Jamaica has been elected the Caribbean vocal for the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) Group of Experts Americas Regional Committee.

As the Caribbean vocal, Jamaica is now the official representative of the interests of all countries in the Caribbean region on geospatial information management issues and initiatives. Jamaica will hold this designation for three years.

The Jamaica focal point for the UN-GGIM and the Americas Regional bodies, Simone Lloyd, told JIS News that the announcement was made at a significant time, as the committee chose to meet virtually during International Geography Awareness Week, November 14 to 19.

“The Americas Regional Committee is meeting from the 16th until the 19th of November and Jamaica is a very active member state of that regional body, and so, with that, we are very excited that they have decided to host the eighth session during Geography Awareness Week to speak of the significance of geospatial technologies [and] what geospatial information and technologies are being used for in the Caribbean by Caribbean member states, such as Jamaica, different from in the Americas region in North America, Central and South America,” said Lloyd.

Jamaica began commemorating the week from November 9, ahead of its actual occurrence.

The two weeks of commemorative activities, Lloyd said, highlight how important geospatial technologies are to Jamaica as a country, and “our use of same has not gone unnoticed”.

“Whatever it is that we do locally, we always try to ensure that our activities are aligned with what’s happening regionally within the Americas and also internationally with respect to the UN-GGIM’s international body, of which we are also very, very active. Jamaica is the leading Caribbean member state within the Americas regional body, and with that we are very excited that at the inception session Jamaica was announced the Caribbean vocal for that body. This is a major milestone for Jamaica and we are very proud of this achievement,” Lloyd added.

The UN-GGIM Regional Committee provides a platform for the development of effective strategies on how to build and strengthen national capacity on geospatial information, as well as disseminating best practices and experiences on geospatial-related instruments, models, and standards. The UN-GGIM also promotes the use of geospatial technologies to address global challenges.