Spatial data, also known as geographical data, plays a crucial role as it provides vital insights into various sectors, helping policymakers understand the geographical distribution of people, resources, and activities within the country.

The Namibian Statistics Agency, in partnership with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) and various stakeholders, held a National Spatial Data Infrastructure forum, highlighting the importance of spatial data in the policy formulation process.

The National Spatial Data Infrastructure is a key element in achieving geographical priorities as it provides access to locational data.

Chairperson of the Namibia Statistics Agency, Salomo Hei, stressed the importance of data in formulating, measuring, and evaluating policies, with spatial data being a key tool across these processes.

"Data is the bedrock for both evaluation and setting realistic national development goals as well as measurable indicators. If you cannot measure, it means that you have not done it. The role of spatial data and statistics in all these formulation processes as well as monitoring and evaluation cannot be overemphasised."

The Executive Director in the Ministry of ICT, Dr. Audrin Mathe, said that spatial data offers immense opportunities in multiple sectors such as economic planning, environmental protection, and healthcare delivery, among others.

"Availability of data is essential for comparing situations over time, identifying trends, and understanding the measures needed to address the challenges. In Namibia, we need data to allocate our resources effectively and equitably to improve the lives of our people. Such reliable data should be easily accessible to serve the purpose for which it was created."

He added that it is crucial to prioritise the effective collection, maintenance, archiving, and dissemination of relevant and timely data for informed decisions.