The South African Spatial Data Infrastructure – Where are the Municipalities?

Many municipalities in South Africa, especially those in rural areas, do not have the resources to maintain the geospatial information required to deliver essential services. Conversely, National Geo-spatial Information (NGI), the national mapping agency (NMA), captures data themes required by municipalities but not at scales suitable for municipal purposes. In 2003, the South African Spatial Data Infrastructure (SASDI) was initiated through national legislation as the ‘national technical, institutional and policy framework’ to govern public geospatial information. However, involvement of the country’s more than 250 municipalities in SASDI has been limited. In order to better understand the role of municipalities in the development and implementation of SASDI, we reviewed this over four periods: (1) before 1994, i.e., before the new Constitution of South Africa came into force; (2) 1994 to 2000, when the idea of an SDI emerged through voluntary participation; (3) 2000 to 2009, when the SASDI legislation was enacted but nothing really happened; and (4) from 2010 to date, starting with the first meeting of the Committee for Spatial Information, the SASDI coordinating body. The review confirms that unless SASDI steps in to provide coordination mechanisms between different spheres of government, the NMA will continue to supply unsuitable data and municipalities will be left to their own devices. A SASDI that caters for diverse user needs through bottom-up influences could greatly improve local municipalities’ service delivery. We have used the results of our study to propose a governance framework where all spheres of government are involved in SASDI and municipalities have an opportunity to communicate their data needs from the bottom, upward

National Spatial Data Infrastructure of Uzbekistan: Vision, Challenges and Prospects

Today, more than one hundred countries are developing their own National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). In 2015, Uzbekistan adopted a law about electronic governance and, most recently, the parliament of the country has considered a law to support the establishment of an NSDI. The government recognizes an urgent need to improve its interaction with citizens and the private sector, to take strides to modernize its management system, and to make access to information open to all. In this article, we consider the current situation of the NSDI implementation and assess Uzbekistan’s readiness for an NSDI - according to five general factors and fourteen specific decision criteria. Moreover, we uncover challenges that the country faces, as well as, possible benefits (economic, social, and ecological) that the government and citizens might gain from the foreseen NSDI and e-government developments. We conclude that the NSDI of Uzbekistan has many prospects, but that the country should focus on addressing current shortcomings (including weak ICT infrastructure, low SDI culture, lack of human capacity, etc.). We also suggest that a wide range of stakeholders should be involved in the future development of the NSDI of Uzbekistan

The Evolution of National Spatial Data Infrastructure in Pakistan - Implementation Challenges and the Way Forward

Geospatial data are produced by several organizations located at various places, and that is clearly a distributed environment. Many technical and institutional issues need to be resolved to share data in such an environment and to eventually enable regional development. For this matter, many countries implement Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) for the last 40 years. Since 2010, also Pakistan is striving to implement an SDI at the national level (NSDI). However, so far, the promised benefits have not yet been achieved. This study explores the evolution of the NSDI in Pakistan from 2010 till 2020 to reveal what kind of challenges the country is facing. Given the importance of stakeholders' support for the implementation of SDIs, we conducted a stakeholder analysis and a dedicated survey. We adopted the power-interest grid method to classify stakeholders' interests based on their authority to influence the NSDI development. Among other, the results show that stakeholders’ low participation due to insufficient technological, financial, and human resources impedes NSDI implementation efforts in the country

Sea Level Rise Impact Assessment Tool – A Web-Based Application for Community Resilience in Coral Gables, Florida

Sea Level Rise (SLR) and storm surges are a threat to coastal communities in South Florida. Residents face the increased frequency of tidal flooding and associated economic losses. This paper presents a web-based SLR impact assessment tool that was developed for the City of Coral Gables, Florida. The tool is able to dynamically visualize the inundation extent of SLR scenarios between one and eight feet and the worst-case inundation caused by category one through five hurricanes. In addition, it reports statistics about the potential impacts of these inundation scenarios on population, property value, critical facilities, land use and the road network in any user-selected part of the city. The tool provides city managers and planners with information that can assist in the decision making process for investments in community resilience programs against SLR and storm surges. This paper describes the implementation of this tool, which is based on free and open source geospatial software (FOSS4G) and uses mostly open data components. It also provides an overview of the spatial data ecosystem related to coastal inundation (SLR and storm surges) in the United States. Whereas the functionality of the application was successfully demonstrated for one specific community in South Florida, the flexibility and dynamic nature of the developed application and the use of open source software and open data makes it suitable to support effective data-driven planning not only in the showcased area but in other coastal regions as well. Based on local data available for analysis, the application framework could be expanded as needed and include other topics (e.g. measure the effect of SLR for specific types of businesses) or utilize alternative inundation models (e.g. include hydrologic runoff analysis)

National Spatial Data Infrastructure Building Blocks: The Status Quo in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, geospatial data silos are common due to the absence of a proactive and collaborative geospatial sharing platform. A national sharing platform, Ethiopian National Spatial Data Infrastructure (ENSDI), is in its pre-implementation phase. It is now of crucial concern to identify and prioritize areas of investment. However, we lack information on what is already available and where, and what is still required to deliver ENSDI building blocks. The purpose of this work is to assess status quo of these building blocks. 110 organizations were addressed based on a sampling procedure that is free of personal bias. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, on-site inspections, and a review of secondary sources. The analysis revealed that many national geospatial information and other enabling policies, laws and strategies are already available. Although they do incorporate the value of sharing and accessing information, it appears that they lack details regarding interoperability, inclusiveness, and implementation. This work reveals complex institutional challenges that require better definitions of roles and responsibilities in order to overcome existing overlaps of mandates; and improved coordination of efforts with the geospatial industry. Furthermore, most legacy data sets are available in digital form, but they are neither ready to be shared on the Web nor accessible for the wider Geographic Information Systems (GIS) community. This is largely due to the absence of standardization, negligence of metadata, extended use of proprietary software, absence of clear data models and definitions, and poor (file based) data organization. The absence of Internet connectivity or low band width remains a fundamental obstacle for any web-based sharing of geospatial data. We also identify a lack of expertise in spatial data management, processing and programming. GIS and Remote Sensing specialist remain hard to find. Last but not least, this study recommends further study on data quality and data management issues

