User Community for Geospatial Authorities (UCG)

A community of national geospatial authorities collaborating on technology requirements and road maps

Request to join the UCG

Purpose and goals

The User Community for Geospatial Authorities (UCG) facilitates collaboration between Esri's key geospatial authority customers and Esri staff. This collaboration ensures that Esri delivers the best GIS technology to meet UCG requirements. The goals of the UCG are as follows:

Collaboration

Work with one another and Esri staff on shared goals for future innovations to provide excellent value to our common customers.

Planning

Regularly hear from UCG members on their future directions and from Esri staff on the planned road maps for ArcGIS.

Communication

Discuss new geospatial and geographic science technologies and capabilities we expect to need in 3–5 years and agree on prioritized requirements.

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UCG structure

The UCG operates under the structure of an appointed steering group; specialized working groups that are formed based on topics of interest; and a provided secretariat for day-to-day management, coordination, and communication.

What it is

The steering group agrees on capabilities required by the UCG and prioritizes them for Esri.

  • Members

    The steering group is made up of senior executives or managers, who have experience with Esri technology, from each of the UCG participating organizations.

  • Methods of work

    By majority, the steering group maintains a prioritized list of focused topics of interest for collaboration in meetings and establishing new working groups.

  • How and when we meet

    The group meets at least twice a year, often virtually. Meetings happen once a year in person around the Esri User Conference in San Diego and periodically in Redlands, California, or another location as needed. The steering group and the secretariat organize the meetings.

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What it is

Working groups are specialized groups that focus on specific topics within the UCG. They are established by the steering group for defined purposes and time frames.

  • Methods of work

    Groups maintain prioritized requirements that are sent as a request to Esri leaders. This process supplements the Esri technical support case system and ideas portal.

  • Current working groups

    There are currently two active working groups:
    Working Group 1—Multi Resolution Geospatial Production
    Working Group 2—Remote Sensing and GeoAI 

  • How and when we meet

    Working groups meet virtually a few times a year and typically once a year in person. These meetings are organized by appointed co-chairs.

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  • Sharing information

    Communication is shared openly within the UCG, but not outside the UCG, to encourage candid conversation and collaboration. Internal communication and collaboration happen on dedicated UCG pages in the Esri Community, an invitation-only collaboration website.

  • Member participation

    Each organization designates a senior executive to represent it in the UCG. It is expected that each UCG organization representative will participate in at least one meeting or activity each year.

  • Membership requirements

    Applicants must be current executives or managers from Esri geospatial authority customers who agree to actively participate with the UCG. Leaders at national mapping, charting, cadastre, national statistical organizations, and other geospatial authorities are eligible.

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Who we are

As members of the UCG, we collaborate on where we want and need to be in the next three to five years to meet and exceed customer and stakeholder needs. This specialized group was created to work with Esri on delivering the best GIS technology to help meet customer needs. The UCG consists primarily of national mapping, charting, cadastre, national statistical organizations, or other geospatial authorities that are willing to actively collaborate and participate in the UCG. 

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UCG approach

The UCG is not intended to replace the collaboration and meetings of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) (including regional or thematic groups), government agency associations (e.g., EuroGeographics, EuroSDR), or professional associations. On the contrary, the UCG is expected to offer pragmatic approaches to some of the resolutions of the UN-GGIM and other organizations.

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Background

On 26 June 2016, in San Diego, California, USA, a group of Esri geospatial authority customers discussed the need, vision, and potential of a UCG. As a result of the meeting, a number of executives from these organizations stated their interest in forming and actively participating in a UCG. The first meeting was held on 15 February 2017, in Washington, DC, USA, and the terms of reference were agreed on in principle. A second meeting was held on 12 July 2017, and the UCG was officially formed with Terms of Reference v1.0 agreed on. The UCG has met continually since then, typically quarterly, and established Working Group 1 in 2018 and Working Group 2 in 2020.

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Terms of reference

Please refer to the UCG terms of reference document.

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Request to join

If you are an employee of a national geospatial authority and would like to be considered for membership into the UCG, please complete the form. Please allow our team 5–10 business days to receive and consider your request and reply.