A brief interview with Karin Schultze, Deputy Chair of the AdV.

Ms. Schultze, you head the Department of Digital Society and Geoinformation at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Digitalization of the State of Saxony-Anhalt and serve as the Deputy Chair of the AdV. Can you prioritize and summarize the major challenges facing official geospatial information management in three brief sentences for our readers?

Nationally consistent geospatial base data play a key role in addressing challenges such as security, crises, climate and disaster protection, and digital transformation. Technologies undergo increasingly shorter innovation cycles; there is a demand for geospatial base data that are simple, fast, digital, free of charge, and permanently usable. At the same time, there is an acute shortage of skilled professionals, and resources are limited.

How are administrations dealing with these challenges?

Collaboration within the AdV is indispensable. Intra-state optimizations have been exhausted, and further efficiency gains can be achieved through cooperation. Central (virtual) production facilities will play a significant role. The AdV addresses technological, economic, social, and political developments to early tap into the potential of geospatial base data as a government infrastructure service and a strategic element of digitization, as well as to leverage innovations for its own processes.

INTERGEO is always a platform for networking and exchange. Have you been able to find, discuss, focus, and perhaps even further develop future topics, especially regarding your core theme of digitization?

Certainly, INTERGEO provided an excellent opportunity for communication and networking. The AdV actively participated and equally benefited; discussions on the further development of BIM were arranged.

Ms. Schultze, thank you for the conversation.