Chapter 1
From The SDI Cookbook
Chapter One: The Cookbook Approach
Introduction
At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, a major resolution was passed to focus on reversing the impacts caused by environmental deterioration. The Agenda 21 resolution establishes measures to address deforestation, pollution, depletion of fish stocks, and management of toxic wastes to name a few. The importance of geographic information to support decision-making and management of these growing national, regional, and global issues was cited as critical at the 1992 Rio Summit, and by a special session of the United Nations General Assembly assembled in 1997 to appraise the implementation of the Agenda 21. In 2003, a landmark effort was made to illustrate the capabilities, benefits, and possibilities of using online digital geographic information for sustainable development at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Geographic information is vital to making sound decisions at the local, regional, and global levels.Crime management, business development, flood mitigation, environmental restoration, community land use assessments and disaster recovery are just a few examples of areas in which decision-makers are benefiting from geographic information, together with the associated infrastructures (i.e. Spatial Data Infrastructure or SDI) that support information discovery, access, and use of this information in the decision-making process. However, information is an expensive resource, and for this reason appropriate information and the resources to fully utilize this information may not always be readily available, particularly in the developing world. Many national, regional, and international programs and projects are working to improve access to available spatial data, promote its reuse, and ensure that additional investment in spatial information collection and management results in an evergrowing, readily available and useable pool of spatial information. This is true of many initiatives even if they are not actually labelled as “SDI initiatives”. An example of this is the Environment Information System Program in sub-Saharan Africa (EIS-SSA). An emphasis on harmonising standards for spatial data capture and exchange, the co-ordination of data collection and maintenance activities and the use of common data sets by different agencies may also feature in such initiatives, although these activities by themselves do not constitute a formal SDI.
In regions characterised by an availability of geographic information, in combination with the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), decision support tools, data bases, and the World Wide Web and their associated interoperability, the way better-resourced communities address critical issues of social, environmental, and economic importance is changing rapidly. However, even in the new era of networked computers, the social habits of the past continue to prohibit users from finding and using critical geographic information. This can lead to either the abandoning of a proposed project, or to unnecessary – and expensive - recapture of existing geographic information. In many agencies there is still the lost opportunity to reuse incidental digital geographic information collected for other purposes.
There is a clear need, at all scales, to be able to access, integrate and use spatial data from disparate sources in guiding decision making. Our ability then, to make sound decisions collectively at the local, regional, and global levels, is dependent on the implementation of SDI that provides for compatibility across jurisdictions that promotes data access and use.
Only through common conventions and technical agreements will it be easily possible for local communities, nations and regional decision-makers to discover, acquire, exploit and share geographic information vital to the decision process. The use of common conventions and technical agreements also makes sound economic sense by limiting the cost involved in the integration of information from various sources, as well as eliminating the need for parallel and costly development of tools for discovering, exchanging and exploiting spatial data. The greater the limitation on available resources for SDI development, the greater the incentive for achieving alignment between initiatives to build SDI.
The development of a "cookbook" is envisaged as a means to clarify the SDI definition and to share the current experiences in building SDI implementations that are compatible at many scales of endeavour. This cookbook is intended to be a dynamic document available in printed and digital form, to include "recipes" or recommendations on developing these infrastructures from a local, even non-governmental, scale through global initiatives.
Scope of This Cookbook
This SDI Implementation Guide or Cookbook, through the support of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure community, provides geographic information providers and users with the necessary background information to evaluate and implement existing components of SDI. It also facilitates participation within a growing (digital) geographic information community known as the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI).
To enable builders of SDI to make use of and build on existing SDI components in a way which makes their endeavors compatible with the efforts of other SDI builders, this GSDI Cookbook identifies:
- existing and emerging standards,
- open-source and commercial standards-based software solutions,
- supportive organisational strategies and policies and
- best practices.
Working within a common framework of standards and tools based on these standards also makes it possible to maximise the impact of the total available resources for SDI creation through future co-operation -- e.g. we develop this, you develop that, and then we share. Although proprietary or project-based solutions for information sharing continue to exist, the adoption of consistent geospatial data sharing principles will in general provide a better solution for information dissemination, through publishing geospatial data using the Internet and computer media. In an increasingly “global community”, there is a need to ensure that transnational implementations and common knowledge bases are available. Ultimately, these SDI activities should improve collaboration within the geospatial data industry and make the benefits derived from the use of geographic information part of everyday life for all.
Spatial Data Infrastructures
The term “Spatial Data Infrastructure” (SDI) is often used to denote the relevant base collection of technologies, policies and institutional arrangements that facilitate the availability of and access to spatial data. The SDI provides a basis for spatial data discovery, evaluation, and application for users and providers within all levels of government, the commercial sector, the non-profit sector, academia and by citizens in general.
The word infrastructure is used to promote the concept of a reliable, supporting environment, analogous to a road or telecommunications network, that, in this case, facilitates the access to geographically-related information using a minimum set of standard practices, protocols, and specifications. The applications that run “on” such an infrastructure are not specified in detail in this document. But, like roads and wires, an SDI facilitates the conveyance of virtually unlimited packages of geographic information.
