UN Open GIS

The Founders

The UN Open GIS Initiative was founded through a collaborative effort, bringing together open-source GIS experts from various countries, organizations, and academic institutions to leverage open-source GIS technology in support of UN operations:

Austria: Institute for Military Geography
Germany: Bundeswehr Geoinformation Center, Multinational Geospatial Support Group
Italy: Italian Military Geographic Institute, Italian Army General Staff, Italian National Research Council
Norway: Norwegian Military Geographic Service
Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan Army
Republic of Korea: Korea Research Institute for Human Settlement, OpenGDS
United States of America: US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, US South Command
United Nations: UNHQ /UNGIS, UNGSC, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNSOS
UN University
World Food Programme
Open-Source Geospatial Foundation(OSGeo)
Geo4All
Pusan National University, Republic of Korea
Politecnico di Milano, Italy

The Major Contributors

Since its establishment, the UN Open GIS Initiative has seen significant contributions from various countries, organizations, institutions, and the private sector, providing technical expertise, tools, and resources to advance the initiative’s goals:

Finland, The Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Japan, Geospatial Information Authority
Republic of Korea, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlement, OpenGDS
United States of America, US South Command
United Nations, UN Headquarters/UNGIS, UNGSC, MINUSCA, MONUSCO, MINUSMA, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNSOS, UNVMC
World Food Programme
Open-Source Geospatial Foundation(OSGeo)
OSGeo Japan Chapter
Geo4All
OpenDroneMap
Pusan National University, Republic of Korea
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
GeoSolutions, Italy/USA
Gispo, Finland

The Strategic Board

The Strategic Board (SB) sets the initiative's goals, oversees strategic planning, and manages the creation and termination of working and advisory groups. It guides the election of co-chairs and appointment of the members of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG). It is comprised of representatives from the contributors:

Alphonse Aka Attron, UNSOS
Akbar Amini, UNMISS
Anandavel Kannan, MINUSCA
HaeKyong Kang, KRIHS, Open GDS-Korea
Hidenori Fujimura, GSI-Japan, OSGeo Japan Chapter
Kais Zouabi, UNGSC
Ki-Joune Li, Pusan National University, OpenGDS-Korea
Josep Parareda Masnou, UNHQ/UNGIS
Maria Antonia Brovelli, Politecnico Di Milano, OSGeo
Serena Coetzee, University of Pretoria, Geo4All
Zahurul Islam, UNMISS

The Co-Chairs

The initiative has three Co-Chairs; one Co-Chair is appointed from the United Nations OICT (Office for Information and Communications Technology), and the other two are elected from the Strategic Board. The three Co-chairs and the Strategic Board are responsible for leading UN Open GIS Initiative activities:

Josep Parareda Masnou, since 1 January 2024
Ariel Anthieni, since 17 July 2025
Hidenori Fujimura, since 17 July 2025

The Secretariat

The Secretariat is elected by the Strategic Board among personnel from contributing entities. The Secretariat is responsible for supporting the Co-Chairs and the Strategic Board and activities of the UN Open GIS Initiative:

HaeKyong Kang, Secretary, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements
Timur Obukhov, Assistant Secretary, UNHQ/UNGIS

Domain Working Groups

The Domain Working Groups are established by the Strategic Board to conduct the activities related to specific areas of operations of the Open GIS Initiative and include experts in the subject matter. The SB appoints the leader (or co-leaders) for each DWG among the members of the DWG. DWG Leaders are responsible for coordinating the work of the DWG to achieve the objectives of the DWG as assigned by the SB:

DWG 1 - Hybrid GIS Infrastructure, Timur Obukhov, HaeKyong Kang
DWG 2 - Capacity Building, Ivan Henrico, Susan Henrico, Diego Gonzalez
DWG 5 - Geo-AI & Analysis, Maria Antonia Brovelli, Zhongxin Chen, Andrea Manara, Cung Thang
DWG 6 - OpenDroneMap & 3D, Catalina Ramos, Davide Barbiero
DWG 7 - Smart Maps, Hidenori Fujimura, Diego Gonzalez