Geospatial Data is Still Not Being Used Sufficiently to Improve People’s Lives
In the GIM International (Issue 6, 2022) interview titled "Geospatial Data is Still Not Being Used Sufficiently to Improve People’s Lives," Dr. Nadine Alameh reflects on her tenure as CEO of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and discusses how the definition of the geospatial industry has completely changed. She argues that geospatial technology can no longer be viewed as a standalone, specialized industry because location data has become fundamentally ubiquitous, cross-disciplinary, and woven into almost every domain—from aviation and logistics to agriculture. However, she points out a widening paradox: despite this massive ubiquity, spatial intelligence is still not being fully utilized to solve humanity's most severe global crises, particularly those tied to climate change.
A key focus of the conversation details how the OGC has strategically evolved to bridge these utilization gaps. Under her leadership, the consortium deliberately shifted its core focus from the historical "what" (rigidly documenting technological protocols) to the "why" (collectively solving real-world domain problems through open innovation). To better support a modern ecosystem where Big Tech companies often capture data faster than governments, the OGC has transitioned to cloud-native frameworks and redesigned its foundation to be developer-friendly. By replacing complex legacy systems with modular geospatial APIs, the organization aims to democratize location data so software engineers, data scientists, and cross-sector decision-makers can seamlessly mix and match data streams without needing to be GIS specialists.
Ultimately, Dr. Alameh frames this era as an inflection point that forces a massive reinvention of national mapping agencies and traditional institutions. Because no single entity owns all the necessary data to resolve large-scale modern issues, she stresses that the path forward relies entirely on robust public-private partnerships (PPPs) and shared data governance. By lowering institutional barriers and implementing the FAIR principles (making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), the geospatial community can transform localized data into an integrated, collaborative network that actively empowers and protects global society.
