Corporate report

Geospatial Commission: Board of Commissioners meeting 11 July 2023

Published 10 November 2023

Geospatial Commission Board of Commissioners’ Meeting 27

11 July 2023

Hybrid meeting - Lancaster University & Google Meet

13:00-14:45

Attendees 

Commissioners:

Bernard Silverman (Chair)
Nigel Clifford (Deputy Chair)
Thalia Baldwin
Louise Heathwaite
Steve Unger
Alex Notay 

Nominated Commissioners:

Karen Hanghøj
David Henderson  

Commission Unit:

Jamie Clark
Chris Chambers
Ros Goodfellow
Catherine Carter-McGrath (online)
Abigail Page
Ben Carson
(Minutes by: Claire Wimpenny) 

Observers:

Alan Corbett (Scotland, online)
Suzanne McLaughlin (Northern Ireland, online)
John Morris (for Glyn Jones) (Wales, online)

Apologies:

Glyn Jones
Peter Sparkes
Stephen Lake

1.    Minutes and Matters Arising 

1.1.  Bernard Silverman opened the meeting and expressed his thanks to Louise Heathwaite for hosting the Board and the meeting. The board welcomed Karen Hanghøj who was standing in for Peter Sparkes, and David Henderson standing in for Stephen Lake. John Morris (Welsh Government, for Glyn Jones) was also welcomed and thanked for joining the meeting in person. 

1.2.  The April board meeting minutes were approved with no changes. No other matters were noted.

2.    Report from the Nominated Commissioners 

2.1.  Karen Hanghøj and David Henderson summarised the points raised by the Partner Bodies at the Nominated Commissioners meeting on 6 July:

• The Geo6 congratulated the GC on the publication of the strategy. The publication demonstrated the progress and impact that the creation of the GC has had since its inception and the publication of the first strategy. The Geo6 recognised their collective contribution to the missions set out in the strategy and particularly welcomed inclusion of health and AI as key areas of focus within the strategy where geospatial has a role to play as a contributor and beneficiary. 
• They welcomed the introduction of the Population Movement Data (PMD) programme and noted the increasing consideration of dynamic and near real time data with emerging technology. It was highlighted that movement of goods is also very important including at a national level.
• The Geo6 would welcome the opportunity to work more collaboratively and as a collective in relation to international opportunities and to build on the good work over the last 12 months , especially as there is overlap and multiplier opportunities that could be realised more effectively where parallel engagement is happening with certain countries. 
• It was noted that it was Heather Wickers’ last meeting representing the VOA. The group has benefited significantly from Heather’s contribution, and are looking forward to welcoming her successor at the next meeting. 
• The Geo6 has reconvened the technical leadership group that met previously but had lapsed in recent months, and which had left a gap around technical alignment discussions. The group has also been extended to include ONS and the Met Office. 

2.2.  The board thanked the Nominated Commissioners for their input.   

3.    Report from the Director of the Commission

3.1. Thalia provided an update on activities and highlights from across the Commission since April, the most notable of which was the strategy publication. Other activities not covered elsewhere on the agenda included:

• The publication of the National Land Use Data Programme report 
• An update was provided on the progress on the development of the property paper that will be published in the coming months

3.2.  The Board thanked Thalia for the update, and congratulated the team on their efforts around the publication of the strategy.

4.     Strategy Update

4.1.  Ros set out that the aim of the session was to get the Board’s views on priority areas and where they are able to lend support. The strategy has good breadth across its 3 missions and its 23 commitments, which range from existing work to some new focus areas including PMD, health, geography of work, and international.

4.2 The Board discussed how the GC is going to assess the impact of the strategy beyond the publication of the document and how to provide a sense of the long term impact. Consideration was given to what constituted impact, the variation within that and how it could be measured. The GC team will aim to pull together an articulation of the impacts to date as part of the 2024 annual plan update.

4.3 Earth observation was a significant area of interest for several members of the Board and it was noted how heavily it had featured in both the skills round table and Lancaster University visit that took place prior to the Board. In particular how satellite data could be brought together with ground truthing to provide new insights that would not be possible without the integration of the data. The Board acknowledged that there were overlaps and dependencies across the commitments and it was important that as the GC looks to address these it is ensuring alignment wherever possible, similar to the approach that has been taken with National Land Use Data programme. 

4.4 Alex Notay highlighted that she was meeting DLUHC Ministers in the coming days and would discuss the approach that has been taken with NLDP and the development and recommendations in the property paper that will be published in the coming weeks.

4.5 The Board thanked Ros and Ben for the paper, and also the team for all their hard work on the strategy and offered support to the GC team to help shape the early thinking on the immediate commitments as well as the longer term deliverables. 

5.     Population Movement Data (PMD)

5.1.  Catherine provided an update on the progress on the team’s work since the last update in January. The GC’s starting assumption is that better access and use of population mobility data is increasingly economically valuable but under-used by the public sector. In the development and the delivery of this the GC is partnering with the ONS, DfT, Home Office, DLUHC, UKHSA and the Cabinet Office and has support externally from the Consumer Data Research Centre.

5.2 Through the PMD programme the GC is looking to test the opportunities and to get a better understanding of the barriers and nervousness in the market for improved access and utilisation of PMD. A further outcome of the pilot project will be to establish the role of the GC should be in the medium to longer term in order to realise opportunities, promote ethical use and protect privacy. 

5.3 The action was taken to return to the Board with a further update as the specification and scope of the programme started to be finalised for a further discussion.

6.     International Update and Discussion

6.1.  Ben highlighted the new commitments in the strategy on our international priorities. Our approach for the year ahead includes multilateral engagement such as UNGGIM, priority bilateral engagement and hosting an international conference. 

6.2 The Board discussed the international conference components, including the objectives and audience for the event, with the aim of bringing together thinkers from the core geospatial community with the wider science and technology community and a focus on policy. The Commissioners will be kept informed as the details for the conference are developed. . 

6.3 In relation to the bilateral engagement components within the strategy, it was highlighted that the Geo6 have a range of international contacts and relationships both commercial as well as through FCDO. The Board talked about the priority countries, and how those were identified aligned with Ministerial priorities and innovating in areas that would benefit the UK.

6.4 In relation to the multilateral component it was noted that the activities in this areas were well defined and working well, such as the UN GGIM where all the relevant stakeholders were inputting into the creation and presenting of a UK position. The collaborative approach could be extended to international conversations on standards and the UK’s approach to overseas development aid with a geospatial component.. The Board felt it is important that each UK stakeholder is clear on their priorities for international engagement as that will dictate the most appropriate approach to take in different forums.

6.5 The Board thanked Ben for the paper and the interesting discussion and looked forward to continuing it further as the components were fleshed out.  

7. Any Other Business

7.1.  The Chair thanked all the attendees for a stimulating and engaging conversation, and reiterated the Board’s gratitude to Louise for hosting the meeting and organising the wider visit programme that happened earlier in the day. 

7.2  The Secretariat will be in touch to confirm the date and location of the October meeting in the coming weeks.