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GSDI Legal and Socioeconomic Working Group
The SDI legal and socioeconomic research pages
This page provides examples of research activities of those actively involved in the legal and socioeconomic working group. Such examples are, but are not limited to:
This page shows briefly the research interests of the researchers. Please contact the researcher involved for more in depth information.
Access to Space – Information for sustainable development
Researcher: Anna-Karin Bergman
LUCSUS Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies
According to Article 1 in the Outer Space Treaty* the exploration and use of outer space “shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind”. One interpretation of this sentence is that all countries of the world should have access to space weather they possess the technological prerequisites to do so or not. There are just a few countries in the world that have the technological capacity to physically use space (direct access to space) for monitoring and gathering of data. Thus, “low capacity” States’ access to space will lie in that they can access the EO data (indirect access to space) obtained by “high capacity” States. The aim of the PhD research is to analyse how distributors of EO data implement their data policies and if they in the implementation consider Article 1 of the Outer Space treaty. I have chosen to limit the research to a comparative study between the US and Europe (states and ESA) since they are considered to be on opposite sides of the fence. The US is seen as more liberal, while Europe is seen as more strict in its policy on data access. I am a PhD Candidate at the Department of Sociology of Law; hence the project will have a social science perspective. As can be understood from the wording, Sociology of Law encompasses both social science and legal science and can be said to be the ‘missing link’ between Law and Society. Whereas legal scientists focus on law in an internal perspective (law in books), Sociologist of Law studies law in a social (external) context (law in action). The method will consist of a Nordic legal approach, the so called legal dogmatic paradigm, complemented with a method known in the field of sociology of law, the Norm model. The norm model (Swedish Sociology of Law’s most important contribution) (Hydén 1998; Hydén 2002) will be used to identify the driving factors and norms behind Article 1 in the Outer Space Treaty, 1967 and today. By analysing ‘law in books’ and ‘law in action’ different norms can be identified. The concept of norms was first introduced within sociology, but through Sociology of Law the concept has been broaden to include, not only social aspects, but also technical, economical, political, administrative etc. aspects.
* Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, Moscow, London and Washington, 27 December 1967.
Identification and creation of conditions required for optimal use of geospatial informationResearcher: Nama Raj Budhathoki,
PhD student and Graduate research assistant
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Identification and creation of conditions required for optimal use of geospatial information play pivotal role in overall success of SDIs. Availability and accessibility—-the current focus of most SDIs—-are
necessary but not sufficient conditions, however. I am interested to investigate users’ geospatial information needs and the way these needs change over time in order to understand the ways we could
create truly user-driven SDIs.
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Improvement of the existing Spatial Data Infrastructure
Researcher: Vlado Cetl
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Geodesy, Institute for Applied Geodesy The need to build and improve a spatial data infrastructure can be seen as a necessary and set (default) value which a society should
strive for, and which should improve general welfare and contribute to cost-effectiveness. However, such a premise raises certain questions:
- How detailed should data in the spatial data infrastructure be in order to meet the needs of a society and be efficient in different areas of human activities, considering the society's peculiarities?
- In what way should improvement of the existing spatial data infrastructure be financed, and who is ready to participate in that?
- Is investment in the improvement of the spatial data infrastructure justified financially (cost-benefit)?
- What do companies in the private sector gain, and what lose, in the improvement of the spatial data infrastructure?
The need to analyze costs of building and maintaining the spatial data infrastructure is of great importance, and this topic has attracted little attention and few studies. The costs should be
viewed through a number of factors, including the producers of spatial data, software, hardware and communication infrastructure, human resources, etc. The starting point for such research should be
to define a spatial data infrastructure and the factors within it, as well as to determine those who would care to participate in that
process.
Developing and transition countries are facing a challenge to build spatial data infrastructures and provide access to information, according to sustainable development. This refers to
Croatia as well, as a candidate country for the EU membership. One of the first tasks in that process is to create a state catalogue of
spatial data and metadata. To analyze and to choose an appropriate cost-benefit model is a key element in establishing a permanent model of financing and maintaining the spatial data infrastructure.
The aim of this study is, through analysis and description of different factors in the spatial data infrastructure at national and international level, to provide answers to the preceding questions,
and to ascertain the degree of justification of the building and improvement of the spatial data infrastructure.
