Description :
The importance of data in development policies and processes is increasingly being emphasised. The 2030 Agenda on sustainable development represents a major milestone towards development policies that are data driven and evidence based. Mainstreaming technical innovation to fill data gaps and mobilizing the data revolution to overcome inequalities between data-poor and data-rich countries are high priorities. The integration of geospatial information and Earth Observations with traditional statistical data, combined with new emerging technologies such as big data processing and analytics offer unprecedented opportunities to make a quantum leap in the capacities of countries to efficiently track all facets of sustainable development. With the recognition that data is at the heart of the SDGs comes the reality that the least developed countries will have the most difficulty with the related institutional and technical challenges.

From the adoption of the 2030 Agenda on sustainable development in 2015, geospatial Information and Earth Observations were presented as game-changers for countries to fully achieve their sustainable development goals. With the SDG agenda reaching its midway towards the 2030 milestone, the aim of the Agora Open forum on SDGs is to invite senior representatives from key organisations (Space Agencies, UN agencies, National Statistical Offices, Geospatial community, data brokers) to review progress on the uptake of EO in SDG processes and discuss the opportunities and challenges still lying ahead for successfully integrating EO technology within the national monitoring and reporting systems on SDGs.

The participants will discuss the EO achievements and challenges from their perspectives, which can be scientific, technical, programmatic, or policy-based in nature. The objective of the open forum is to raise awareness of the results achieved so far and to strengthen further the importance to join efforts to offer robust and cost-effective solutions that help countries better achieve their sustainable development goals, monitor progress towards their targets, inform development policies and ensure accountability and transparency.
Speakers:
Sara Minelli - UNCCD, Programme Officer
Stuart Crane - UN Environment, Programme Management Officer, Freshwater Unit(video)
Dennis Mwaniki - UN Habitat, Spatial Data Expert, Data and Analytics Unit(video)
Pietro Gennari - FAO, Chief Statistician
Sven Kaumanns - Federal Statistical Office of Germany (DESTATIS), Head of the environmental-economic accounting and SDGs
Argyro Kavvada - NASA , GEO EO4SDG Executive Director
Antje Hecheltjen - German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), GEO LDN co-chair
Emmanuel Pajot - European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC), Secretary General

The Forum will be moderated by:
Laurent Durieux - GEO Secretariat
Marc Paganini - ESA