The POPGRID Data Collaborative, an initiative launched by Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in 2017 to improve the quality, access, and use of global-scale spatial data on human population, settlements, and infrastructure, has recently updated its website and announced an international Webinar to be held February 4, 2020, in collaboration with Geospatial World.
The POPGRID website helps users learn about the many different gridded population data sets now available, providing detailed background information and documentation, and direct links to the data and data sources. In addition, the POPGRID Viewer lets users easily compare different data products for their specific regions of interest. The updated site now includes links to recent publications and recorded webinars about gridded population data, together with updated information from the data providers.
POPGRID is collaboratively managed by CIESIN, the Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (TReNDS) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, and is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and NASA. More than 20 different groups from both the public and private sectors are active in the POPGRID Data Collaborative. The POPGRID Viewer was developed by NASA's Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN.
On February 4, CIESIN director Robert Chen and Maryam Rabiee of TReNDS presented the webinar "Leaving No One Off the Map: Gridded Population Data for Decision Making" in coordination with Geospatial World. It attracted 150 participants from around the world.
The webinar focused on how gridded population data can help decision makers and other applied users improve efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the international community in 2015, and in particular to help reach those who might otherwise be left behind. Recent advances in mapping make it possible to better determine the location and characteristics of human settlements and households, allowing for more effective and efficient assistance, for example, for vaccination campaigns, development assistance, and humanitarian relief. However, the proliferation of different datasets utilizing different methods and sources may confuse users about which data sets are the most appropriate to use in different situations. The webinar discussed ongoing efforts by the POPGRID Data Collaborative to address this issue, and ways in which the geospatial community can both benefit from, and participate in, POPGRID activities.