Land is the cornerstone of everything in Africa. For Maroale Mimi Chauke, that belief shapes how Africa needs to think about geospatial information. As Director of the National Spatial Information Framework at South Africa’s Department of Land Reform and Rural Development (DLRRD)—the organization hosting OGC Connect Cape Town—Chauke brings a perspective shaped by land administration, standards, governance, and more than two decades in the geospatial field. In this conversation, she reflects on what Africa needs to do differently, who needs to be part of that conversation, and why seeing standards put into practice can change the way people think about what is possible.
South Africa has a strong geospatial community. What could help turn the wealth of geospatial data and expertise across institutions into greater value for the country?
South Africa has a strong geospatial community, but we are not yet integrated in a way that creates real value from the spatial data products and services we produce. There is still a lot of work happening in silos, particularly across government departments.
Government institutions have different mandates, so each organ of state naturally focuses on what it is responsible for. But sometimes we forget that integration is what creates value for people. When we work together, we can deliver better services to citizens.
The same applies to how we manage geospatial data. Standards can enable data integration and system interoperability, allowing data from different institutions to be brought together for better spatial analysis and decision-making.
There is also a human element to this. Institutions tend to focus on their own mandates and can miss what is happening beyond them. We may not change that human nature immediately, but standards give us a way to integrate data even when institutions continue to operate in silos. If different institutions agree to follow the same standards when they capture and manage data, their data can be brought together, and decisions can be based on multiple variables rather than a single one.
You have spoken about land administration as a particular priority. What makes land such an important issue?
Land is one of the most important and sensitive issues in Africa. Across the continent, land is closely linked to economic development, social stability, food security, and identity. In South Africa, the importance of land carries even greater significance because our history of colonization and apartheid was fundamentally shaped by the dispossession and unequal distribution of land. As a result, discussions about land are often deeply emotional and remain central to our national development agenda.
If we are unable to implement efficient and integrated land administration systems across Africa, many of the challenges associated with land governance, tenure security, land reform, investment, and sustainable development will persist.
In South Africa, one of our key challenges is that land-related information is fragmented across different branches and institutions. We have the Deeds Office responsible for information that records ownership, the National Geomatics Management Services Office responsible for cadastral information that defines property boundaries, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Office responsible for data on land use, the Valuer-General Office responsible for property valuation information, the Land Tenure Office responsible for land tenure records, and the Department of Agriculture responsible for land capability, along with many other sources of land-related data. However, these datasets have often been developed independently to serve different business needs, using different standards, methodologies, and systems.
What I would like to see is a fully integrated land administration system where a single inquiry about a property can provide a complete view of that land parcel. We should be able to answer not only who owns the property, but also what it is worth, how it is being used, what development rights exist, whether it is suitable for land reform purposes, what its land capability is, and what restrictions or opportunities may apply to it.
Citizens, investors, government officials, and decision-makers should not have to move from one institution or branch to another in search of information, only to discover that the datasets cannot be integrated because they were captured using different standards and formats.
The implementation of an integrated land administration system based on the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) provides a practical pathway to addressing this challenge. LADM offers a common international standard for integrating information on land rights, restrictions, responsibilities, parties, spatial units, valuation, and land use into a coherent framework. If South Africa can successfully implement an integrated land administration system founded on LADM principles, it will not only improve service delivery and evidence-based decision-making but also support land reform, economic development, and spatial transformation. For me, that would be a significant achievement and a major win for South Africa.
Can you give an example of how better integrated land information could make a difference to people on the ground?
South Africa has been experiencing a lot of flooding, particularly in the eastern coastal regions. Climate change is here; we cannot avoid it, but we can mitigate its effects and be better prepared.
When people are affected by flooding, they may need to be moved from low-lying areas to safer places. During a disaster, it can be very difficult to identify suitable land if the necessary land information is not readily available.
Land information is therefore critical for disaster response. It allows us to respond quickly, save lives, restore people’s dignity, and identify areas that can be used sustainably so that people can continue with their lives.
If that information is not readily available, we cannot respond and mitigate effectively. These challenges are here to stay. We cannot change the status quo, but we can respond better — and responding better means having the right information readily available.
At the recent UN-GGIM session, South Africa placed strong emphasis on meaningful participation by young people, including a proposal for a youth network. Why is this important to you?
There is an agenda around the future of the geospatial ecosystem — innovation, AI, GeoAI, and all these new developments.
But we are defining this future for people who are not in the room.
You are planning for someone without them. Do we understand the needs of young people? Do we understand how they want their future — and the future of geospatial information — to look?
We are failing them if we plan for them without them, creating a future that might not work for them. We need young people to help define the standards of the future, including within OGC. The future of geospatial standards, particularly in areas such as GeoAI, must be defined by them.
We should not leave them behind. We need to take them along, show them the history and the challenges we have faced in areas such as land administration and climate change, but they are better equipped to define what the future should look like for them using geospatial technologies and standards.
