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.
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.
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 Vicosa (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).
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Arctic encompasses eight countries and has a population of over four million people. With datasets produced by private and public stakeholders all over the world and noted gaps in data for many parts of the region, there is an opportunity to collaborate and create a unified Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for the Arctic. This research identified a set of criteria for evaluating the long-term efficacy of the Arctic SDI from an organizational perspective and not from a user’s perspective. Through the external assessment, half of the countries were found to be strong contributors - almost equally contributing in terms of deliverables, resources and leadership to the Arctic SDI. These three themes developed based on a critical evaluation of the existing SDI literature. While the other half countries contributed noticeably less - due to a lack of deliverables, less participation in working groups or little or no resource contributions. Complementing theses (external) assessments, also internal reviews were conducted via semi-structured interviews, which obtained the participants’ view of the Arctic SDI collaboration potential successes and shortcomings. The interviewees identified opportunities, limitations and risks as they perceived them. Most of the issues associated with the opportunities, limitations and risks could be cross-validated with the external assessment criteria. However, the importance of communication was strongly emphasized in the interviews and was not represented by the external assessment criteria. The completion of both the external and internal assessments led to the multi-view framework that can be used to assess the long-term potential of the Arctic SDI. This evaluation tool can also be used for defining tasks and clarifying responsibilities for the next 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (2019-2024) or to assess the Arctic SDI to identify challenges and mitigation measures that would assist in its longevity. This tool can also be used for other regional SDIs to define MoUs and assess the potential for success.
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.
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.
Understanding the contribution of a Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) to society through improved economic, social and environmental outcomes implies an integrated and dynamic approach. To address this challenge, we propose a research framework that gathers theories and findings from a study concerning 45 French institutional SDIs. Its goal is to provide a logical structure for a holistic analysis of the complex components that affect the production and use of geographical information, their relationships, the dynamics of these relationships and the resulting outcomes. Two published frameworks, the Press-Pulse Dynamics and the Institutional Analysis and Development, are used as boundary objects during a three-workshop process gathering the research team. The result of this collective process leads to the design of an integrated conceptual framework for SDI research. It describes five main components of SDI (external drivers, a social component, patterns of interactions, a technical and informational component and outcomes), their relationships and research hypotheses. Guided by external press and internal pulse dynamics, the iterative framework redresses This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non commercial Works 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 55 the balance of SDI components in favor of the social block and links this block to the technical and informational component through two bridges: patterns of interactions and outcomes. It shows how social norms and representations of different types of actors affect collective and individual actions, which then impact the technical and informational component of SDIs. In turn, technical and informational artifacts influence outcomes, thereby modifying human actions and initiating feedback that impacts the original dynamics and processes. We provide such a type of conceptual activity for assimilating large amounts of social and technical knowledge to strengthen our understanding of SDIs functioning and dynamics.
HARMO-DATA is an ongoing project, funded by EU in the framework of the INTERREG V-A Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 Programme. It involves different stakeholders, target groups and end-users in three regions: Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (Italy), Veneto (Italy) and Slovenia. The main purpose of this project is to develop common solutions for more efficient cross-border spatial data management - by harmonizing the existing spatial data, implementing a cross-border spatial data platform, and developing a common protocol for the harmonization of territorial data. It will provide an instrument to define the specific obligations and rights of the involved parts - in terms of data harmonization, exchange, use and maintenance. Five pilot case studies were identified by the project partners - in cooperation with public and private end-users, and additional stakeholders. The core use cases of the project relate to spatial data search, view and download, and the harmonization model for spatial datasets applies the INSPIRE data specifications. A joined common spatial data platform was established as an extension of the existing search-view-download platforms (metadata systems), upgraded and improved to better enable open data access by users from both Italy and Slovenia. The common spatial HARMO-DATA data platform, as well as, a joint protocol for cross- border spatial data harmonization, have been formalized in an official bilateral agreement.
