Figure 1. Infographics from Statistics Sweden’s Facebook account illustrating the total building footprint of Sweden. 5 Some challenges This paper has focused on the benefits of data sharing and the quality improvement in official statistics as a result of the increased access to geospatial data. But a growing usage of geospatial data from a variety of producers also brings about challenges. As the bulk of data from external producers in the production process increases, the harder it is to overview the quality, accuracy and coverage of the data sources involved. Usually metadata typically describing products” does not satisfy the “map needs from a statistical point of view. This is why it is important to invest time to get acquainted with the data producers, to understand the underlying conception of their production as well as the history and original purpose of the information. Recent initiatives within the UN (UN-GGIM) and the EU (ESS), aiming at a better integration between statistics and geospatial data, put an emphasis on the need for a closer cooperation between statistical institutes and mapping agencies. This is a necessary step towards a mutual understanding between the statistical and mapping communities, but eventually such cooperation must include also other data sharing institutions. Another challenge has to do with the understanding and recognition of the needs associated with geospatial activities within the statistical offices. Geospatial processing typically demands a technical environment beyond the standards of many statistical offices in terms of software, hardware and storage but also in terms of competence. If there is little understanding regarding these special needs, the prospects of a successful integration of geospatial activities in the production chain is low. 6 References [1] Sandgren U. (2011) Swedish Spatial Data Infrastructure - An efficient network of information resources accessible via the Internet, Serbian geodetic conference 2011 [2] Information from the Swedish geoportal: http://www.geodata.se/en/ [3] Official land use statistics products at Statistics Sweden:
Figure 1. Infographics from Statistics Sweden’s Facebook account illustrating the total building footprint of Sweden. 5 Some challenges This paper has focused on the benefits of data sharing and the quality improvement in official statistics as a result of the increased access to geospatial data. But a growing usage of geospatial data from a variety of producers also brings about challenges. As the bulk of data from external producers in the production process increases, the harder it is to overview the quality, accuracy and coverage of the data sources involved. Usually metadata typically describing “map products” does not satisfy the needs from a statistical point of view. This is why it is important to invest time to get acquainted with the data producers, to understand the underlying conception of their production as well as the history and original purpose of the information. Recent initiatives within the UN (UN-GGIM) and the EU (ESS), aiming at a better integration between statistics and geospatial data, put an emphasis on the need for a closer cooperation between statistical institutes and mapping agencies. This is a necessary step towards a mutual understanding between the statistical and mapping communities, but eventually such cooperation must include also other data sharing institutions. Another challenge has to do with the understanding and recognition of the needs associated with geospatial activities within the statistical offices. Geospatial processing typically demands a technical environment beyond the standards of many statistical offices in terms of software, hardware and storage but also in terms of competence. If there is little understanding regarding these special needs, the prospects of a successful integration of geospatial activities in the production chain is low. 6 References [1] Sandgren U. (2011) Swedish Spatial Data Infrastructure - An efficient network of information resources accessible via the Internet, Serbian geodetic conference 2011 [2] Information from the Swedish geoportal: http://www.geodata.se/en/ [3] Official land use statistics products at Statistics Sweden:
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