Collaboration key for national mapping agencies, private firms: Report

A leading think tank has made a strong pitch for collaboration between the national mapping agencies (NMAs) and the private sector to build space infrastructure and geospatial knowledge services, which find applications in various economic sectors.

A report 'Evolving Role of National Mapping Agencies Transitioning to Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure', released recently by Geospatial World a think tank in space and geospatial technologies, cited examples of collaborations by national mapping agencies and the private sector in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Singapore and the US.

"Given the critical importance of space and geospatial solutions to national mission programmes, delays in these areas mean lost opportunities. Therefore, globally a mission-mode approach is needed to build space infrastructure and geospatial knowledge services through public-private partnerships," said the report, which was released recently.

It said that the Geospatial Knowledge ...