Usumacinta River Basin geospatial information open infrastructure system for the analysis of territorial dynamics

Mauricio Pablo Cervantes, Rodrigo Tapia

Funding Area: Community governance / Gobernanza comunitaria

Problem Statement: The Center for Research in Geospatial Information Sciences (CentroGeo) is a public research and education center with vast experience in developing open-access geospatial information services. It operates over thirteen platforms for monitoring, tracing, analyzing and visualizing various phenomena, such as COVID-19, crime, discrimination, superficial water bodies and urbanization, socioeconomic conditions, agri-food systems, and nutrition. CentroGeo platforms are well-known and widely used by researchers, students, NGOs, and policymakers, as they offer free access to geospatial data. However, geospatial information infrastructure is compartmentalized based on the logic of each research project and its information demands. This hampers information exchange between platforms and the potential integration for researching and analyzing complex socio-environmental phenomena. To address these challenges of organizational interoperability, the objective is to create an aggregated open platform of geospatial information for the Usumacinta basin. This platform will integrate existing information and address interoperability challenges within the organization. It will serve as a vital resource for analyzing territorial dynamics in their social, economic, and environmental dimensions in a very impoverished territory. This project will contribute to establishing the basis for an open observatory of socio-environmental dynamics, encompassing other territories in the country in a next stage

Proposed Activities: Phase 1. Pilot Model Design - (January-September 2024) 1) Establish a core coordination team 2) Conduct an assessment of information services 3) Propose experts for the technical council and the advisory council 4) Set up advisory council (organizational interoperability) 5) Set up technical council (technical and semantic interoperability) 6) Present the interoperability diagnosis to the committees 7) Develop the conceptual model of the project 8) Design the interoperability model 9) Design the model for monitoring territorial dynamics 10) Prepare documentation of this phase’s activities. Physical and human requirements: Specialized personnel in process design: organizational and administrative structure design, user information guidance, activity flow design, organization activity diagramming, and knowledge management policy design. Phase 2. Pilot Model Development - 8 months (September 2024 - April 2025) 1) Implement the conceptual model for the Usumacinta region 2) Design the platform for monitoring territorial dynamics In the Usumacinta basin 3) Implement and monitor the platform's development 4) Identify suitable technologies for potential use in the platform 5) Develop algorithms for data management and integration 6) Design the geovisualization dashboard 7) Develop the graphic design and semiotics of the platform 8) Implement processes to enhance interoperability 9) Set up infrastructure requirements to support the platform 10) Compile available information from the Usumacinta basin 11) Organize an Usumacinta stakeholders’ meeting to understand information demands and requirements 12) Initial launch of an operative platform Physical and human requirements: Servers, operating system, software, hardware, technical coordination, geoprocessing services, programmers, platform graphic design, specialized technical personnel for data analysis, software development, interface, and page semiotics. Phase 3. Usumacinta Territorial Dynamics Platform deployment - 6 months (May 2025-October 2025) 1) Draft user manuals for the system 2) Produce videos to present and promote the use of the system to potential users 3) Draft platform documentation with operation policies and rules 4) Draft participation policies and rules for the monitoring system 5) Organize a workshop with Usumacinta network stakeholders to present platform 6) Draft satisfaction questionnaire 7) Conduct training sessions for potential users to learn how to generate monitoring processes. Physical and human requirements: Programmers, administrator, hardware, software, servers, editing programs, stationery, graphic design.

Openness: At CentroGeo, we prioritize research and education that utilizes open scholarly infrastructure. Moreover, open infrastructure is guaranteed by the Mexican Constitution in Art. 3, para. V, as it recognizes the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific and technological innovation. A key strategy outlined in this project is to ensure open access to information generated by scientific, humanistic, and technological research and innovation. CentroGeo, as a public research center, is committed to pursuing open access of cutting-edge knowledge in geospatial information sciences. In order to foster the transfer and social use of knowledge to address national, regional, and local priorities, we aim to improve the institutional organizational and management model to ensure interoperability between our information platforms. To achieve this, the platform will operate with open access geovisualization software. All users will have immediate access to documentation, user manuals, and metadata. Additionally, because database geometry and program support will be homogenous, users will be able to download all databases for use on external geographic information tools for free. The project's governance will be overseen by the technical and advisory council. To ensure platform accessibility, the latter will include stakeholder representatives to voice their interests and needs concerning the system's geovisualization functionality

Challenges: The challenges faced by this project lie in the realm of collective action. The project needs to ensure the representation of community stakeholders as well as a robust governance body to give direction to the project. For this purpose, we will design an organizational structure that allows for coordinating actions to address organizational interoperability challenges (advisory council) and, through it, deriving actions to tackle semantic and technological interoperability challenges (technical council). Additionally, the organizational structure will include a general coordination position to facilitate the institutional governance of this open access data platform. To ensure comprehensive representation, decision-making spaces will include researchers responsible for the technological solutions available at CentroGeo, as well as the interests and needs of potential users, by incorporating them into the advisory council. This will ensure the proper usage of results by all users. Furthermore, it is necessary to design governance strategies to promote transparent decision-making processes and agreements to achieve the organizational interoperability, as well as to establish guidelines to institutionalize these processes. Finally, we recognize that a robust governance structure will ensure the procurement of additional funding for the project's continuity and growth. Another challenge will be the appropriation of the platform by different users.

Neglectedness: The technological solutions and geovisualization platforms available at CentroGeo have been developed with public resources from scientific and technological research calls promoted by national government bodies. Based on our experience, in Mexico, there are no funding calls specifically aimed at improving the governance of open access initiatives to foster information process interoperability. This funding call represents an invaluable opportunity to secure seed funding that will strengthen collective action around interoperability governance, leveraging the hardware, software, human resources, and expertise we have accumulated in open access research, teaching, and science dissemination experiences. Moreover, this proposal is original and unique to Mexico as it addresses the challenges of organizational interoperability to integrate information generated in other technological solutions into a platform designed to analyze territorial dynamics in their social, ecological, and environmental dimensions in the Usumacinta River Basin. To address the ecological degradation and improve the wellbeing of the basin's population, numerous national, transnational, and civil society initiatives have been undertaken. Notably, governments in the region have established a substantial number of protected natural areas, as well as conservation programs. Therefore, a comprehensive information tool that can lead the discussion on wellbeing and preservation is crucially needed.

Success: This project will be successful if it is possible to strengthen collective action that facilitates the establishment of an organizational structure to enable institutional governance of open access data. We are confident of achieving this goal because CentroGeo has over 20 years of experience in the development of scientific projects and technological products in spatial analysis sciences, territorial studies, web-based information service platform design, and specialized training in spatial analysis and geospatial information sciences. We have contributed in the scientific research and development of computational intelligence and spatial analysis to characterize territories for conservation, planning, prevention, and monitoring purposes. Monitoring success indicators: i) Establish an advisory council and a technical council, ii) Include representation of potential users in the Advisory Council, iii) Develop a conceptual and operational model that supports organizational interoperability processes, iv) Draft guidelines and strategies to institutionalize organizational interoperability processes, v) Increase the diversity of sources that integrate the cartographic information repository, and vi) Create an open platform that analyzes territorial dynamics in their social, ecological, and environmental dimensions. This platform will be openly accessible and will include statistics on the number of visits, number of users, recurrent users, and a satisfaction survey.

Total Budget: $24,900.00

Affiliations: Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de Información Geoespacial, A.C. (CentroGeo) / Center for Research in Geospatial Information Sciences

LMIE Carveout: The project focuses on countries in the LMIE category. This proposal aims to analyze territorial dynamics within the Usumacinta River basin, one of the 277 transboundary basins worldwide. It spans three countries, with 60% of its surface in Guatemala, 39.98% in Mexico, and 0.02% in Belize. The basin possesses abundant water and biological resources and faces significant social challenges and high deforestation rates. Official data indicates that in 2018, poverty rates ranged between 40% and 90% in Guatemala’s municipalities. In Mexico, as of 2020, poverty rates were recorded between 50.5% and 75.5% in all three States that share the basin (Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche). Significant national and international migration flows occur due to environmental, economic, and political factors.

Team Skills: CentroGeo has also conducted analyses of territorial dynamics and developed process-oriented models for territorial planning, urban consolidation, and development. It offers diverse technological solutions for monitoring, tracing, analyzing and visualizing various territorial phenomena. Mexico's Government adopted CentroGeo's COVID-19 data dashboard as the official system for monitoring and dissemination. It has over 50 million visits (coronavirus.gob.mx/datos/). For the past 15 years, CentroGeo has been actively engaged in the Usumacinta Region, collaborating with a wide network of institutions and stakeholders in research and engagement projects. These efforts have resulted in numerous publications and information services for municipal and state governments, as well as civil society organizations. As a co-founder of the Red de Investigadores de la Región Usumacinta en México (RedRUM), CentroGeo has co-organized ten meetings since its foundation in 2009. Mauricio Cervantes (researcher) has over 15 years of experience collaborating with stakeholders for strategic alliances between community organizations and research centers. In his professional practice, he has nurtured collaborations and relationships with key stakeholders in the Usumacinta region.Rodrigo Tapia (researcher) expertise focuses on geospatial data, geovisual analytics, and participatory mapping. He brings to the project the theoretical and technical expertise in data management and open research practices.

Submission Number: 162