The Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Conference Participants Found That:

Finding 1

The Global Spatial Data Infrastructure -- which encompasses policies, organizational remits, data, technologies, standards, delivery mechanisms, and financial and human resources -- is critical to the attainment of substantial and sustainable development in both the developed and developing countries of the world.

Finding 2

The GSDI is of vital importance to implementation of Agenda 21 of the Rio Summit and to the multi-national environmental conventions, and should be placed as central support for decision making before the meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in 2001.

Finding 3

It is necessary to seek involvement and support of decision-makers at the highest levels of business, government, and academia in establishing the GSDI; and to generate support at the local, national, regional and international levels. In particular, it is important to involve the G7 countries, the UN Institutions, and the World Bank in the creation and use of the GSDI.

Finding 4

Numerous international activities are seeking to forward aspects of the GSDI e.g., the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping oversees an effort to develop global spatial databases. It is important that all international groups working toward the development of the GSDI participate in future processes of its evolution and that they communicate, coordinate, and collaborate to the fullest extent practicable. These groups include (but are not limited to) Federation Internationale des Geometres, International Cartographic Association, International Hydrographic Organization, International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, International Standards Organization, International Steering Committee for Global Mapping, Open GIS Consortium, and NATO's Digital Geographic Information Working Group.

Finding 5

There is a need to foster education and research activities that go beyond treatment of geospatial data in solely a technical fashion. It is important that such activities include the creation of suitable tools in universities, government and the private sector to foster the use, demonstration, spread of good practice, and thoughtful application of results of this research.

The GSDI Conference Participants Resolved That:

Resolution 1

There is a need for an organizational nucleus to encourage the creation, development and linkage of local, national, regional and global geospatial data infrastructures. This informal inter-organizational effort, to be chaired by Jane Smith Patterson, Science and Technology Advisor to the Governor of the State of North Carolina, is charged with proposing the following:

• a governing body and mode of operation;
• methods of funding and support; and
• an initial strategy for implementing the resolutions approved by this conference.

Resolution 2

Permanent regional committees for geographic information e.g., the Permanent Committee on Geographic Information for Asia and the Pacific and the European Umbrella Organisation for Geographical Information, are important to the success of the GSDI. There is a need to encourage development of these permanent committees during 1998 in regions where currently they do not exist, such as the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East.

Resolution 3

It is essential to have a family of standards as the foundation for technical implementation of the GSDI, and all standards created or utilized for the GSDI should be international standards. ISO/TC 211 should serve as the tool for developing specific standards related to the GSDI and the GI community should participate and influence standards through the liaison mechanism of ISO. However GSDI should include more than just ISO/TC 211 and embrace underlying standards, such as the information technology standards, which tie the development of GSDI to the Global Information Infrastructure.

Resolution 4

There is a need to explore the extent to which local, national and regional data sets can be translated into international ones, and how data definitions can be harmonized without losing their primary relevance or compromising the political and legal diversity amongst nations. As such the meeting delegates agreed with the need to:

• continue the identification and prioritization of regional and global scale core data sets needed by the different sectors of the GI community for different applications and to seek funds for their development from governments, IGOs, and the private sector;
• encourage developed nations to support capacity building and data collection in emerging nations where lack of resources inhibit their participation in the objectives of GSDI;
• foster knowledge and use of metadata services and encourage the use of international metadata (documentation) standards;
• establish a network of geospatial data clearinghouses;
• encourage data providers to increase access to data either directly or through joint ventures with others;
• encourage the multiple use of 'fit for purpose' data to spread the cost and benefits of collecting and updating geospatial data;
• foster the development of geospatial data collection and sharing partnerships, tools, and research;
• examine the costs and value of converting the large amount of legacy data that is available in analogue form; and
• encourage provision of services based on data combinations and other value-added services.

Resolution 5

The problem solving capabilities and social and economic benefits of the GSDI should be advanced and clearly demonstrated. The meeting agreed to foster and encourage:

• appropriate applied research;
• GSDI best practice applications that focus on academia, government and the private sector;
• demonstrators to spread good practice; and
• pilot projects and prototyping.

Resolution 6

Participants at this conference endorsed the need for a future meeting to continue activities leading to the development of the GSDI begun in Bonn and carried forward at Chapel Hill. There was consensus that the next meeting should be in the Asia/Pacific rim and delegates from that area agreed to discuss at the next meeting of the Permanent Committee on Geographic Information for Asia and the Pacific. The meeting should be open to as broad a community of participants as possible.

Finally, the GSDI Conference Participants Proposed That:

1. The definition of GSDI should be further discussed and resolved. It should generally encompass "the policies, organizational 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."

2. The concept of GSDI periodically needs to be redefined.

3. The paper "Applied and Academic Geomatics into the 21^st Century," which was produced by the Atlantic Institute as a result of a series of think tank conferences, should be accepted as a discussion document for government, academic, and private sector initiatives to enhance research, education, and training at the local, national, regional and global levels.

4. The meeting recognizes and appreciates the efforts provided by the state of North Carolina and, especially, the North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis in support of this conference and its constituency as a whole by their example.

5. These resolutions should be disseminated as widely as possible at the local, national, regional and international levels.