SDI Governance and Allocation of Tasks

• Collection of technological and non-technological components (readiness)
• To facilitate and improve the access to and sharing of spatial data (data)
• In order to stimulate the use of these data by different types of users (use)
• And to promote better decision-making and therefore better social, economic and environmental outcomes (impact)

Governance (including the allocation of tasks)

Questions:

• What do you see in this picture?
• Which elements do you recognize?
• What does the complete picture show?

• Actors: who is involved in the SDI


• Allocation of tasks: who is doing what


• Decision making: where/how, and who is involved


• Other relationships: communication, exchange/publication of data



--> Visual representation of the SDI governance structure

(Commission on Global Governance, 1995)

1. Fragmentation



2. (Inter)dependencies

• “First generation of SDIs” (Masser, 1999)
  
  
  • Mainly led by data producers
  
  
  • At central level of government (national mapping agencies)
  
  
  • Focus on data creation and production
  
  
  • Within existing – centralized - structures

→ Many different actors/institutions involved (fragmentation)

1. Stronger focus on user needs


2. Other thematic domains (environment, spatial planning, mobility, statistics, health, etc.)


3. Lower levels of government


4. Producers and users outside the public sector


5. Many different SDIs

→ even more different actors/institutions involved (increased fragmentation)

• In principle, all public authorities should be considered as a (potential) provider and/or user of spatial data, and thus as a node in the SDI network.


• Actors at different administrative levels:
  
  
  • Municipal, local, regional, national, European, international


• Actors in different policy fields:
  
  
  • Environment, mapping agencies, cadastral agencies

  Agriculture, Mobility, Spatial planning, Statistics

  • Other fields…

• While the original focus of the SDI was on the public sector, also actors from the private sector, academic sector and non-profit sector can be added to network, as data providers and/or data user.
• Agreement should be found on the terms and conditions for access and use of data sets and services for non-public organizations and these terms and conditions should be included in the partnership agreement.
• Partners should also determine the basic requirements these non-public authorities need to fulfill in case they want to add their data to the SDI. Non-public authorities should be recommended to apply the same conditions for usage as the public data providers.
• Also non-governmental actors might be given the opportunity to be involved in the coordination of the SDI, in a decision-making or advisory role.

Almost 500 actors (only in the public sector)

1. Actors in an SDI strongly dependent on each other


2. Producer – consumer relationships (or provider-user relationships)


3. Task/subtask relationships (e.g. geoportal)


4. Shared resources (funding, infrastructure, …)

The governance of SDIs deals with

• the adoption of structures, procedures and instruments
• for managing the relationships and dependencies
• between all involved actors, units and organizations.

In order to avoid governance problems (or problems caused by a lack of governance)

Without governance?

1. Gaps


2. Duplications


3. Contradictions


4. Lost opportunities

• Duplications: huge number of different address data sets (even within organizations)


• Contradictions: different formats, different definitions, unofficial addresses
  
  
• Gaps: no complete and up-to-date address data set (with precise geographic location)
  
  
• Lost opportunities: i.e. all decisions, services, products that require complete up-to-data address data

• Agreements as main output of the governance process
  • What should be done?
  • By who?
  • How?
  • When?


• Different kinds of agreements: legislation, policy documents, standards, data models, guidelines, etc.


• Governance as key SDI component (as it determines or influences all other components)

• The Minister responsible for SDI in your country would like all spatial data and associated metadata of all data providers in the country to be compliant to common national standards


• To avoid:
  • Gaps: e.g. data without metadata
  • Duplications: e.g. data with multiple metadata and data in different formas
  • Contradictions: data not interoperable
  • Lost opportunities: in finding, accessing and integrating data


• What could he/she do to achieve this?

Some possible actions

• Involve stakeholders in decision-making on what, how, when to do this
• Define a strategy/action plan (and monitor the implementation)
• Assign clear roles and responsibilities (who will be doing what)
  • Data provider? Central coordinator? User?
• Provide financial incentives (direct or indirect)
• Raise awareness (why) and training (how)
• Make it obligatory (through legislation)

1. Collective decision making
2. Strategic management
3. Allocation of tasks and responsibilities
4. Creation of markets
5. Interorganizational knowlegde and culture sharing
6. Regulating and formalizing the infrastructure

Aim: To involve all stakeholders in decision-making on the infrastructure

Instruments:

Entities for collective decision-making

Advisory bodies

Trends:

Restricted to government versus open and inclusive

Need for separate advisory bodies (and how to link to decision making)

Strategic versus operational

• SDI decision making structures = involving stakeholders in decision making on the development and implementation of the SDI


• Key characteristics of a successful decision making structure are:
  
  
  • Involvement of all relevant stakeholders, including public authorities but also parties from outside the public sector
  • Participation should not be limited to data producers, also users of spatial data should be taken on board
  • Horizontal and vertical communication
  • Coordination structure should be flexible and adaptable
  • Activities and actions of different coordination bodies should be determined by a long term strategy
  • If multiple coordination bodies are foreseen, it is important to align the activities of these different bodies

Aim: To align the activities of different stakeholders by a system of interconnected plans, objectives and targets

Instruments:

• Strategic plans
• Strategic evaluations

Trends:

• Policy documents indicating the need for an SDI and more specific SDI strategies and action plans
• Top-down versus bottom-up planning processes (and evaluations)

• Who should be doing what?
  • Who is responsible for which data set?
  • Which tasks? Metadata, harmonization, services, etc.
  • What is the role of non-government actors?


• Need for a clear division of tasks in order to avoid duplications, contradictions or tasks that are not executed.


• Instruments:
  • Coordinating entity (new or existing organization)
  • Reshuffling of tasks and competencies (different roles in SDI implementation)

Tasks in implementing INSPIRE

• Creation and maintenance of metadata;
• Harmonizing data according to INSPIRE data specifications (re-engineering or transformation of spatial data sets and conformity testing activities);
• Establishing and operating network services, (including the creation and maintenance of metadata for these services, as well as conformity testing)
• Determining the conditions applying to access to, and use of the data, and, where applicable, corresponding fees;
• Monitoring the use of the data and related services.

• Data user: expresses his/her needs and demands and report son the quality of data and services that are provided
• Data custodian: creates and maintains his/her own data and the associated metadata
• Service provider: deploys spatial data services on top of spatial data sets + create metadata for services
• Geo-broker: provides the technological platform that allows linking the different catalogues, catalogues services and portals to each other and provide technical support to the partners of the platform that do not have the technical knowledge and skills to set up the necessary services.

Basic nodes:

• Produce/manage geospatial data
• Share geospatial data via traditional means (USB, DVD, e-mail)
• Have internal system for managing geospatial data (for multiple users)
• Data can be viewed online via internal/external tools or viewers

Intermediate nodes:

• Provide basic metadata for their data
• Provide standardized web map services (WMS or WMTS web map services)
• Data can be downloaded online

Advanced nodes:

• Approved metadata generation procedures
• Metadata catalogue
• Data accessible via standardized download services (WFS or WCS)
• Geodata (and services) centrally available through a geoportal
• General rules on internal management of geo-information

 Aim: To establish and maintain markets between stakeholders (where data providers and data users can meet)

Distinction

• Internal markets (within government)
• External markets (outside government)

Instruments:

• Portals
• Data sharing agreements
• Licenses
• Financial incentives (to support providers/users)

Process of harmonizing (open) spatial data licenses in Europe

2006: Each organization has its own unique set of licenses

2011: Harmonisation initiatives at national level (but hardly no open data)

2017: Use of internationally interoperable (open) licenses

See: Van Loenen, B. et al (2017). Harmonising Open Licences in the European Union: “Been there, done that. What’s next?”. Presentation at the INSPIRE 2017 Conference, Strasbourg.

Aim: To create shared vision, norms, values and knowledge between stakeholders

Instruments:

• Information sharing
• Awareness raising
• Capacity building

Trends:

• Different types of guidance document (online)
• National GI associations contribute to awareness raising and networking

Aim: To formalize the infrastructure (and governance of it) into a binding framework

Instruments:

• Agreements, Laws and Regulation (legal framework)

Trends:

• SDI legal framework prior to INSPIRE
• Transposition of INSPIRE into national legislation

Can you find examples of these for your country?

1. Joint decison making bodies
2. Advisory bodies
3. SDI Strategies and Action Plans
4. SDI Assessments
5. SDI coordinating entity
6. Allocation of tasks, roles and responsibilities
7. SDI ‘market places’: geoportals, licenses, financial incentives
8. Networking and awareness raising
9. Training
10. Legal framework