National Mapping Agencies

A national mapping agency (NMA) is an organization designated by a national government to have responsibility for surveying and mapping the country and providing the resulting geographic information to those who need it. That basic role has taken on a variety of forms around the world.

NMAs typically focus on establishing geographic coordinate reference systems and collecting topographic base data, which include the major features of the landscape, such as roads, buildings, rivers, forests, and elevation. In some countries, the national mapping function is combined with cadastre or land registration. Functions such as seismology, metrology, hydrographic surveys, and boundary designation may also be included.

NMA data come from a variety of sources and may include geodetic surveys, topographic surveys, aerial and satellite imagery, records of land ownership and use, and other information from third parties. These holdings are disseminated to users in different ways directly via paper or in digital format, including on the Web and indirectly through companies who put the information into their own products and services.

NMAs serve the needs of government, utilities, and other infrastructure customers who need highly detailed and reliable geographic information. Users can be as diverse as local authorities needing to understand social housing conditions to private sector delivery companies seeking to route their vehicle fleets more effectively. Small organizations and individuals may also access data made available by NMAs for purposes such as planning applications or leisure activities.

There are many different kinds of organizations considered to be NMAs. For historical, economic, and cultural reasons, they operate under a wide range of remits and funding models. Many NMAs have military origins and retain an element of defense responsibilities, while others are completely civilian. Some NMAs are completely government funded, while others have moved to a cost-recovery model on a reduced scale of support. NMAs have a wide variety of names and report into different parts of central or regional government. For example, the NMA of Iceland reports to Iceland's Ministry for the Environment, while Austria's reports to the Austrian Ministry of Economic Affairs.

NMAs have a key role in developing geographic information science—individually, together, and in collaboration with other providers. Around the world, NMAs are championing and responding to rapidly changing technology and customer demand. The result of this is that NMAs are working more closely with other data collectors to achieve interoperability between their data sets.

NMAs coordinate their activities around the world in a number of ways, often at a regional level. In Europe, [Page 306]the umbrella organization EuroGeographics represents around 50 national mapping and cadastral agencies. One of its key aims is to achieve interoperability of European mapping with other geographic information and so help the public and private sectors develop good governance and sustainable growth for the future.

The heads of NMAs have a formal conference every 4 years in Cambridge, England. At the most recent event, a resolution was passed that confirmed that the role of NMAs worldwide was ultimately to benefit citizens. Delegates agreed that public health and safety, clean air and water, and sustainable development all rely on geographic information. They urged NMAs to lead the coordination of geospatial activities, develop policies to improve access to geographic information, and ensure that such information is nationally consistent and maintained. The conference also resolved that NMAs should engage more with organizations responsible for the education of children to promote the continued study of geography within schools.

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