Geographic Information Systems and Cultural Resources Management

GIS is a set of computerised tools used to collect, archive, manage, retrieve, analyse and output geographic and other related kinds of attribute data; it has great potential as a  powerful tool for the management of heritage sites.  Although the safeguarding of heritage has always been a central concern of UNESCO, the focus on the use of modern electronic and computer-based information technologies to support this work is a relatively new initiative.

This project, in creating capacity for GIS use in the culture profession, advances UNESCO’s global strategic objective of “promoting the drafting and implementation of standard setting instruments in the field of culture”.  Within this global framework, it builds on the regional pillar of “localization and empowerment of the culture profession to develop and implement standards”.