National Geographic Information Institute under the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs of Korea jointly held the Exchange Forum with the UN to strengthen public-private cooperation in geospatial information at the Coex, Samsung-dong, Seoul, on October 23.

17 global companies of geospatial information including Google and 30 national and international organizations attended the Forum.

This is the first event where CEOs and executive directors of global companies such as Google, Hexagon, DigitalGlobe and Bently gathered in Korea to strengthen public-private cooperation in geospatial information, and this is part of the NGII’s efforts to raise the status of Korea and increase its cooperation with global organizations in the sector.

Google provides geospatial information globally through Google Maps and Google Earth and DigitalGlobe operates civilian remote sensing spacecraft to provide geospatial content.

At the forum, vice CEO of Samsung SDS, Lee Gye-Sik, made presentation on public-private cooperation method in geospatial information.

In addition to public-private cooperation, participants discussed ways to stimulate joint use of geospatial information, develop a cooperation scheme and standards and provide support to developing nations.

As rapid progress in the cutting-edge devices such as Smart phone, Tablet PC and GPS, etc. and communications technology expands the role of the private sector in geospatial information, they discussed how to boost cooperation between the public and private sectors in prediction of natural disasters such as typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, evacuation and climate change monitoring.

Vice Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs gave a welcoming remarks and key note speech as a representative of the public sector to emphasize the importance of public-private cooperation and introduce Korea’s advanced geospatial information policy.

The opinions presented at the Forum will be discussed at the UN-GGIM Conference and reflected in the development of global geospatial information policy.

After the Forum, Korea and the UN will jointly host the UN-GGIM conference for three days from October 24 where representatives of more than 100 nations come together and discuss international cooperation in the geospatial sector.