SDI evaluation
Researcher: Dr. Tatiana Delgado-Fernandez, GEOCUBA, Technical Coordinator of the Cuban SDI (& Cuban Geospatial Portal, http://www.iderc.co.cu), Geodesic and
Hydrographic Service of Cuban Republic
My main interest regarding Legal and Economic Issues of SDI (although not limited to it) is to research is "SDI evaluation". That means to continue in the same area that I pursued for my PhD in developing an index to measure readiness, effectiveness, and successes of SDI and the analysis of possible underlying causes and necessary actions to address implementation. Publication presentation
Cross-learning on Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) and Information Infrastructures (II)
Researcher: Yola Georgiadou, ITC, the Netherlands
1st Research Workshop on Cross-learning on Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) and Information Infrastructures (II), March 31 and April 1, 2005, ITC, the Netherlands
The main intention of this workshop was to bring together members of the Information Infrastructure and the Spatial Data Infrastructure research communities, to inform each other about research priorities in the respective domains and to identify potential areas of cross-learning and future possibilities for joint research.
Development of Framework to Assess National Spatial Data Infrastructure
Researcher: Lukasz Grus, PhD candidate, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Many countries throughout the world have spent considerable resources over the past few years debating optimal National Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDI). The development and application of a
framework to assess NSDIs supports the establishment and implementation of efficient, effective and coherent NSDIs.
The framework will be developed by identification of key variables, assessment indicators and/or criteria for NSDI using expert knowledge, data collection, (traditional) statistics and data
mining approaches. The conceptual framework will be formulated considering all the components of NSDI (spatial data (services), networking technology, standards, policies, people and structures) and its historical, legal, cultural,
technological, institutional and economic context.
The focus of the project is on National Spatial Data Infrastructure as it has a crucial role in building the other levels of SDI (local, global…). Moreover national SDIs are measurable,
identifiable and sustainable.
The expected results of this project are: an assessment framework for NSDIs, Worldwide assessment for NSDIs and set of NSDI critical factors. Moreover, these results might enhance and innovate the
national spatial data infrastructures (and Dutch SDI in particular) in a more strategic and operational way.
Local government: use and sharing of geographic information
Researcher: Dr. Francis Harvey, Department of Geography, University of Minnesota
My SDI-related research focuses on local government geographic information use and coordination and on data sharing practices across multiple units of goverment. Past published work highlights the importance of trust and socio-technical networks. Currently I am involved in assessing the consequences of EU enlargement and issues in reconciling the cadastre with land tenure in Poland.
Publications and a list of published work is available on my web site.
Towards a coherent legal framework for the availability of public sector spatial dataResearcher: Katleen Janssen, PhD candidate
K.U.Leuven - Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT
The importance of public sector spatial data has been repeatedly commented on in the last decade. Not only is it vital for government’s decision-making processes and democratic participation of the citizen, but it also has an enormous economic value. Re-use of this information by the private sector has led to the development of added-value information products and services on the information market. However, not only the private sector is interested in the use of public sector spatial data for commercial purposes. The public sector itself is – some might argue out of financial necessity – increasingly drawn to its own commercial activities based on public sector spatial data.
The European legal framework for the availability of public sector spatial data consists of three policies that need to be taken into account. The directive on public access to environmental information addresses access of the citizen, while the PSI directive addresses re-use for commercial or non-commercial purposes. Thirdly, the future INSPIRE directive will be applicable to data sharing between public authorities for performing their public tasks with an impact on the environment. However, the relationship between these legal information policies is not always clear and raises a number of questions. The aim of this research is to determine how these legal policies can form one coherent system providing the best legal environment for the availability of public sector spatial data. This raises questions regarding the fundamental role government should play in today’s information society and information marketplace. How far does the public information task go? Does it include making available of raw data for re-use by the private sector or even offer added-value information products and services to the public, as part of the right to access to public information? As a next step, in the case where government is not under such an obligation, the question remains whether it should still be allowed to offer these products and services, even in competition with the private sector. The research raises competition law issues, but also a number of policy issues. How can the information market be regulated in such a way that a balance is found between the obligations of the public sector under its information task and the principles of market and competition?
