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With contributions from international experts, this book presents cutting edge Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) research on information technology, systems, and infrastructures that is theoretically-based and empirically supported. It examines the complexities involved in the establishments of SDIs in the Northern and Southern hemispheres and use of SDIs in a variety of cultural, societal, and institutional contexts. The focus is on urban and regional levels where socio-economic and environmental sustainability is realized.
List of contents
Institutions and Organizations: When Is Providing Spatial Information a Public Task? A Search for Criteria. Institutionalization Does Not Occur by Decree: Institutional Obstacles in Implementing a Land Administration System in a Developing Country. Integrating Spatial Information and Business Processes: The Role of Organizational Structures. GIS Database Development and Exchange: Interaction Mechanisms and Motivations. Data and Technology: SDI Reality in Uganda: Coordinating between Redundancy and Efficiency. Social Network Analysis of the SDI in Flanders. Thinking in Circles: How National Geo-Information Infrastructures Cannot Escape from the Temptation of Technology. People and Practices: Enlisting SDI for Urban Planning in India: Local Practices in the Case of Slum Declaration. Considerations from the Development of a Local Spatial Data Infrastructure. An Exploration of SDI and Volunteered Geographic Information in Africa. Sense-Making and Summing Up: SDI in North and South—A Full Circle Yet? Conclusion: Implications for Future Research and Practice—Toward Scientific Pragmatism. Afterword. Index.
About the author
Joep Crompvoets is an associate professor at the Public Management Institute of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and lecturer at the Centre for Geo-Information of Wageningen University in The Netherlands. He holds two MSs and a Ph.D. from Wageningen University.
Summary
In the wake of the so-called information technology revolution, many stakeholders from the public and private sectors (including citizens) have indeed grown accustomed to the promise and usability of spatial data infrastructures (SDI) for data access, use, and sharing. With contributions from international experts, this book presents cutting edge Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) research on information technology, systems, and infrastructures that is theoretically-based and empirically supported. It examines the complexities involved in the establishments of SDIs in the Northern and Southern hemispheres and use of SDIs in a variety of cultural, societal, and institutional contexts. The focus is on urban and regional levels where socio-economic and environmental sustainability is realized.
Additional text
This interesting book collects essays by established academics and early career scientists ... [Chapter 5] is one of my favourite chapters in the book and I found the theoretical framework really helpful to explain behaviours present all over the world. ... Chapter 8 ... is definitively another highlight.... [T]his fascinating chapter sheds light onto the real-world practice of information making ... The editors make a strong case for devoting more energy to understand the local, and the multiple rationalities in a socio-technical framework rather than using the architectural blueprint approach to develop an SDI. ... A good book, worth buying. —Max Craglia, in International Journal of Geographical Information Science, Dec 2011
