European Approach to Creating a Spatial Data Infrastructure

Learn the advantages of and the steps involved in creating a spatial data infrastructure in Building European Spatial Data Infrastructures, a new book from ESRI Press. The book demonstrates how European governments and the European Union (EU) are at the forefront of promoting geographic information technologies to help citizens get quick access to location-based information.

The European Commission, the executive body of the EU, is working to create a multinational system of sharing data throughout the EU. Spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) provide the foundation for that to happen. SDIs include the spatial data, metadata, technology, standards, and policies that must be in place and connected to exchange, use, and manage spatial data efficiently and flexibly using computer networks.

In the book’s early chapters, author Ian Masser explains the many uses of geographic information system (GIS) technology and how it works. He goes on to describe the components involved in setting up an SDI, giving readers interesting insights into the process.

One of the world’s leading SDI experts, Masser is currently a visiting professor at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands ; the University of Melbourne, Australia; and the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University College London. He also has served as chairman of the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE) and president of the European Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information (EUROGI) and the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association.

Unlike many other books about SDIs and GIS, this reader-friendly book is nontechnical. Masser describes the diverse ways GIS can be applied in government and the private sector. He emphasizes, however, that the technology’s full potential can only be harnessed if the necessary SDI framework has been developed.

Masser also explains the rationale behind building SDIs and describes the processes involved in developing and implementing them including the importance of forming public-private partnerships to exploit the opportunities being opened up by technological advances.

Later chapters focus on the current status and future of SDIs in Europe, relating the steps taken to create a legal framework for the European Commission’s multinational SDI, known as the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE).
Building European Spatial Data Infrastructures (ISBN 978-1-58948-165-7, 104 pages, $24.95) is available at online retailers worldwide or can be purchased at www.esri.com/esripress or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States , contact your local ESRI distributor. Visit www.esri.com/distributors for a current distributor list. Interested retailers can contact ESRI Press book distributor Ingram Publisher Services.