This paper introduces the Open Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Assessment Framework as a new approach for assessing the openness of SDIs. Open SDIs are SDIs in which non-government actors such as businesses, citizens, researchers and non-profit organizations can contribute to the development and implementation of the SDI, use spatial data with as few restrictions as possible and benefit from using these geographic data. A pilot application of the new framework resulted in the Map of Open SDI in Europe, which aims to show the level of openness of national SDIs in Europe. The map could become a relevant and practical tool that shows the status of Open SDIs in Europe and supports decision makers and practitioners in making their own SDI more open.
Citizen science is quickly becoming one of the most effective tools for the rapid and low-cost collection of environmental information, filling a long recognized gap in in-situ data. Incentivizing citizens to participate, however, remains a challenge, with gaming being widely recognized as an effective solution to overcome the participation barrier. Building upon well-known gaming mechanics, games provide the user with a competitive and fun environment. This paper presents three different applications that employ game mechanics and have generated useful information for environmental science. Furthermore, it describes the lessons learnt from this process to guide future efforts.
Citizen Science crystallised as an umbrella term for public participation in scientific research, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), Citizens' Observatories, and many more. Technological advancements clearly power the wealth and spread of related initiatives, and organisational structures could be established over the past few years. On the one hand, most of the data collected or analysed by these initiatives, such as biodiversity records, air quality information or waste maps, have a spatio-temporal component. On the other hand, many Citizen Science initiatives reply on spatial data in order to plan or carry out their activities. Thus it is legitimate to ask if and how these recent developments might influence Spatial Data infrastructure (SDI) research. In 2018, the International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructure Research (IJSDIR) for the first time showcases possible future scenarios in a dedicated Special Section on Citizen Science. The editorial at hand sets the scene for this Special Section.
The importance of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) is great in geosciences, but a general view of users and uses which would bring the concept of quality closer to users is lacking. For this reason, the aim of this paper was three-fold: to obtain better knowledge of users, determine the main application domains of DEMs, and identify main use cases. For this purpose, we used data from two web questionnaires (MR1 and MR2), a search of the ScienceDirect database (MR3) and a Google search (MR4). The data coming from the MR1 resource have offered us a large number of cases in order to characterise the profile of users in Spain. The MR2 resource is an ad hoc designed survey which has allowed us, among other things, to identify those calculations that are more normal; determine that subjective evaluation of quality is of great importance for users; and conclude that there is a high percentage of users who do not use any quality index, and also that the majority of users do not know how to evaluate the influence of poor quality on their work. Through MR3, it was possible to analyse the relationships between relevant items and carry out a semantic analysis of a set of 950 abstracts. From MR4, it can be concluded that the formalisation of applications as use cases is not normal. This paper identifies some research lines in order to offer users a better understanding of the issue of quality regarding DEMs.
The number of citizen science projects is constantly growing. Local, national, and international platforms feature new projects almost every month, resulting in an endless number of new observations that are constantly gathered and stored in databases. Often, these data sets are only used for the sampling campaign's objectives, thus leaving a huge potential unused: its reusability in other contexts and its comparability with other data sets. Reusability and comparability require a number of aspects to be fulfilled. This paper describes those aspects and focuses on the citizen science application profile as a standardized information model to ensure syntactic and semantic understanding of citizen science data. Data compliant with this information model can be discovered and accessed through standardized Web interfaces and therefore easily integrated into any data processing environment or compared to any other data set. It is emphasized that the application profile described in this paper is one of two possible solutions that are currently being explored. The second one is briefly addressed and will be documented in detail in future publications.
This paper introduces the architecture of the CITI-SENSE Citizens' Observatories based on the ISO 19119 reference model. It describes the various parts of the architecture including boundary services with sensors and apps and data management services with the CITI-SENSE data model. It also describes the Web Feature Service (WFS) storage support and the reusable visualisation widgets used for both apps and web portals in various Citizens' Observatories.
