Emerging Frameworks in the Information Age: The Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Phenomenon

What is it about?

Geographic information systems and government policy

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Why is it important?

The development of geographic information systems (GIS) and related technologies over the last two decades has changed the way in which geographic information is handled by a wide range of public and private sector bodies throughout the world and spawned a multi-billion dollar industry. However, the full potential of these technologies is unlikely to be realised until governments throughout the world take the necessary steps to create spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) to facilitate access to the geographic information assets that are held by the various stakeholders to maximize their overall usage. As a result governments through the world have begun to develop SDIs. The term itself was first used in 1991. Since then about half the 200 countries in the world have embarked on some form of SDI initiative. Given these circumstances the term ‘SDI phenomenon’ seems to be a reasonable description of what has happened in this field over the last 15 years. Given these circumstances it will come as no surprise to learn that one of the distinctive features of the SDI phenomenon is the great diversity of activities that it encompasses. During its short life the concept has already been reinvented several times to respond to the changing needs of government as well as to technological innovations. As a result a distinction can already be made between a first and second generation of SDIs and it can be argued that some of the key features of the third are already apparent. This chapter reviews recent developments in SDIs from the standpoint of emerging frameworks in the information age and examines some of the broader issues that are emerging from them. It is divided into three substantive sections. The first of these considers some of the main events that underlie the SDI phenomenon, describes the nature of SDIs with reference to other kinds of infrastructure and outlines some of the main economic, social and environmental benefits that are likely to be derived from their development. The second section discusses current trends in the field and the methods that have been developed to deal with SDI development with reference to key issues such as the need for multi level structures, more inclusive models of governance and the new organisational structures that are coming into being to facilitate SDI implementation. The third considers the needs of the different levels of the SDI hierarchy with reference to some key applications at the local, national and supranational levels while some of the efforts that are being made to compare and evaluate SDI experiences as a result of the shift from SDI formulation to implementation are briefly summarised in the final section.

Perspectives