Resolutions Aide Memoir

Aide Memoire - to be used at the opening session of the 2007 Cambridge Conference.

The role of the NMA

The role of NMA's worldwide is several fold; to serve the needs of the government and therefore - ultimately the citizens at large.
The issues of public health, public safety, clean air and water, and sustainable development all rely on geospatial information.
NMAs must exert leadership for the coordination of geospatial activities; develop policies and stands so that this information is widely accessible and nationally consistent, and maintained.
NMAs should engage more with organisations responsible for the education of our children to ensure the continued study and promotion of geography within schools.

NMA's should be aware of the trends in society where a change from supply to demand driven developments can be witnessed as well as an integration of NMA activities. It requires a different and flexible approach to their products and services, especially as this introduces the user much earlier in the process.
NMA's should have the capacity and capability to deal with new technologies and methodologies which impact all phases of the geospatial data handling process, bringing the NMA's beyond the map paradigm.
Linking the summits on sustainable developments and the information society.
NMA's should ensure that they adopt a proactive role in their strategy and policy formulation to the resolutions and outcomes of WSSD 2002 in particular recommendations on GI infrastructure and global mapping needs.
NMA's should also take a lead in the preparations and outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society 2005.

There is no single solution or model to fit all. Developing Nations will require support in determining the most appropriate model to use.
Due to the limited appreciation of the value of spatial data in decision-making by potential consumers NMA's should foster and engage fully with other professions, for instance economists, to enable the holistic benefits of spatial data to be explained clearly by all professionals and politicians.
NMA's, private sector, academia, and NGO partnerships need to be increasingly transparent and open in their dealings with each other.

Global initiatives play a key role in supporting sustainable development and should be supported by NMA's. It is essential to coordinate and simplify cooperation amongst the growing number of such initiatives in order to optimise resources.
NMA's should seek to avoid overload and rationalise the level of support required by participants in developing countries.

There is a future for NMA's whatever they produce.
It is not a matter of survival, it is a political necessity in order to deliver products and services based on spatial data in the context of the Information Society and Development.

Agreed unanimously at the closing session of the Cambridge Conference 2003.

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