An SDI must be more than a single data set or database; an SDI hosts geographic data and attributes, sufficient documentation (metadata), a means to discover, visualize, and evaluate the data (catalogues and Web mapping), and some method to provide access to the geographic data. Beyond this are additional services or software to support applications of the data. To make an SDI functional, it must also include the organisational agreements needed to coordinate and adminster it on a local, regional, national, and or trans-national scale. Although the core SDI concept includes within its scope neither base data collection activities or myriad applications built upon it, the infrastructure provides the ideal environment to connect applications to data – influencing both data collection and applications construction through minimal appropriate standards and policies.
The creation of specific organisations or programs for developing or overseeing the development of SDI, particularly by government at various scales can be seen as the logical extension of the long practice of co-ordinating the building of other infrastructures necessary for ongoing development, such as transportation or telecommunication networks.
The Global Spatial Data Infrastructure
Just as SDI programs of necessity involve the alignment of scarce resources for achieving success, so too it is necessary to ensure that the SDI initiatives develop in harmony with each other in order to maximise the impact of these programmes. In reality, many initiatives are working in isolation, not necessarily developing in harmony with others and consequently unable to reap the benefits of working together.
Anyone who is involved in a project of which spatial information forms an integral part and who intends leaving a legacy of spatial data or tools to exploit the data that lasts beyond the period of funding for the project is, by definition, participating in some of the fundamental elements required by an SDI. As coordination between such organisations expands, these projects very often lay the foundations on which initiatives formally dedicated to the establishment of SDI can then build. See Chapter 9 for specific case studies.
At a global scale, the most prominent examples of formal SDI programs are on a national scale. Most of these are driven by the national or federal government (e.g. the NSDI in the USA, the SNIG in Portugal, Australia’s ASDI, Malaysia’s NaLIS, South Africa’s NSIF, Colombia, or the multi-national INSPIRE Initiative in Europe), but there are exceptions such as the Uruguay Clearinghouse and NGDF in the United Kingdom, which have largely been driven by the private sector. In most cases the need for wide participation in the development of lasting, useful SDI is acknowledged, and so private-public partnerships are encouraged. The beneficiaries of SDI are generally seen to derive from the public and private sectors, academia and non-governmental organisations, as well as individuals. Federal countries are often able to build their national SDI programs on SDI programs being driven by provincial or state governments (e.g. the ASDI of Australia). Regional SDI initiatives often arise out of existing multilateral structures (e.g. the Permanent Committee for GIS Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific was formed through the UN Regional Cartographic Conference for the Asia-Pacific region).
Distribution
This GSDI Cookbook wiki is intended to be a "living" and dynamic document that can be updated as new principles and technologies are adopted. Distribution of this Cookbook is intended primarily via the World Wide Web, although electronic copies will also be made available on other physical media such as PDF, CD-ROM and printed copy for audiences that are not well connected to the Internet at this time.
Should you be reading this via the World Wide Web and wish to obtain a soft or hard copy, please contact the GSDI secretariat, at www.gsdi.org .
Contributors
Contributions to this GSDI Cookbook are indeed global and are intended to satisfy many different categories of participants. This was a deliberate choice, in order to ensure that the Cookbook represented various perspectives from around the globe, to ensure both that the collective global experience and existing resources would be represented in the Cookbook, and that its applicability could truly be global. The migration of the cookbook to a wiki environment is a logical extension of this idea, allowing contributions to be provided on an ongoing basis.
The cookbook will be periodically revised by selected and nominated editors to create a concise version that can be published as a electronic and paper document. This will allow outreach to people with an interest in SDI development who may not have ready access to the wiki version.
Organisation
Each chapter is organised into three major sections that correspond to levels of detail and application:
- The first section in each chapter establishes the background, context, and rationale for the subject suitable as general orientation for all readers, but targeted for managers and end-users
- The second section addresses the design architecture of organisations, roles, and software systems that are intended to interact
- The third section addresses the implementation with review of existing standards, protocols, and software as appropriate
Each chapter is approximately 10 to 20 pages in length with links to other relevant documents. Use-case scenarios and illustrations are featured in some chapters as inset boxes to further build understanding. Most chapters have a set of recommendations placed in a summary. Terminology used in this document, as well as guidance on how to standardize terminology, is presented in Chapter 10.
Case studies are intended to provide for local or regional relevance and interpretation. The document style not intended to be overly technical, however contributors have provided references to more detailed and comprehensive technical information where possible.
Finally, no manual of this type can claim to provide all the answers to suit all variations that may exist among implementations of national spatial data infrastructures. The goal is to provide enough common guidance to allow adjacent SDIs to exchange information easily through the adoption of common principles, standards, and protocols. This cookbook does provide a basic set of guiding principles that have been successful for establishing compatible Spatial Data Infrastructures, and are supported by the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure to promote successful decision-making for issues of local, regional, and global significance. As mentioned in the preceding section, if you feel that you have a contribution to make to the cookbook, or a question that you feel ought to be answered in the cookbook, please contact the GSDI Technical Working Group.
