POPULATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE ON OUR HUMAN PLANET: SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH IMPROVED SPATIAL DATA AND MODELS FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND POPULATION DISTRIBUTION BASED ON EARTH OBSERVATIONS

THIS PROJECT WILL BRING TOGETHER THE LEADING EXPERTS AND ORGANIZATIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING SPATIALLY EXPLICIT DATA AND MODELS OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS INFRASTRUCTURE AND POPULATION DISTRIBUTION TO IMPROVE DATA QUALITY AND ACCURACY INCREASE DATA ACCESSIBILITY AND TEST APPLY AND IMPROVE DATA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (SD) APPLICATIONS. THE PROJECT WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH NATIONAL STATISTICAL OFFICES AND RELATED MINISTRIES AND STAKEHOLDERS IN TWO COUNTRIES SOUTH AFRICA AND COLOMBIA TO IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS THEIR NEEDS FOR INTEGRATED SETTLEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE AND POPULATION DATA AND MODELS WITH RESPECT TO MONITORING PLANNING AND DECISION MAKING REGARDING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS) AND ASSOCIATED TARGETS AND INDICATORS ADOPTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AS PART OF THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. PROJECT OBJECTIVES ARE TO: A) IDENTIFY SPECIFIC DATA REQUIREMENTS (E.G. CONTENT RESOLUTION FREQUENCY ACCURACY CONSISTENCY TIMELINESS) TO SUPPORT SD ACTIVITIES SUCH AS PLANNING OF CENSUSES AND SURVEYS RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DISASTER MITIGATION AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION; B) TO COORDINATE AND FACILITATE EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN CONSISTENT OPEN ACCESS DATA AND MODELS ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS BUILDINGS ROADS AND OTHER CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND POPULATION DISTRIBUTION DRAWING ON THE GROWING DIVERSITY AND VOLUME OF RELEVANT EARTH OBSERVATION DATA AVAILABLE THROUGH THE GLOBAL EARTH OBSERVATION SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS (GEOSS); AND C) PROVIDE DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO SELECTED NATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS IN TESTING AND UTILIZING IMPROVED SETTLEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE AND POPULATION DATA AND MODELS IN REPRESENTATIVE EFFORTS TO MONITOR PROGRESS RELATED TO THE SDGS AND SUPPORT SD PLANNING AND DECISION MAKING. PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL SPECIFICALLY SUPPORT THE GROUP ON EARTH OBSERVATIONS (GEO) HUMAN PLANET INITIATIVE (HPI) AS WELL AS THE GEO INITIATIVE EARTH OBSERVATIONS IN SERVICE OF THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (EO4SDGS) AND WILL BUILD ON AND EXTEND GEO COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES.