1. Progress report on geospatial information management within the ESS
Item 5.4 Ekkehard PETRI, GISCO
19/10/2015

2. Geographical information management within the ESS
GEOSTAT projects
UN-GGIM activities
19/10/2015

3. GEOSTAT projects
Series of projects with the ambition to develop a statistical-geospatial framework for the ESS
From concrete to strategic
GEOSTAT 1 – a population grid for Europe
GEOSTAT 2 – a point based spatial reference framework for statistics
GEOSTAT 3 – a statistical – geospatial framework for the ESS
19/10/2015

4. Goals of GEOSTAT 1
Produce a 1km² population grid of the 2011 census from as many national datasets as possible (aggregated or hybrid data sources)
Develop a methodology for population grids from statistical and spatial data sources
Develop quality assessment parameters in addition to traditional statistical (ESMS) and spatial (INSPIRE) metadata
Address the issue of data confidentiality
Discuss business models of grid data
Show the application of grid data in spatial analysis
Present a vision for a spatial reference framework for statistics
19/10/2015

5. Results of GEOSTAT 1
GEOSTAT 2011 data free of charge for non-commercial use
29 of 32 EU + EFTA countries provided national data on residential population (aggregated, mix of aggregation and partial modelling using hybrid data sources)
Standard methodology for the aggregation of point based or very small area statistics into 1km² grids developed
=> Innovation in spatial statistics on a voluntary basis
=> GIS and other technical issues solved
19/10/2015

6. Further results 1st version of quality documentation template
Use cases:
Accessibility to health services
Definition of a new sample frame (PT)
Confidentiality remains a huge problem -> GEOSTAT 2011 only residential population
19/10/2015

7. Use of population grids
Population based typologies (cities, rural-urban)
Support to EU Cohesion policy (Accessibility studies e.g. to public services, green areas)
Support the Sustainable Development Goals e.g. accessibility, definition of cities, exposure to disasters
19/10/2015

8. Recommendations for the next Census
Information should come from geocoded administrative sources or full enumerations
Population grids on core topics should be produced more frequently (e.g. residential population annually)
More breakdowns in addition to total residential population
Keep the 1km² cell size
19/10/2015

9. GEOSTAT 2 project as the spatial reference framework for statistics and censuses
Goals:
Recommendations on a system of geocoded address and dwelling points for official statistics
Continue EFGS activities
Duration from
Source: Statistics Sweden
19/10/2015

10. GEOSTAT 3 (under discussion) – a statistical-geospatial framework for the ESS
Full georeferencing of administrative and statistical data
Consistent system of statistical geographies (NUTS, grids, etc)
Metadata
Recommendations for official spatial statistics products
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistcs
19/10/2015

11. UN-GGIM and the ESS
Integration of statistical and geospatial information as one priority of UN-GGIM
Monitoring sustainable development using combined statistical-geospatial information
UN-GGIM committee of experts
Expert group on the integration of statistical and geospatial information
19/10/2015

12. UN-GGIM: Europe
Eurostat an observer in the executive committee representing the ESS
Work plan from 2015 – 2018
Two Working Groups:
A on core data (2016/2018)
B on the integration of statistical and geospatial information
Potential further working group on monitoring sustainable development
European Forum for Geography and Statistics (EFGS) observer in UN-GGIM: Europe
19/10/2015

13. Tasks for Work Group B: Data Integration
Definition of the priority user needs for combinations of data (Mid-2015).
Recommendation for methods implementing the prioritised combinations of data (Mid-2016)
Recommendation about how to manage side-effects induced by data combinations (Mid-2016)
Activities of WG B since its constitution (11/2014) are summarized in the Report submitted to UN-GGIM: Europe 09/2015
The tasks are described in much more detail in the report.

14. Country representation (1/2)
About 15 countries from more than 20 organisations
Countries
NMCAs
NSIs
Austria
BEV
Statistics Austria
Finland
National Land Survey
France
IGN
Germany
BKG
Destatis
Greece
National Cadastre & Mapping Agency S.A.
Italy
GIS unit
Netherland
Dutch Kadaster
Statistics NL
Portugal
Statistics Portugal (INE)

15. Central Statistical Office
Countries
NMCAs
NSIs
Poland
Polish CSO / NMA
Central Statistical Office
Spain
CNIG, SDGC
Sweden
Lantmäteriet
Statistics SE
Turkey
TKGM
Turkish Statistical Institute
United Kingdom
Ordnance Survey
Republic of Serbia
Statistics Serbia
Denmark
DGA
Switzerland
NSI
Good representation of NMCAs and NSI – no other areas/domains like environment or land management are represented so far.
There is weak representation and activity from the Baltic, Balkan and Eastern European countries
Although little successes…
- New member from the NSI of the Republic of Serbia
- One use case from Albania
- Request from the Slovenian NSI
Due to this composition of the WG B it has been clear that the work could be concentrated only on data combinations for geospatial and statistics.

16. United Nations summit held from 25 to 27 September 2015 in New York released a new version of the UN SDG’s.
WG B is aware of the changes on the SDG’s and believes that it would be worth while to adapt deliverable B.1
If the Plenary would support this activity WG B would adapt deliverable B.1 accordingly

17. The spatial dimension in the SDGs
Sustainable management of water
Safe and sustainable Cities
Protect ecosystems

18. Working group B recommendations
A European Spatial Data Strategy building on National Spatial Data Strategies
Priority data for a spatial reference framework for statistics
-> link to Working Group A
Improved workflows using geospatial technology
19/10/2015

19. Future ESS and Eurostat activities
UN-GGIM is a priority for Eurostat to make progress on the integration of statistics and geospatial information
ESSnet projects: GEOSTAT 2 and GEOSTAT 3
Grants for projects on merging statistics and geospatial information
Development of a statistical-geospatial framework
Support to the European Forum for Geography and Statistics as the cooperation network of NSIs and NMCAs
Promotion of the Census 2020/21 as a flagship project for the integration of statistical and geospatial information
19/10/2015

20. Further information
Website of the European Forum for Geography and Statistics EFGS
Website of the GEOSTAT 2 project
Download the GEOSTAT 2011 population grid
UN-GGIM: Europe
19/10/2015