in Peru.

The event is free but seating is limited, so please register.

French and English simultaneous interpretation will be available.

Can't be here in person? Join the Live webcast at http://idrc.canwebcast.net/live (at 2:00 p.m. Ottawa time). Questions may be submitted during the talk and will be answered as time permits. There is no need to register to join the webcast. This webcast is also available on recent IOS and Android mobile devices and you can ask questions at [email protected].

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