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Digital public goods (DPGs), if implemented with effective policies, can facilitate the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, there are ongoing deliberations on how to define DPGs and assure that society can extract the maximum benefit from the growing number of digital resources. The International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) sees DPGs as an important mechanism to facilitate information-driven policy and decision-making processes for the SDGs. This article presents the results of a CBAS survey of 51 respondents from around the world spanning multiple scientific fields, who shared their expert opinions on DPGs and their thoughts about challenges related to their practical implementation in supporting the SDGs. Based on the survey results, the paper presents core principles in a proposed strategy, including establishment of international standards, adherence to open science and open data principles, and scalability in monitoring SDG indicators. A community-driven strategy to develop DPGs is proposed to accelerate DPG production in service of the SDGs while adhering to the core principles identified in the survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of Digital Earth (DE) was formalized by Al Gore in 1998. At that time the technologies needed for its implementation were in an embryonic stage and the concept was quite visionary. Since then digital technologies have progressed significantly and their speed and pervasiveness have generated and are still causing the digital transformation of our society. This creates new opportunities and challenges for the realization of DE. 'What is DE today?', 'What could DE be in the future?', and 'What is needed to make DE a reality?'. To answer these questions it is necessary to examine DE considering all the technological, scientific, social, and economic aspects, but also bearing in mind the principles that inspired its formulation. By understanding the lessons learned from the past, it becomes possible to identify the remaining scientific and technological challenges, and the actions needed to achieve the ultimate goal of a 'Digital Earth for all'. This article reviews the evolution of the DE vision and its multiple definitions, illustrates what has been achieved so far, explains the impact of digital transformation, illustrates the new vision, and concludes with possible future scenarios and recommended actions to facilitate full DE implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Change challenges are now systematically recognized and tackled in a growingly coordinated manner by intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations. Heterogeneous observing networks provide the founded data sources to assess the Earth environmental status and take sound decisions to achieve a sustainable development. WMO Hydrological Observing System (WHOS) allows to discover and access historical and near real time hydrological observations. WHOS represents the hydrological contribution to the wider WIGOS-WIS system of WMO. It is a digital ecosystems framework contributed by a set of data providers and technical support centers. In this framework, three regional pilots were successfully completed. The WHOS architecture applies the services brokering style, implemented through the Discovery and Access Broker technology. A brokering approach makes a global system of systems possible and sustainable, where the different enterprise systems are enabled to interoperate, despite they implement heterogeneous communication interfaces and data models. In this manuscript, the WHOS brokering solution is detailed by recurring to the definition of a set of transversal viewpoints to describe the important aspects of the complex ecosystem –namely: enterprise, information, computational, engineering, and technological views. Finally, the three regional pilot ecosystems are described as successful cases of WHOS implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, it was adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The year after, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) officially came into force. In 2015, GEO (Group on Earth Observation) declared to support the implementation of SDGs. The GEO Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) required a change of paradigm, moving from a data-centric approach to a more knowledge-driven one. To this end, the GEO System-of-Systems (SoS) framework may refer to the well-known Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom (DIKW) paradigm. In the context of an Earth Observation (EO) SoS, a set of main elements are recognized as connecting links for generating knowledge from EO and non-EO data – e.g. social and economic datasets. These elements are: Essential Variables (EVs), Indicators and Indexes, Goals and Targets. Their generation and use requires the development of a SoS KB whose management process has evolved the GEOSS Software Ecosystem into a GEOSS Social Ecosystem. This includes: collect, formalize, publish, access, use, and update knowledge. ConnectinGEO project analysed the knowledge necessary to recognize, formalize, access, and use EVs. The analysis recognized GEOSS gaps providing recommendations on supporting global decision-making within and across different domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring the achievement of a sustainable development requires the integration of various data sets and disciplines describing bio-physical and socio-economic conditions. These data allow characterizing any location on Earth, assessing the status of the environment at various scales (e.g. national, regional, global), understanding interactions between different systems (e.g. atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere), and modeling future changes. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) was established in 2005 in response to the need for coordinated, comprehensive, and sustained observations related to the state of the Earth. GEO's global engagement priorities include supporting the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. A proposition is made for generalizing and integrating the concept of EVs across the Societal Benefit Areas of GEO and across the border between Socio-Economic and Earth systems EVs. The contributions of the European Union projects ConnectinGEO and GEOEssential in the evaluation of existing EV classes are introduced. Finally, the main aim of the 10 papers of the special issue is shortly presented and mapped according to the proposed typology of SBA-related EV classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript discusses the key characteristics of the Digital Ecosystems (DEs) model, which, we argue, is particularly appropriate for connecting and orchestrating the many heterogeneous and autonomous online systems, infrastructures, and platforms that constitute the bedrock of a digitally transformed society. Big Data and AI systems have enabled the implementation of the Digital Twin paradigm (introduced first in the manufacturing sector) in all the sectors of society. DEs promise to be a flexible and operative framework that allow the development of local, national, and international Digital Twins. In particular, the "Digital Twins of the Earth" may generate the actionable intelligence that is necessary to address global change challenges, facilitate the European Green transition, and contribute to realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The case of the Destination Earth initiative and system is discussed in the manuscript as an example to address the broader DE concepts. In respect to the more traditional data and information infrastructural philosophy, DE solutions present important advantages as to flexibility and viability. However, designing and implementing an effective collaborative DE is far more difficult than a traditional digital system. DEs require the definition and the governance of a metasystemic level, which is not necessary for a traditional information system. The manuscript discusses the principles, patterns, and architectural viewpoints characterizing a thriving DE supporting the generation and operation of "Digital Twins of the Earth". The conclusions present a set of conditions, best practices, and base capabilities for building a knowledge framework, which makes use of the Digital Twin paradigm and the DE approach to support decision makers with the SDG agenda implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]