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25 Chapter 1 Setting the scene: Spatial Data Infrastructures 1 Introduction The concept of spatial data infrastructures (SDI) refers to the infrastructure, or basic physical and organisational structures, needed to facilitate efficient and effective use of spatial data (Rajabifard et al., 2006; Hjelmager et al., 2008).The realisation that spatial data or geographical information systems (GIS) storing these data should not be considered within the boundaries of individual organisations or contexts has led to the development ofideasandpracticesofSDI.SpatialdataandGISsimplyneedtobeembeddedinabroader framework if the usefulness of spatial data to multiple users – individuals, groups and organisations – at national and global levels is to be addressed meaningfully (Williamson et al., 2003). SDI requires the ability to envision the potential of working with spatial data produced by others and to look beyond the confines of data models and technological dimensions when addressing issues of data usage. In this way, SDI has proven to be a successful concept. Many governments have launched SDI initiatives at local, national and international levels (see: Crompvoets et al., 2004; Masser, 2005; Rajabifard et al., 2006). In addition to dedicated sessions at conferences and discussions in leading geographical journals, researchers have also devoted to SDI special conferences, such as GSDI (Global Spatial Data Infrastructure), and journals (for instance, International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructure Research). In the research community, it is clear that the concept of SDI is passed its infancy from the fact that after the initial stream of papers and articles, there are now several books addressing SDI-related concepts and practices (e.g. Groot and McLaughlin, 2000; Williamson et al., 2003; Masser, 2005; Masser et al., 2007; Onsrud, 2007 ; Crompvoets et al., 2008c; Nedovic-Budic et al., 2011a). The objective of this chapter is to develop an understanding of spatial data infrastructures, including their objectives and components.This chapter has been divided in six parts. The first part briefly presents the background of SDI developments. In the second part, the results of a literature review on SDI definitions are presented. The third part tries to summarise what defines an SDI, based on the collected definitions. The fourth part proposes to conceive SDI in systemic terms as a regulating infrastructure. This chapter ends with a concluding section. The chapter contains contributions of the author to the journal articles Reconsidering the definition of a Spatial Data Infrastructure (Hendriks et al., 2012) and A network perspective on Spatial Data Infrastructures (Vandenbroucke et al., 2009). 26 2 Background of SDI development The use of spatial data has increased considerably over the last decades and it has been acknowledged that it is a key factor in governmental decisions and private businesses (Williamson et al., 2003; Longley et al., 2001). Spatial data are also increasingly used by researchers, not-for-profit organisations and individual citizens. Spatial data are deemed to be very valuable and should therefore be used as widely as possible (Longhorn and Blakemore,2008).However,thereareseveraltechnologicalandnon-technologicalbarriers that prohibit its wide use (Annoni and Craglia, 2005; Vandenbroucke and Janssen, 2008; Nedovic-Budic et al., 2011a). Major technological barriers are the non-harmonisation of data, lack of documentation of data (metadata), difficult access to the data and gaps in data availability. Non-technological barriers are said to be even more challenging than the technological ones (see: Groot and McLaughlin, 2000; Kok and Van Loenen, 2004; Bernard et al., 2005; Nedovic-Budic et al., 2011a). They encompass the multiple data agreements, the sometimes complex organisational procedures, the high cost for data, and the copyright, privacy and other limitations for use and re-use. In order to overcome these barriers, producers and users of spatial data have been increasingly involved in the development of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Over the past two decades, SDIs have been developed all over the world with the aim of improving the access to, use and sharing of spatial data in both the public and private sectors (ANZLIC, 1996; FGDC, 1997; CGDI, 2003; European Commission, 2007). These developments have not been limited to the developed world as is shown for Latin America and the Caribbean by Delgado Fernández and colleagues (Delgado Fernández et al., 2006), for the Indian sub-continent by Georgiadou et al. (2005), and for Africa by Smit et al. (2009). The worldwide span of SDI development can also be experienced at GSDI conferences and related activities (see http://www.gsdi.org/ for additional details). In 2001, 120 of the 192 countries in the world were implementing a national level SDI (NSDI) (Crompvoets and Bregt, 2003; Masser...

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