Development of a Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Derivation of Geoinformation – Towards a Groundwater Vulnerability AssessmentResearcher: Christian Kiehle RWTH Aachen University, Chair for Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, Lochnerstrasse 4-20, 52064
Aachen, Germany. Tel: +49 (0)241/8096776, Fax: +49 (0)241/8092280
The increasing demand for geodata, both on the part of planning authorities and also from the general public as well as the federal soil and groundwater protection legislation requires an integrated procedure to an extent that has not been achieved yet. Difficulties arise from the use of spatial data compiled and processed on different scales by various institutions which leads to different degrees of accuracy and heterogeneous data structures and –formats. This work pursues the development of a web-based Spatial Data Infrastructure addressing these difficulties. The system aims at an assessment of groundwater vulnerabilities in a study area located in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The "concept for determining groundwater vulnerability" in two catchment areas of North Rhine-Westphalia serves as a Geoscientific case study for the derivation of the groundwater vulnerability. The process of information retrieval is enhanced by integrating business rules into the system. Business rules represent expert’s knowledge and allow just-in-time integration of data processing capabilities. The overall goal is a comprehensive, web-based Decision Support System (DSS) in order to process distributive, heterogeneous geodata inventories into geoinformation in a rule-based and scale independent manner. The functional performance involves a linking of the required base data from distributive data providers, depending on the level of resolution, to obtain the groundwater vulnerability. An Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)- compliant web-service will be provided going beyond the actual provision of geodata by developing approaches for interlinking distributive geodata irrespective of scale. A main focus lies on the processing of future-proof and transparent data-standards as published by OGC, ISO, and W3C.
This approach can then, due to its broad spectrum of geodata be applied to related issues such as implementation of the Water Framework Directive adopted by the European Parliament, or to foster eGovernment applications at any spatial integration level. The developed methodology supports reuse of already existing spatial and nonspatial
data, aiming concise information retrieval for any kind of geo-enabled application scenario.
Geospatial governance: cross-agency alignment of geospatial investments in Africa
Researcher:Kate Trinka Lance, PhD candidate, University of Wageningen, Centre for Geo-Information / International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation
A basic premise of SDI is cross-agency alignment of geospatial data and services. The national budget could be an instrument for public sector inter-agency coordination. The budget serves as a tool for planning and evaluation. However, government geospatial investments seldom are documented or tracked in a systematic manner and seldom are subject to performance measurement. Also, a tension exists between the drivers and disincentives for better investment coordination. As a consequence, the national budget falls short of creating the necessary transparency for strategic alignment. This research draws upon current literature in governance, budget reform, and development aid in Africa to explore control measures in support of national geospatial investment strategies. A framework is introduced for assessing a country's geospatial governance maturity.
Researcher: Giles Lane, Director, Proboscis, 2 Ormonde Mansions, 100A Southampton Row, London WC1B 4BJ
T: 020 7209 4042, M: 07711 069 569, W: http://proboscis.org.uk
Social Tapestries is a research programme exploring the potential benefits and costs of local knowledge mapping and sharing, what Proboscis have termed the
'public authoring' of social knowledge. Over the next few years Proboscis is developing a series of experimental uses of public authoring with actual people
in real world scenarios (schools, local regeneration projects in social housing etc) to demonstrate the social and cultural benefits of local knowledge sharing
enabled by mobile and network technologies. As part of this work Proboscis has been exploring new models of public access to GIS owned by public sector
institutions (such as the Ordnance Survey in the UK). A draft Creative Commons style license for non-profit/non-commercial use of GIS has been formally
submitted to the OS as the outcome of 2 years collaboration to date. We are now forming an affiliates forum of interested parties from government, civil
society, culture, business and academia to explore these issues of knowledge mapping and sharing and the wider issues they connect to. http://socialtapestries.net
A Geospatial Data Infrastructure is an Infrastructure for Sustainable Development in East Timor
Researcher: Tracey P. Lauriault B.A. in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Carleton University, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies; June 2003
Thesis Supervisor: D. R. Fraser Taylor
East Timor became independent from Indonesia in August of 1999 and shortly thereafter an Indonesia backed militia destroyed critical
natural resources and infrastructures. A host of overseas development agencies assisted with humanitarian aid, reconstruction and nation
building. East Timor is unique since its Constitution includes sustainable development as a key principle. Sustainable development is
dependant on decisions derived from accurate and timely geospatial data and these need to be compiled, stored, managed and disseminated.
