Organisational Approach

At the 2nd GSDI Conference in 1997 the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) was defined as ".. the policies, organisational remits, data, technologies, standards, delivery mechanisms, and financial and human resources necessary to ensure that those working at the global and regional scale are not impeded in meeting their objectives."

The GSDI is intended to be non-competitive, collaborative, and to build on and unify common activities in the field of geographic information exchanges and harmonisation. The GSDI is envisaged to support trans-national or global access to geographic information and it is seen by many as central to the response to the challenge of global sustainable development. It is an effective promotion of national and regional Spatial Data Infrastructures.

Examples of how these principles are promoted and implemented at the regional and international level are given below.

Regional collaboration: The European Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information (EUROGI) was set up to foster geographic information outreach and capacity building at the regional level. EUROGI's objectives are to support the definition and implementation of a European geographic information (GI) policy and facilitate the development of the European Geographic Information Infrastructure (EGII). It also represents the European view in the development of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) and is the European regional contact for GSDI. In a more general sense EUROGI tries to encourage the greater use of GI in Europe through improved availability of and access to GI, the removal of legal and economic constraints to use, and the promotion of the use of standards. As an association of associations, EUROGI works towards the development of strong national GI organisations in all the European countries with particular emphasis on organisations within the Central and Eastern European countries.

International collaboration: The United States has been a recognised world leader in the development and use of geographic information and related technologies. Recently, on behalf of the organising committee of a conference on Global Spatial Data Infrastructures, the FGDC conducted a survey of spatial data infrastructure activities around the world. This survey showed that there are a growing number of nations, which are either developing or planning to develop spatial data infrastructures. These initiatives, while reflecting the specific needs of the various nations, were found to have many components in common with each other. These same components are also part of the United States National Spatial Data Infrastructure, which is becoming a model that is frequently looked to and used by other nations as they consider ways in which they can better co-ordinate and use geographic information. The FGDC is increasing its focus on the international and global community to help assure that NSDI development is accomplished so that data, practices, and applications can be shared wherever possible to address transnational, regional, and global economic, environmental, and social issues. The FGDC is an active supporter of the GSDI, it is pursuing nation to nation agreements to foster SDI collaboration on topics of mutual interest, and it is a strong proponent of the formation of a Permanent Committee of the Americas to address the infrastructure issues specific to the nations in the Americas.

Different levels of international collaboration: GeoConnections, the program responsible for implementing the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), believes that international partnerships are important at many levels. For example, the Canadian clearinghouse is interoperable with the US and Australian clearinghouses and the Canadian program has supported the development of access tools that are being reused in the US and Canada. Canadians have been very active in many of the international standards activities and now, as the infrastructures are being implemented, there is a significant opportunity to co-operate with international partners and industry in the development of implementation specifications, such as the Open GIS Consortium Catalog Services and Web Mapping Testbed.

Realisation of the GSDI

The stakeholders and interested parties in the development of the GSDI were identified at the 3rd GSDI Conference (1998) in Canberra, Australia:

"The achievement of GSDI will depend upon partnerships among many groups including industry, consumers, academia and government. GSDI must develop outreach activities to ensure that institutions and organisations that can and will benefit from an improved global spatial data infrastructure have an opportunity to participate. At this meeting it was obvious that national mapping organisations/agencies, state level mapping organisations/agencies, industry, academia and a variety of governmental agencies are very interested in GSDI development.

• National mapping organisations/agencies
  National mapping organisations/agencies play a key role in ensuring that accurate, up-to-date geospatial framework data are developed and maintained. Such data are key to, among others, the promotion of sustainable economic development, improvement of environmental quality, resource management, upgrading public health and safety, modernisation of governments either local, national or regional, and the responses to natural and other disasters. Therefore such organisations play a vital role in facilitating the development of a GSDI.

• Industry
  Industry is working to provide technology, data and services in support of GSDI activities. In particular, industry plays a key role in ensuring that effective information technologies (consistent with standards and specifications being developed by such groups as ISO and OGC) exist and that these technologies support GSDI requirements. Therefore it is imperative that such organisations play an important, proactive role in the development of a GSDI.

• Other agencies, organisations and institutions
  There are many other agencies, organisations and institutions that collect and use geospatial data that along with national mapping organisations/agencies and industry can and should play an important role in GSDI activities. It is important here that ways be sought to encourage cooperation, collaboration and communication among as many GSDI stakeholders as possible.

• National and regional SDI initiatives
  There are a growing number of significant SDI initiatives at national and regional level that can and will act as a stimulus to GSDI development. Several of these initiatives were highlighted at the 3rd GSDI Conference - national developments in countries such as Malaysia, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, Canada -regional developments in areas such as South America, the Baltic Sea Region, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. These initiatives are now being documented in several ways and this documentation provides a valuable resource for proponents of the GSDI."

Pooling resources: The Global Mapping initiative, Globalmap, promoted by the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan, is a key pool of resources for GSDI development to exchange institutional and technological experiences and standards among many countries. The US FGDC, in collaboration with other nations, has helped to seed many common standards and best practices. Japan has adopted its National Spatial Data Infrastructure Promoting Association (NSDIPA) as a reflection of the US NSDI. Other nations have adopted or have based their NSDI's on FGDC practices, standards, and framework concepts. Some of the ISO TC 211 standards are based on FGDC developed standards (for example, Metadata). Globalmap exemplifies a global "framework", ISO TC211 the reference standards environment needed to assure data sharing between jurisdictions.

It is not necessary to implement a national SDI before approaching a regional SDI. Special attention should also be given to regional and international co-ordination and co-operation with other countries and with international institutions and donors. A joint approach to SDI within a particular region, for example, would not only save a lot of energy and expenses. The potential for synergy would also be considerable, since it would be possible to enable cross-border exchange of data and information and supporting infrastructure elements such clearinghouse software and metadata structures.

Standards and models for a common SDI do not have to be reinvented by each country. A common vision and common standards throughout Southern Africa, for example, would improve the efficiency of national and regional SDIs. This would entail effective exchange of experiences and results, a co-ordination and division of work within existing national institutions in the region, including NGOs and representatives of the donors involved, an efficient partnership with a non permanent joint steering committee as a co-ordinating body.

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