(3b) Integration of National Mapping Activities into Global 
Monitoring Systems & Harmonization of Ongoing Global 
Mapping Projects 
Chairman: Hiroshi Murakami 
Geographical Survey Institute, Japan 
The participants of the discussion first pointed out lack of information on existing data sets and 
ongoing projects, especially on those of local areas. In other words, we do not know who is doing 
what and where. Without adequate information on such local projects, there is no way of data 
integration. Most participants agreed that obtaining such information by participating international 
conferences is impractical. An idea of clearinghouse for journal references and contact addresses of 
existing data sets was proposed. Some people plan to develop a point data set on existing data. A 
interactive web site set up in an international organization was another idea to enhance an accessibility 
to the meta data of existing data sets. However, the fund needed to keep the web site and limited 
accessibility to the internet in some countries were considered as a drawback of this idea. 
Lack of accuracy and documents is another drawback of existing data sets and prevents data 
integration. Data sets developed by university scientists are relatively freely distributed, but do not 
have long-term support for data distribution after the completion of the project. On the other hand, 
those developed by national authorities sometimes have less accessibility due to copyright, intellectual 
property right and so on. 
Data translation between global and regional or local data sets should be considered important for 
better validation of global data sets. However, scientists of global studies are not aware of local 
studies and vice versa as described above. An idea of externship was proposed to promote awareness 
of global studies in local studies and local in global. According to this idea, externs (experts and 
scientists) of different global study disciplines are to be sent to agencies and universities of different 
countries where local and/or regional data sets are being or have been developed to disseminate the 
idea of global data sets to the people working there. Adequate credits to such externs were also 
considered important to promote this idea. Although UNEP/GRID was considered as one of the 
options to implement this idea, there was not enough time to discuss further mechanism for the 
externship. 
The idea of externship can also be considered to promote harmonization of ongoing global projects 
through better dissemination of information on existing projects.