Geospatial data infrastructures are the inter-sectoral, cross-domain and inter-departmental consensus making mechanisms by which a nation manages
its geospatial data assets. Overseas development agencies compiled much data and rendered some maps but these are project specific limiting
their utility in other contexts. There is also no formal body coordinating these information resources. East Timor has many data
requirements and it is argued that for East Timor to meet its sustainable development mandate an East Timor GDI is required.
Developing Geographic Information Infrastructures; the role of information policies
Researcher: Bastiaan van Loenen,
PhD (homepage) Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands
Within the context of Geographic information infrastructures (GII) access-to-government information policies are important the existence and successful use of the data, and the success of the GII itself. Two access doctrines are dominant in the literature: open access policies and cost recovery policies. Many researches have attempted to compare open access policies with the cost recovery model. Most compare the open access approach of the United States (US) federal government with the cost recovery models in other countries, and conclude that the open access policy is more successful. As a consequence most research recommend nations to convert cost recovery policies into open access policies. Although at first sight the accomplished researches provide convincing evidence for the success of the open access model, they appear to have some significant deficiencies. The PhD research aims to provide the foundation to investigate the impact of access policies for large-scale geographic information on the development of national GIIs from a user point of view. The research framework uses the technical (currency, accuracy,
completeness) and non-technical (access policy, access mechanisms) value of two framework spatial datasets as a measure of success. Together, the non-technical and technical value of a dataset may decide whether a potential user is going to use a dataset.
Currently my research also involves the development of a model balancing location privacy and national security interests, the further development of the Creative Commons concept for GI, and the assessment of the maturity of GIIs. Please check my website
for further information.
Wide-ranging SDI issues: GIS ethics; economics of GI, pricing and charging regimes; legal issues; geospatial standards and interoperability; local-national e-government infrastructure
Researcher: Roger Longhorn, BSc, MSc, PhD candidate; Director, Info-Dynamics
Research Associates Ltd (UK) and PhD student at City University, London (UK)(Centre for
Information Policy Studies)
Active since 1995 in initiatives to create the pan-European SDI (GI2000 to INSPIRE), my research at City University focuses on a methodology to formally and
objectively specify and compare different SDI implementations at local,national, regional and global levels, especially regarding policy, legal issues
and barriers. These issues are intertwined with generic information infrastructures (II) being implemented globally, especially in relation to
e-government programmes, of which geospatial data forms an inseparable part.
Lessons learned from analysis of national generic SDIs are being applied to development of coastal/marine SDIs in the UK and Europe. As a member of OGC’s GeoDRM
working group, digital rights management (DRM) for geospatial data is my current focus in regard to legal issues for spatial data and tools, following
publication of a primer on legal issues that I co-authored for the Consultative Group for
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in 2002. As steering committee leader in the EU-funded MOTIIVE project - Marine Overlays on Topography - I
manage the work package devoted to standardisation issues and cost-benefit analysis of geospatial projects implemented using OGC (Open Geospatial
Consortium) compliant interoperability tools and methodologies compared to those which use proprietary approaches. MOTIIVE begins in September 2005 and runs for
2 years, focusing on integration of marine and land-based data using open source, interoperability applications to be developed in the project. With Prof.
Michael Blakemore (Univ. of Durham and Info-Dynamics Research), we are completing a new text book on economic value of GI, to be published by CRC Press
early in 2006. I currently also serve on the IGU steering committee for the Oceans 21 initiative and as Information Policy Advisor on the advisory board of EUCC - The Coastal Union.
