Kick-off Meeting of the UNSDI HUCO scheduled for 28th September

Publications illustrating the emerging links of HUNAGI. Image: HUNAGI Visuals Resource, 2006
The UN Spatial Data Infra- structure initiative and Hungary

The kick-off meeting with the participation of the invited stakeholders will be hosted by the Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing.
Goal of the meeting is to reach a concensus on the establishment of the UNSDI Hungarian Coordination Office.
Mr. Jelle U. Hielkema will represent the United Nations Geographic Working Group (UNGIWG) on behalf of FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP),being the current UNGIWG co-chairs since 2005.
The screenplay and proposal prepared to be discussed by the attendees were elaborated by FÖMI and HUNAGI and was approved by the Hungarian National FAO Committee in early September.

According to the Agenda, the GeoNetwork and the UNSDI initiative together with the ESA Heterogenous Missions Accessibility (HMA) project will be highlighted by the FAO representative, while the Hungarian stakeholders will introduce their institutions according to the following topics:

General introduction of the organisation
Highlighting the importance of the SDI from the organisation' viewpoint
Mandated responsibilities related to the EU INSPIRE Annex I-III data
Participation in the Hungarian SDI development with flashback
Ongoing activities in the development/service/use of GI
Highlighting the European and World level professional relations
Highlighting any professional relations with UN organisations
Collaboration on international (including cross-border) projectsin the context
Conclusion: Expectations, expression of support and offered participation in the UNSDI Hungarian Coordination Board

Finally, the Proposal for the establishment of UNSDI HUCO will be presented by Dr. Mihály, Director General of FÖMI followed by a discussion and anticipated approval of a resolution based on concensus. If established, HUNAGI will be represented by President Zsolt Sikolya in the interagency UNSDI Coordination Board, while by recommendation, the operation of the Coordination Office would be outsourced to HUNAGI acknowledging its 12 years of experience in the SDI related developments and promotion in interdisciplinary and international collaborative (EUROGI, GSDI, INSPIRE) environment. Emphasis will be given to GMES and the GEO tasks taking into account the 2007-2009 action plan, which will be highlighted shortly.
Already existing UNSDI national coordination offices are in The Netherlands http://www.unsdi.nl and in the Czech Republic http://www.unsdi.cz