For me, this is something very close to my heart: we cannot leave them behind. They need to be part of the discussion and be at the table.
What needs to change to make geospatial a more deliberate career choice for young people?
The geospatial field is broad. Many of us came into it from different disciplines. I am a statistician who was trained in geospatial data. Many people came into the field by chance, not by choice.
We need to change that and make it a deliberate choice. Universities need to offer courses in geospatial information that are relevant to the problems we face today.
And the curriculum needs to go beyond GIS. There is a difference between GIS and geospatial information management. GIS is about using technical tools to capture and manipulate data and produce an output. Geospatial information management is broader. It involves bringing together different datasets to make decisions, understanding how data was captured, applying standards and policies, working with different partners, and understanding how innovation and AI can be applied.
The challenges we face today don’t just require a GIS solution. They require a geospatial information management solution — and that is why standards matter.
South Africa has recently strengthened its spatial data governance through the publication of standards for the South African Spatial Data Infrastructure. What difference do you hope this will make?
In South Africa, when something is put into the Government Gazette as a notice or law, people take it seriously because organs of state can be audited for non-compliance. That is the first win.
But the real impact comes when organs of state actually use and adhere to the standards.
We should not measure ourselves only by compliance. We need to ask: Are we able to integrate data? Are we able to apply the standards? Are we able to make a difference?
That is where we need to focus. Publishing standards is just the first step. The important element is implementation and seeing the difference at the end.
We are also intentionally training data custodians and developing manuals to help them understand and implement standards, because standards can be technical and difficult to interpret. We want to expand the number of standards and bring OGC standards into this framework as well.
Looking beyond South Africa, what do you see as the priorities for Africa?
There are still very few countries in Africa taking standards development and implementation seriously. That is concerning because standards are a component of the UN Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (UN-IGIF). We cannot say we have fully implemented the framework if the standards component is left behind.
We need to bring all 54 member states on board. But I also believe Africa needs an approach that recognizes its own circumstances. We should not necessarily approach implementation in Africa in exactly the same way as Europe, the Americas, or Asia-Pacific.
The framework has nine components. If we look at it as something that must all be completed before progress can be recognized, it becomes overwhelming. Why not look at it step by step? If you have achieved one of nine, that is progress. Then two of nine. Then three.
That approach gives hope.
For now, I believe data and standards are critical priorities. We need to get data out and make sure Africa is using data to inform decisions. For that data to be integrated, we need standards.
You cannot have data without standards, and you cannot have data without governance. We need to balance all three, but we also need to choose our battles and recognize that countries will not all move at the same pace.
What do you hope OGC Connect Cape Town will help move forward?
For a long time, I have been the one lone voice attending OGC meetings. I see the great work being done by OGC members and then come back and try to explain it to people at home. But they cannot always understand it because they were not there.
That is what makes bringing OGC to South Africa so important.
People will be able to see their peers and counterparts doing things and think, “We can do it.” They can experience it for themselves.
Two hundred and fifty people cannot all travel to an OGC meeting. But if OGC comes to South Africa, and others can participate virtually, we can reach many more people. Imagine 500 people seeing what others around the world are doing in geospatial standards. I believe that can shift thinking.
Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. You have experienced it, and you start thinking differently.
You have worked across national, African and international geospatial initiatives for more than two decades. What has that experience taught you about leadership and communicating the value of geospatial information?
Buy-in and support from leadership are very important. As technocrats, we often speak to each other in technical language and forget that we need to communicate the value of this work to leadership.
A few years ago, I was stuck in traffic in Mexico with my minister. I realized I could not talk to him about projections, latitudes, and longitudes. I needed to explain my work in the context that mattered to him — land, colonization, African freedom, self-reliance, and self-determination.
That changed the way I think about communicating geospatial information.
When we talk to leadership, we need to explain how geospatial information can deliver services to people, reduce poverty, create employment, address security, and respond to geopolitical issues.
Know your audience. If you are speaking to an economist, explain the economic value. If you are speaking to a politician, position it in terms of their priorities.
As a woman in geospatial leadership, what has your experience been like, and what would you like the next generation of women entering the field to know?
For many years, I was the only woman in UN-GGIM Africa. The geospatial discipline was, and still is, male-dominated, and women came into the industry later.
When I was nominated as chair of UN-GGIM Africa, men from across Francophone and Anglophone Africa supported me. I was humbled and asked them why they had nominated me, and they said they valued my leadership. That experience strengthened my conviction to bring more women into the space, so that I was not the only woman.
Women still face challenges, as mapping and geospatial agencies across Africa are predominantly led by men. I appreciate the policies and laws of South Africa that have empowered women to take on leadership roles. We need more platforms like HerGIS in South Africa, alongside initiatives such as Geospatial Girls in Africa and the global Women in Geo initiatives to mentor young women, foster an inclusive geospatial community, and build a pipeline into leadership.
The goal is not simply to bring women into the industry, but to prepare them to take on leadership roles where they have a voice and the power to influence decisions.
