19th United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific
Emphasizes the need of global reference datasets,
Global geospatial information base and framework,
And establishing best practices in institutional arrangements.

Apple got it wrong.
iPhone 5 maps applications…
Incorrect maps, wrong place, misspelled locations…

Aspirations to actions
Brakes to breakthroughs
Confusions to confidence
Delays to deliverables

On August 6, 2012 Mankind accomplishes another feat,
When our curiosity to locate life Beyond the Earth,
Finally, landed Curiosity – the NASAs Rover, on Mars.

A drone of Homeland Security, US
‘Spoofed’ by Texas College Researchers
Before the offi cials operating it
Supposedly for a wager of just USD 1000
Demonstrates again the dangers and vulnerability of GNSS.

When various governments raise objections
To the easy access to geospatial information for security reasons
Especially by online providers of such information,
We demand liberated and conducive policy ambience.

It was all about land. At the World Bank’s Land and Poverty conference (April 23- 26, 2012 Washington DC).
Where Access, ownership, reforms and rights. Acquisitions, regulations and legalities. Revenue, corruption,
administration and governance. People, poverty, policies and practices.

The recent ruling of US Supreme Court
Which has termed placing GPS tracker without a warrant as illegal
Has prompted The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
To turn off about 3,000 tracking devices.

In Spatially Enabled Government
‘Government’ remains the key
And not the ‘Spatial Information’.
As the ‘governments’ are expected to imbibe
The ethics, principles and purpose
Of governance

The proposed anti-piracy bills in the U.S.
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Protect IP Act (PIPA)…
Has been put on hold due to wide protests
Led by Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia facebook, Twitter, Mozilla…