The global geospatial industry is estimated at US$ 500 Billion and delivers an even more significant impact on society, with derived economic benefits estimated to be multifold. These benefits, however, are still not fully understood by key stakeholders and policy and decision-makers, ultimately hindering the global uptake of geospatial information. With decades of national spatial data infrastructure efforts around the world, how can this be?

Focusing on the importance of broad, open data policies, the integrated analysis of the Earth's atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial systems, and hyper-partnering, challenges and opportunities for data management, analysis and applications will be explored. In order to address to the major challenges facing our planet and society at large, it is imperative the Earth observation and geospatial community redouble our efforts to deliver economic and societal benefits globally.