Lost in space and time? A conceptual framework to harmonise data for marine spatial planning

Despite a list of national and international efforts to harmonise data management procedures, the categorisation of space and time within datasets in marine spatial planning (MSP) has not been addressed so far. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to categorise the spatial and temporal dimensions of data used in MSP and introduces a method to jointly manage non-spatial information and spatial data in the same geographic information system (GIS). The presented categorisation provides easy and intuitive classifications for a more detailed and transparent data description of spatial and temporal data properties, which can be applied both in attribute tables and in metadata. It allows the differentiation of the vertical and the horizontal dimensions, enabling users to focus on operations taking place at specific parts of the marine environment. The categorisation with predefined attribute domains allows space and time based automatic analyses. The inclusion of non-spatial data within GIS repositories ensures the availability of all relevant data in one database minimising the risk of incomplete data. Overall, the framework provides effective steps towards a more coherent data management and subsequently may foster better use of information in MSP processes

Understanding Governance Dynamics: The Governing System of Spatial Data Infrastructures

The importance and influence of spatial data has risen in all kinds of governmental and non-governmental processes, giving spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) a key role in spatial data sharing and dissemination. SDIs are nowadays challenged by new technologies and user demands. Proper SDI governance seems essential, but it is unclear to what extent current SDI governing systems are fully equipped to deal with the dynamics and complexity of SDIs. This research proposes a governing system framework for analysing the governing system of SDIs, adapted from the concepts of Kooiman. This framework is applied to two Dutch SDI cases: the Risk Map and the New Map of the Netherlands. With the help of the framework, the strong and weak aspects of the governing system of SDIs become more apparent and insights emerge on which interactions, images, instruments, actions and structures enable or constrain SDI governance. By observing changes in governing systems over time, SDI governance dynamics become visible. The governing system framework brings a new perspective to SDIs and SDI theory and is a potentially useful analytical tool for SDI governors

Proposal of an Academic Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Federal University of Viçosa

Universities use and produce significant amounts of cartographic data. Besides the administrative sector, which is responsible for the management of the territory, several research, education and extension projects also involve large volumes of maps and other types of spatial information. However, much of the data produced in higher education institutions is lost in laboratories or in the possession of researchers - making it impossible to reuse this information and doubling expenses in the reproduction of such data. An Academic Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) would enable the availability and standardization of spatial data produced in higher education institutions. Understanding this potentiality, the article at hand describes the development of an Academic SDI for the Federal University of Viçosa (SDI-UFV). In order to identify all the elements to be provided by the SDI-UFV, we began with the conceptual modeling of existing data and user needs. For the implementation of this SDI, we had to establish partnerships with the administrative bodies of the university. This helped us to define an institutional structure that ensures the management, maintenance and continuity of the SDI within the university. We proposed the appointment of a permanent commission and a resolution model. Regarding the technological components, we decided to use Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). We used the PostGIS database management system, the i3Geo software for the publication of spatial data, the edpMGBs editor for creating metadata, and the GeoNetwork software for managing the metadata catalog. The standards adopted were those approved by the Brazilian National Spatial Data Infrastructure (INDE), which follow the standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

Next Generation of Spatial Data Infrastructure: Lessons from Linked Data implementations across Europe

The need for integration of geospatial data across national borders poses questions on how to overcome technical and organizational barriers between national mapping agencies. Existing National Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDIs) inherited heterogeneous technology stacks and user cultures. Example integration solutions are based on cascading data services on the Web using open standards. However, this approach is often cumbersome since it requires substantial efforts aimed at harmonisation of data structures and semantics of the content between NSDIs. In contrast, the Linked Data technology as an innovative approach for publishing heterogeneous data sources on the Web is able to transcend the traditional confines of separate databases, as well as, the confines of separate institutions - keeping existing infrastructures intact. Moreover, exposing national data as Linked Data on the Web makes it a part of the Semantic Web. This allows shifting focus from collection and dissemination of data to meaningful data consumption. Here, we present and discuss the results of the Open European Location Services project, a collaboration between the national mapping agencies of Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain which is aimed at demonstrating the capabilities of Linked Data technology in the context of Pan-European geospatial data provision

Status of National Open Spatial Data Infrastructures: a Comparison Across Continents

The increasing need for geospatial information demands for well-organised management among all levels of society. A Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) is a multidisciplinary and dynamic instrument that facilitates access and sharing of geospatial information. The current trend towards open data initiatives is influencing the development of these infrastructures. In order to examine this effect, this article addresses the following question: what is the current state of SDI openness of four best practice open data countries Canada, The Netherlands, Australia and Brazil, and how do they compare? The question is answered through a qualitative literature study and the application of a newly developed Open SDI Assessment Framework to the countries. The Netherlands and Canada show a high performance on all assessment dimensions; data discovery, data access and data properties. Australia and Brazil show a poor open SDI performance, as they could not meet the requirements set for the assessed datasets. General conclusions of the assessment are that data is currently fragmented and scattered among the web in all four countries, which strongly negatively influences the user experience. It is crucial that a strict legal framework is embedded in a country, which ensures that current SDI objectives and propositions regarding an user-centred approach and open data availability are achieved