Seoul Declaration
On Open Geospatial Technology and Data in Asia
We, the participants of the FOSS4G-Asia 2023 held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 28 November to 2 December 2023, met to promote and strengthen coordination, collaboration and sharing mechanisms on open geospatial technology, and open geospatial data and information in Asia-Pacific and beyond, to address global and regional challenges and aspirations, hereby issue this Seoul Declaration on Open Geospatial Technology and Data in Asia.
Recalling United Nations General Assembly resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, in which it adopted “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which recognizes the need for new data acquisition and integration approaches, to improve the availability, quality, timeliness and disaggregation of data to support the implementation of the new development agenda at all levels, benefiting from the contribution to be made by a wide range of data, including earth observations and geospatial information, while ensuring national ownership in supporting and tracking progress;
Recalling United Nations Economic and Social Council resolution E/RES/2022/24 on enhancing global geospatial information management practices and the importance of strengthening of geospatial information for the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure its continued effectiveness and benefit to all Member States;
Recalling the Secretary-General of United Nations in his keynote (at the Second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress in Hyderabad, India, in October 2022) “The benefits of more timely, detailed, and accessible data are many: Geospatial information can bridge gaps, provide a clearer picture of where and how we can do better, and deliver deeper insights and smarter decisions.”;
Recalling the mission statement of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) to foster global adoption of open geospatial technology by being an inclusive software foundation devoted to an open philosophy and participatory community driven development;
Recalling the visions and outcomes of past FOSS4G conferences in which, promoting and strengthening communities of open geospatial technology and open data with openness, innovation, inclusivity and diversity, have been identified as key enablers to resolve the challenges the world is facing;
Recalling further the significant contribution of the OSGeo community in advancing geospatial technologies collaboratively as a fundamental technology across diverse domains, including empowering those in dire situations such as humanitarian actors, peacekeepers, and refugees;
Sharing a global vision in which reliable and maturated open geospatial technologies and open data and their communities are important basis for effective decision making in various urgent demands, especially in the context of disaster risk reduction, humanitarian assistance, and sustainable development;
Welcoming the recognition and support by Seoul Metropolitan Government, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), National Geographic Information Institute (NGII) of Republic of Korea, United Nations Geospatial Network and United Nations Open GIS Initiative to promote the benefits of open geospatial technologies that could effectively address the challenges, concerning environmental impact, monitoring climate change, helping disaster risk reduction, supporting humanitarian assistance and sustainable urbanization, responding to health crisis and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.
We therefore resolve:
- to express our support in preparation of the establishment of an “Open Geospatial Platform
(to be named)” for effective synergy with United Nations operations to collectively overcome
the global and regional challenges in coordination and collaboration with United Nations Geospatial Network and United Nations Open GIS Initiative (UN Open GIS);
- to take actions to foster and strengthen national, regional and global cooperation and collaboration with the aim of developing an interconnected global network to formulate and adopt best practices on open geospatial technology and open data (such as capacity building and technology transfer, joint pilot projects, etc.);
- to contribute with open geospatial technology, open data, open analysis, open applications and services to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
- to advance the use of open geospatial technology in alignment with United Nations Global Compact, achieving collective impact through information sharing, collaboration, policy advocacy, and international cooperation.
During FOSS4G-Asia 2023 Seoul, Kim Jin man, Director-General of the Digital Policy Bureau, Seoul Metropolitan Government, made an announcement at the Seoul Hall of Urbanism and Architecture on December 1, 2023 on behalf of participants.
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The Seoul declaration was prepared as part of the Seoul Institute’s research on implementation plans for international cooperation on spatial information in the Seoul Metropolitan Government. (Junyoung Choi, Sunkwon Yoon, Kyoungsoo Eom, the Seoul Institute)