Case Study: Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs)
Geolink Consulting Ltd has a wealth of experience working in the field of SDIs. Managing Director Mark Probert has been involved with the INSPIRE directive since 1998 and has represented UK as it's GI expert in some of the early "expert group" meetings and was a member of one the Drafting Teams compiling the implementing rules for the Directive. Geolink Consulting wrote an SDI report for Croatia in 2006, funded by the UK Foreign Office. This was followed by a similar study for Romania, this time funded by the World Bank. In the last months Geolink Consulting has made a preliminary report on the use of Spatial Data in Albania. The studies examined the current state of play regarding the use of spatial data in those countries and made a series of recommendations on actions that could help to develop the production, sharing, and interoperability of spatial data in the future - and in the case of EU Member States the requirements being brought about by the INSPIRE Directive. Bearing in mind its crucial role in the field of land administration a co-ordinated national strategy for the management of spatial data is seen as an essential foundation for effective and efficient decision making. The requirements of the INSPIRE Directive are generally poorly understood and an early appreciation of changes that need to be made will save a lot of effort and expense in future years.
The main sections of these studies include:
- What is a SDI?
- INSPIRE - philosophy, state of play, core elements, actions required by member states
- PSI and other related EU legal instruments
- NSDI in the country - state of play, public sector, private sector
- Benefits of SDI - best practice review, policy, organisation, technical, funding, potential obstacles
- NSDI Considerations - legislation, organisation, funding, technical, recommendations
- Integration with other initiatives e.g INSPIRE, PSI, eGov
- Actions and priorities, road map and timeline
The Geolink NSDI Study for Croatia, completed in 2006, has now been published in Croatia (in Croatian). The Geolink report has been combined with one from German geoada company conterra, and was launched at a very pleasant event in Zagreb on 26th June. The book (ISBN-978-953-6971-13-8) will be distributed to a wide range of stakeholders in the Croatian NSDI and forms an excellent medium for communicating the key issues. For enquiries contact the Project Implementation Unit of the Real Property Registration and Cadastre Project.
