On 19 April I was happy to chair the inaugural meeting of the Geospatial Steering Committee (GSC). The GSC was convened as the governance arm of the New Zealand Geospatial Office (NZGO) to help guide its programme of work and report to the Geospatial Executives Group (GEG).

The Steering Committee replaces the Geospatial Advisory Committee (GAC) with a corresponding membership change from technical to work programme management leaders.  The GSC is a critical link in the governance chain, bringing together a cross-section of public sector participants, each representing a significant agency or sector geospatial work programme. Through their representative, technical, project, policy and strategy leaders throughout New Zealand have a direct link to the GSC decision process and can participate in the wider implementation of the New Zealand Geospatial Strategy.

Current membership for the GSC includes the Department of Conservation (DoC), the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST), Land information New Zealand (LINZ), Statistics New Zealand, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA). Local government is in the process of nominating two members to represent territorial and regional interests and should be participating as of the next GSC meeting in June.

The agenda for this first meeting of the steering committee focused on:

• general governance topics, including a review of the GSC terms of reference
• the NZGO all of government context
• the GSC sector and agency representation model.

To start the meeting, Colin MacDonald, LINZ CE and chair of the GEG, provided opening remarks about the NZGO work programme and fielded questions from GSC members. Colin provided an insightful review of progress on the NZGO work programme so far and detailed what he saw as the key areas of focus for the NZGO from now on.

Following the meeting, GSC members were asked to present what they consider priorities for the NZGO programme of work, from streams such as:

• strengthening governance structures
• facilitating a national SDI
• developing a fundamental geospatial dataset framework
• promoting interoperability through standards
• supporting geospatial research initiatives
• supporting geospatial capability-building
• facilitating effective engagement.

A more detailed discussion of these priorities, including their concurrence with the overall NZGO programme of work and other work agendas will feature in future GSC meetings.

A clear message arising from the GSC meeting was the potential for a collaborative approach. Beyond highlighting redundancies and duplication of efforts, thereby supporting government initiatives for increased efficiency, a coordinated effort among geospatial work programmes also creates an environment that fosters innovative solutions.

Collaborative governance shared among committed participants highlights the fact that the NZGO programme of work is truly the responsibility of the entire New Zealand geospatial community. Providing guidance with a focus on the common good, the GSC can also support the NZGO work programme so that it achieves its far-reaching potential.

Kevin Sweeney

Geospatial Custodian
New Zealand Geospatial Office