Geospatial Information Management for Green Growth Operationalization (GIMGGO)

Project Summary:

The objective of this grant is to operationalize Green Growth (GG) through geospatial information management. The World Bank’s Green Growth strategy aimed at promoting development includes a flexible approach to achieving progress across environmental, social, and economic pillars. The proposed activity will provide the knowledge and means of using geospatial information to achieve the WB’s green growth objective. Its main goal is to ensure that natural resources and assets can offer their full economic potential on a sustainable basis while also promoting activities that protect livelihoods and increase wellbeing. Geospatial information can be used simultaneously for achieving the WB’s twin goals as well as developing action plans to combat unsustainable development, to improve data-driven decision making and to increase innovation and related growth opportunities. By combining GG approach to the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF) and World Bank Geospatial Information Management (GIM) toolkit with capacity building and Korea knowledge exchanges, task teams and clients will be able to develop and implement realistic Country-Level Action and Investment Plans for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure and GIM eco-system. The Action Plans will identify country-specific needs to develop interoperable, fundamental data for enhancing GG approaches to socio-economic development for citizens. Leveraging the Korean experience provides good practice examples to influence GG-oriented GIM. The proposed activity will also complement the three ongoing Korean grants under the Global Land and Geospatial Unit.  

List of Activities:

1. Enhanced the IGIF Implementation Guide and Country Level toolkit with GG focus and Korean good practice examples - Review of Korea GG cases and achievements for GIM and investment in the related digital infrastructure
2. Operationalizing the GG-oriented IGIF through Capacity Building for Local Experts in GIM and development of country-level Action and Investment Plans - Development of training and knowledge transfer programs, KE program, and country-level action plans
3. Knowledge management and communication – Preparation of communication, outreach and dissemination materials/events for awareness raising, stakeholder engagement and showcasing impact stories
4. World Bank Korea Office hub strategy development – Incorporation of GG-oriented GIM in the World Bank Korea Office hub strategy on technology/innovation

Outcomes:

Output 1:

• Review of Korea GG cases and achievements for GIM and investment in the related digital infrastructure to enhance and incorporate GG aspects and impacts into: (a)  the IGIF implementation guide; and  (b) the World Bank IGIF implementation toolkits.

Output 2:

• Development of training and knowledge transfer programs (e-Learning, Knowledge Notes and face-to-face Korean experience) for GG-oriented GIM using the IGIF and World Bank methodology;
• Conduct of KE program to Korea with target country teams and clients to learn about GIM and GG operationalization best practices; and
• Preparation of country-level action plans in 4 countries for GG oriented GIM and investment.

Output 3:

• Preparation of communication, outreach and dissemination materials/events for awareness raising, stakeholder engagement and showcasing impact stories.

Output 4:

• Incorporating GG-oriented GIM in the World Bank Korea Office hub strategy on technology/innovation

Outcomes:

1. Improved efficiency:  Complementary measures to promote smart investments and incite changes in consumer behavior.  For example, smart and integrated land use planning underpinned by GIM is critical for policy and investments which support compact cities, green transport, more renewable energy and eco-industrial parks to promote GG.     

• GIM is a core element to governments following transformation agendas. It enables integration of shared data, improving transparency and evidence-based decision-making. In so doing, it reduces costs to government. In many governments, geospatial information is a key component of government open data agendas, stimulating innovation and job growth opportunities, including effective and efficient, citizen-centric government delivery systems. 
• In natural resource management for sustained livelihoods, improved GIM helps to determine which communities own/manage the rights to natural capital in order to avoid conflicts with outside investors while also avoiding unsustainable exploitation. 

2. Greater resilience:  Promote increased resilience.  A primary focus will be to make both urban and rural areas more resilient against risks arising from past development mistakes and a changing climate. This includes smart infrastructure design that is well adapted to a variety of futures, protection against extreme weather events, integrated water resources management and mechanisms to avoid disruptions of transport and commerce services in cases of natural disasters. 

• Geospatial information brings better measurement of the current situation, monitoring change, planning mitigation, evidence-based decision-making, and delivering mitigation projects. This is particularly important to countries that are highly susceptible to climate change and natural hazards and need to ensure resilient and sustained livelihoods for citizens in the event of a natural hazard or climatic event. From rapid response to damage assessments to rebuilding sustainably, geospatial information and infrastructure is a key component to risk management and resilience.  

3. Increased competitiveness: Underpinning the Korean vision of green growth is the notion that a focus on green sustainability need not come at the expense of growth and that greening can also be a source of increased competitiveness. This is particularly true for transport, urban and agricultural policies where substantial synergies exist between land use planning, environment, energy efficiency and growth objectives. 

• Geospatial information is used across sectors, from marketing through logistics to insurance, utilities to telecommunications. Banks use it for fraud detection and governments to improve taxation. 
• Information about spatial and resource usage helps governments at the national and local levels to make strategic decisions for incentivizing the private sector to invest in particular economic sectors (e.g. integrated transportation, precision agriculture, urban planning, etc.) 

Collaboration with K-Partners and Others:

• Korea Land and Geospatial InformatiX Corporation (LX)
• National Geographic Information Institute (NGII)
• Korea Research Institute for Human Settlement (KRIHS)
• Korea Appraisal Board (KAB) 
• UN-GGIM