Indian |
International |
Geographic Information Infrastructure
Abstract
The role of NSDI and regional cooperation for sustainable GSDI – A case study of Australia  Hetal A. Patel B. Tech. (Construction Technology) – CEPT, Ahmedabad M. Tech. (Urban Planning) – CEPT, Ahmedabad, Leicester School of Architecture De Montfort University Leicester, UK LE4 9BH Tel: +91(0) 79 7485454 Email: hetaluk@yahoo.com Abstract Geography serves as the common thread to address diverse issues. The emergence of spatial attribute of Geographic Information (GI) has increased its use for analysis, co-ordination of interventions and evaluation of impacts of policies at regional scale. The potential of spatial dimension of GI has opened-up increasing interest to access users need, formulate policy, monitor its implementation and evaluate its effectiveness. The increasing demand for better GI looks for quality, certification, consistency, harmonisation, interoperability and real-time attributes. The significant economic value of GI was illustrated by a study for the European Commission, which estimated the economic value of public sector information in Europe at Euro 60-70 billion per annum, of which over half was accounted for by GI (mapping, land and property, meteorological services, environmental data). The recognition of importance of GI has developed hand in hand with the increasing concern for sustainable development. In the light of sustainability, spatially referenced GI needs indicators such as environmental pressure, landscape diversity and strategic impact assessment. The increased emphasis on sustainability has also lead to efforts to assess the cumulative impacts of different sectoral policies in an integrated way (agriculture, transport and regional development, environment). This has promoted further the importance of accurate information and indicators, including Geographic Information for sustainable development. To overcome sustainability issues, regional co-operation and global collaboration are necessary for the future well being. In recognition of this, many countries have been developing national (or regional) spatial data infrastructure to exploit social and economic values of GI. The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) programmes are undergoing in around 50 nations and the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) initiative began with a conference in Germany in 1996 to work in the same direction. The GSDI approach is a unified approach to integrate spatial data all over the world, where the power of Geographic Information (GI) in conjunction with web technologies and other ICTs allow integration of geospatial data from various sources to support decision making. The GSDI encompasses the policies, organisational arrangements, data, technologies, standards, delivery mechanisms, and financial and human resources necessary to ensure information sharing amongst their global partners. The GSDI is evolving in cooperation with regional organisations in Asia/Pacific, Europe, Americas and Africa. In the Asia/Pacific region, nearly 55 countries are working on a single platform called the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP). However, there are number of issues involved in integrating geospatial data from these organisations. The case of Australia is discussed here to demonstrate best practices they have adopted. The Australia New Zealand Land Information Council’s (ANZLIC) vision is that economic growth, and social and environmental interests are underpinned by quality spatially referenced information. With this goal the Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ASDI) evolved from the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment. The ASDI comprises of people, policies and technologies necessary to enable the use of spatially referenced data through all levels of government, the private sector and non-profit sectors and academia. The underlying philosophy of ASDI development includes many innovative models, ideology, concepts and systematic approaches that provide driving force to the development. To mention some they are, interoperability specifications, cost/benefit of pursuing ISO standards, data availability and access guidelines, common vocabulary of terms, user need survey, governance model to suit public & private sector, etc. Adoption of these tactics and testbed approach to check its viability accelerates progress down to the desired goals of ASDI. The ANZLIC Committee recognises that some elements of ASDI are already developed, including policies, and guidelines, metadata records and institutional arrangements, however, the committee has a core role to play to improve institutional arrangements in support of ASDI. The case of Australia and the PCGIAP suggests that shared experience of cooperation generate synergy required to achieve basic aim of the GSDI. The paper advocates best practices for the development of NSDI and regional cooperation to support sustainable GSDI. The paper also showcase innovative approaches to guide countries that are in the process of developing NSDI. Hereby, it is recommended that tailoring NSDI projects by utilising such enabling approaches provide synergy to support GSDI to supply quality spatially referenced information that is current, complete, accurate, affordable, accessible and integratable, which leads to sustainable development. |