From 1 to 4 December 2025, UNGSC, in collaboration with OICT and the UN Geospatial Network, organized the UN Maps Clinic sessions “Enhancing UN Maps – from the field, for the field”, remotely.
Participated by more than 350 UN personnel from 67 UN entities, the UN Maps Clinics provided a series of interactive and hands-on sessions that showcased updates of UN Maps features and applications, demonstrated outputs, and gathered feedback for future enhancement. It co-designed the roadmap of UN Maps to better plan the future steps to deliver coordinated support for UN’s daily operational activities.
Day 1: Monday, December 1st - Opening & General Overview
Caption: Mr. Michel Bergeron, Chief of Service for Geospatial, Information and Telecommunications Technologies, and Mr. Kais Zouabi, Chief or Client Solutions Delivery Section providing welcoming and opening remarks
The session started with a welcoming words from the Chief of Service for Geospatial, Information and Telecommunications Technologies, Mr. Michel Bergeron, the opening message from the Chief of Client Solutions Delivery Section, Mr. Kais Zouabi, and overview of the Clinics and the UN Maps Programme from Chief of Solutions & Support Unit, Mr. Diego González Ferreiro.
Participants showed particular interest in three areas: authoritative basemaps and boundaries, data access and customization, and offline and mobile capabilities. Many questions focused on the sources and public availability of UN basemaps, language support (including translations and transliterations), and how missions can adopt or contribute to more localized or updated data. Participants also expressed significant curiosity about GeoPortal workflows—especially data upload limits, access levels, licensing requirements, and the ability to create or share groups and specialized layers.
Day 2: Tuesday, December 2nd – Geospatial Information & Mission Dashboards
Caption: Ms. Laura Diaz, Chief, Data Management Unit, discussing about the Operational Map, and Mr. Pietro Di Gennaro, Computer Science Engineer, showing the UN Maps Power BI plugin for creating interactive dashboards and analytics;
Day 2 sessions highlighted a strong collective interest in accessing, integrating, and governing geospatial data across missions. Participants were particularly focused on how to request or discover imagery, including the possibility of obtaining data outside mission areas, accessing a future UN-wide imagery catalog, and integrating drone imagery alongside satellite layers. Several questions also centered on data standards and governance, especially around the availability of COGI/MOGI documents, metadata standards, and how to add or manage layers within the GeoPortal.
Across the Operational Map and Power BI sessions, attendees showed sustained interest in workflows that enhance field and reporting operations—including adding grids, understanding update cycles, linking dashboards with Geo-Apps, ensuring access rights for audiences, receiving notifications when basemaps change, and expanding analytical or visualization features such as routing or animation. The Maps on Demand session further reinforced the community’s desire for more flexible map products, from new scales like 25K to the ability to generate choropleth outputs by connecting to data in the GeoPortal.
Day 3: Wednesday, December 3rd – Location Services & Community
Caption: Mr. Andrés Muñoz Zuluaga, Geospatial Information Systems Consultant, demonstrating UN Maps Direction features, and Mr. Michael Montani, Community Engagement Coordinator, sharing about field mapping and data validation using collaborative editing platform, OpenStreetMap.
The third session showed a clear and growing interest in improving search accuracy, strengthening routing capabilities, and expanding collaborative data contributions.
In the location and routing sessions, participants were particularly focused on making search more reliable across platforms—raising questions about coordinate formats, incomplete or incorrect place-name results, and the potential use of AI or enriched datasets like GeoNames to enhance search logic and normalization. Participants also asked for features such as “safest path” routing, options for preferred or patrol routes, better handling of areas without speed limits or road classifications, and streamlined ways to update OpenStreetMap or request routing support for new countries or regions. These questions showed a strong demand for routing tools that better match field conditions and mission requirements.
In the community sessions, participants emphasized the importance of broader data contributions and validation, including collaborations with NGOs and the role of expert groups in verifying geographic names. Finally, interest in the UN Maps Learning Hub focused on how it can support capacity building—not only for UN staff but also for national mapping authorities, particularly through SALB-related courses.
Day 4: Thursday, December 4th – 3D & Way Forward
As the Clinics came to a close, participants explored the future of UN Maps through sessions on Digital Twins, Globe & XR solutions, and the evolving GIS infrastructure. The final discussions reflected a strong interest in collaboration, data integration, and the growing need for scalable, enterprise-level geospatial solutions across the UN system.
Caption: Mr. Anthony O’Mullane, Director of the Policy, Strategy and Governance Division, UN OICT, and Mr. Diego González Ferreiro, Chief of Solutions & Support Unit, during the closing session.
In his keynote address, Mr. Anthony O’Mullane, Director of the Policy, Strategy and Governance Division, United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology, highlighted the potential of open-source technologies, the importance of local data ecosystems, and the growing recognition of GIS as an enterprise enabler.
Mr. Kais Zouabi, Chief of Client Solutions Delivery Section, formally closed the conference with deep gratitude to the organizers and participants, and celebrating how far the community has come and looking confidently toward the shared roadmap ahead.
For more information about the conference, visit the 2025 UN Maps Conference: UN Maps Clinics.