Interorganizational issues in development and use of geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial data infrastructures (SDI)Researcher:Zorica Nedovic-Budic, PhD, Associate Professor homepage
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign
Geographic information sharing and access are the essence of successful spatial data infrastructures (SDI). The complexities of data sharing and access, however, are rarely recognized in other than technical terms. My research focuses on non-technical factors and processes, as determinants of GIS and SDI development and utility. These factors and processes are deeply embedded in institutional and organizational resources (human, economic), mechanisms (legal and other), and relationships. These I refer to as "soft-interoperability" and capacity. My research also argues for an evaluative component in studying GIS and SDI, as a learning and feedback tool for guiding and improving existing and future GIS and SDIs. I am particularly interested in the impact and utility of interorganizational GIS and SDIs in affecting urban planning and policy and urban condition. I believe in better connectivity between provision and use of geographic information in specific urban applications - monitoring of urban change via urban indicators and addressing of urban problems through enhanced decision-making processes.
Spatial Data Sharing (SDS)
Researcher: El Sayed Ewis Omran, MSc (PhD candidate)
Wageningen University, The Netherlands
In order to make full use of Spatial Data Infrastructures, Spatial Data Sharing (SDS) is essential. Despite the potentiality important role of spatial data sharing, the actual data sharing behavior still remains “problematic”. The numbers of cooperation relationships on SDS that fail to meet their founders’ expectations are impressive. Organizations, however, continue to form these relationships, and as a result, failures are expected to continue or even increase. Probably some of the SDS problems arise from being products of a particular social and cultural contexts.
Various authors indicate that the attitude of both individuals and organizations towards SDS is quite often problematic. For various reasons and motivations, SDS is far from optimal. However, studies on understanding individual as well as organizational behavior towards SDS are in their infancy and present a challenge for new theory development. So, the objective of this project is to shed light on the interaction between individual and organizational behavior of SDS and their social and culture aspects.
Understanding interactions between Geomatics Sciences, Organizations and Society
Researcher: Orlando RODRIGUEZ-ABON, Ph.D., Centre de recherche en géomatique CRG, Québec, Canada.
My current research interests include understanding interactions between Geomatics Sciences, Organizations and Society. I focus on the field of democratization of Geospatial Technologies and Solutions in order to assess and improve their ability to contribute to public participation, good governance, institutional building, and socio economical development.
My work about SDI aims to determine how these Infrastructures can be further developed by using Interpretative Evaluation and Social Utility Value basis. Therefore, I am starting research on identification of SDI Users Communities through several cultural and contextual backgrounds.
First results about SDI Evaluation can be found here.
Indigenous Spatial Knowledge and GIS Data: Control and Access Issues for Indian Nations in the United States
Researcher: Lea Shanley, PhD dissertator, Environmental Monitoring Program, Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (GNIES), University of Wisconsin-Madison
Use of spatial technologies by Indian nations and tribes has grown steadily over the last decade. Not surprisingly, concomitant conflicts over ownership, access to and control of tribal land information also have arisen. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), third parties have demanded that federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), hand over government-held sensitive tribal documents and data, in some cases adversely affecting tribes’ land and natural resource rights and interests. While this has been a long-standing concern among tribes, recent federal and state court decisions, as well as the sophisticated data integration and analysis capacity of geographic information systems (GIS), have brought land information security to the forefront. Fundamental issues are at stake – Indian nations’ rights and interests in their natural resources, federal agencies decision-making processes that affect these resources, and the public’s right to know. The incorporation of tribal expertise and information into environmental planning and policy formulation is critical if Indian nations’ rights and interests are to be protected. However, if federal agencies are unable to guarantee confidentiality, tribes’ willingness to share information will erode and hence, the federal government’s ability to perform its trust obligation will be impeded.
Within the framework of the intersection between tribal and societal interests, this research investigates the legal and regulatory circumstances under which tribal spatial data may become accessible to third parties, and explores and proposes legal and administrative mechanisms that balance the need to limit access to this information by third parties while at the same time providing access to tribal citizens. Legal instruments such as copyright, contracts and licensing as well as data access policies and procedures will be explored.
Indian nations and tribes will need to decide whether to share their spatial information with the federal government, knowing that it could be disclosed to third parties who may be adverse to their interests, while federal agencies will need to develop guidelines on how to respond to FOIA requests for tribal data in the future. This research also may be of interest to state or local government agencies that create and maintain sensitive spatial data, such as the Natural Heritage Inventory, which is protected under some states’ open records laws but not under federal law.
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