Cookbook Overview
The following sections provide an introduction to the content of each chapter. This is provided to help readers decide where to begin their exploration. Some users may already be fluent in geographic information systems but are unfamiliar with the tenets of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). They may wish to start with the next chapter on SDI and GSDI. Others may already have extensive databases that are ready to be published on the World Wide Web. By starting in Chapter Two, they can learn how to catalogue and serve information about their data holdings in standard-based ways.
Chapter 2: Geospatial Data Development: Building data for multiple uses
In Chapter 2, you will learn about the development of standard and non-standard spatial data themes or layers for use in a trans-national or global context. The development of consistent reusable themes of base cartographic content, known as Framework, Fundamental, Foundation, or Core data is recognized as a common ingredient in the construction of national and global SDIs to provide common data collection schemas.
Chapter 3: Metadata: Describing geospatial data
In Chapter 3, you will learn how geospatial data are documented with metadata, what relevant standards exist, and how to implement them in software. Metadata are a key ingredient in supporting the discovery, evaluation, and application of geographic data beyond the originating organisation or project.
Chapter 4: Geospatial Data Catalogue: Making data discoverable
Geospatial data that are stored for use in local databases can often be used in external applications once they are published. In this chapter, the concepts and implementation of geospatial data catalogues are presented as a means to publish descriptions of your geospatial data holdings in a standard way to permit search across multiple servers.
Geospatial data catalogues are discovery and access systems that use metadata as the target for query on raster, vector, and tabular geospatial information. Indexed and searchable metadata provide a disciplined vocabulary against which intelligent geospatial search can be performed within or among SDI communities.
Chapter 5: Geospatial Data Visualization: Online Mapping
The primary view of geographic data has historically been through maps. In the context of SDIs, it is increasingly useful to provide mapped or graphical views of geospatial data through online mapping interfaces. This can satisfy many of the needs of novice or browse users of data without requiring download of the full data. Although it is not a replacement for direct data access, it satisfies a broad requirement for public interaction with geospatial information.
Assuming that data are being used for their correct purpose and at an appropriate scale (the Fitness for Purpose concept), maps can quickly portray a large amount of information to the inquirer. The rise of the Internet and in particular the World Wide Web has allowed information providers to harness this technology to the conventional stove-pipe GIS systems and data warehouses. This chapter describes current best practice in on-line mapping, and the results of the OpenGIS Consortium in realising simple inter-operability through a public web mapping specification that is also a draft ISO International Standard.
Chapter 6: Geospatial Access and Delivery: Open access to data
Once spatial data of interest have been located and evaluated, using the Catalogue and online mapping techniques described in previous chapters, access to detailed geospatial data in its packaged form is often required by advanced users or application software. Access involves the order, packaging and delivery, offline or online, of the data (coordinate and attributes according to the form of the data) specified. Finally, exploitation is what the consumer does with the data for their own purpose. This chapter walks through examples of data access and delivery that are recognized elements in a full-service SDI.
Chapter 7: Other Services
Web mapping services and Catalogue services are described as new, maturing technologies in earlier chapters. Additional services that extend functionality over the Web by combining data from sources described in Chapter 6 are described here. The application of special services, and service chaining, hold great promise in realizing true Web-based GIS interactions on data in support of decision making.
Chapter 8: Legal Issues and Economic Policy
Several legal issues arise when implementing information infrastructures, including SDIs. Typical are intellectual property rights (IPR) governing access to and use of spatial data, which includes copyright, patenting of software and algorithms, and database protection, in those jurisdictions where such protection exists in law. Privacy regulations if spatial data is used to identify individuals, commercial confidentiality and liability issues also arise. The chapter also reviews the several cost-benefit analysis (CBA) methodologies that have been used to justify the cost of creating SDIs, at sector, national and regional levels.
Chapter 9: Outreach and Capacity Building: Creating a community
The establishment of a Spatial Data Infrastructure at an organisational or national level requires an understanding of the requirements and responsibilities of the members of the community. This chapter discusses, with examples, the elements required for building and sustaining a geospatially-enabled community.
Chapter 10: Case Studies
One of the best ways to articulate the benefits of developing and using a spatial data infrastructure is to highlight the success stories that have emerged at the local, national, regional, and global levels. This chapter provides detailed accounts, or case studies from around the world that put into perspective the value of compatible SDI’s and partnerships in making better decisions regarding the increasingly complex environmental, economic, and social issues that face our communities today.
Chapter 11: Terminology
This chapter provides an overview on how SDI organizations may wish to standardise their terminology; it also contains a glossary of terms used elsewhere in this document with appropriate citations. The abundant use of terms and acronyms in this highly technical field requires such a terminology reference.
