SDI & Sustainable Development

1- INTRODUCTION

It is believed than 21th century is the blooming of information era . In this regards , spatial
information is one of the most critical elements underpinning decision making for many
disciplines. Today, many organizations wish to achieve accurate and consistent spatial data
especially for planning purpose .
Under current circumstances, governments and organizations of different nations, should
reach an agreement on what fundamental datasets are required to meet their common
interests, to what standards they should be collected and maintained, and what the priorities
are for their collection. So that, it is necessary to integrate a number of datasets that may
have been produced by different agencies within different nations for specific purposes, to
their own specifications and priorities, and with little regard to the needs of other users. This
narrow focus, whilst understandable, lad to inefficiencies and duplication of effort. With this
background, many countries believe they can benefit both economically and environmentally
from better management of their spatial information by taking a perspective that starts at a
local level and proceeds through state, national and regional levels to a global level. This has
resulted in the development of the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) concept.
Users of spatial information services and tools require precise spatial information in real-
time and real-world objects. The capacity to meet such needs and deliver services and
within the spatial information market has gone beyond the capabilities of single
organizations .
There is now a wide range of products and services available for a wide range of information
technology applications, and hence the development of an enabling platform can facilitate
access to data and sharing resources and tools among different practitioners. The creation of
an enabling platform for the delivery of these tools and positioning applications will allow
users from diverse backgrounds to work together with current technologies to meet the
dynamic market place.

2. DEFINION OF SDI

An SDI comprises:
Data and its sources
Skilled staff trained in data capture, analysis, interpretation, communication and
application.
Technological infrastructure for using data
Policy settings that influence data availability, access and u se
Governance framework clarifying roles and responsibilities

All these components are needed for successful implementation of an SDI at any level.
The objectives of an SDI are:

To promote access and use of digital geospatial information of value to many users
To enable these users to find and access primarily governmental geospatial data
resource.
To reduce duplication of effort among collaborating organizations and encourage joint
investment
using open standards and common solutions
An SDI enables the dynamic linking of data and services from a number of sources and
provides access to many users for specific applications. Key concepts are sharing resources,
using best available information from the primary source and minimizing impediments to its
use.
These outcomes are achieved by:

Accessing new data (reduce barriers);

Exploiting existing data and capabilities;
Getting the latest data on time to decision makers;
Avoiding duplication of effort;
Avoiding duplication of data;
Avoiding duplication of facilities;
Formalizing access arrangements amongst agencies.

Key stakeholders must be engaged in development and use of an SDI in order to reap
benefits. Stakeholders include:

Public (on-budget, local, semi-government)

Private (commercial, not for profit)
Professional (associations, institutes)
Academic (secondary education, tertiary institutions, research bodies)
Community groups and individual citizens

3. THE CURRENT SITUATION IN IRAN

Iran is already well served with substantial spatial data resources, spread over a number of
agencies where these resources are being used to fulfill the mandate of those agencies.
national trends are:

Currently there have been many efforts of GIS based information systems by some
organization but according to the forth developing program , the government (MPO) is
responsible to implement and develop SDI framework in Iran .
Most agencies recognize the value of spatial capabilities but they haven t strategies to
developing SDI and maximize their investment.
Important national applications are disaster management, national security, natural resource
management and land administration;
Public use is growing through navigation and online services.

Better access to information equals better risk management allowing a quicker response to
the unexpected.
An important example is planning, preparing, responding and recovering from an earthquake,
an event unfortunately all too familiar to the people of Iran. Experience in many countries
clearly shows the strong linkage between the ability of emergency services to operate more
effectively by having access to up-to-date spatial information easily accessible from multiple
sources. These sources include land administrators, natural resource managers, facility
managers, emergency managers, utility services and statistical agencies.
Having access to these information resources support an all-hazards approach, as relevant to
floods and civil disorder as for earthquakes. Key information resources include maps,
satellite imagery, aerial photos, cadastral records and population statistics. At present, these
sources are held in a large number of agencies with little ability to access efficient and quickly.
Even the ability to plan for future disasters is hampered by not knowing what data is already
available that may be useful.
Inconsistent approaches to access policies and differing levels of technology are also barriers to
sharing data. All can be addressed through development of a shared SDI.

In general concept, current situation of SDI rely on four phases :

Understanding of SDI (necessity of create and develop) in several fields

Policy, organization , supporting program
 Access to technology and infrastructure necessary
Knowledge and human resource necessary for developing SDI

There is a clear need to develop a coherent picture of strategic and operational use of spatial
capabilities in Iran, both now and into the future. There is also the need for all players to
recognize their interdependences with each other and for the need to act together.
There is the need to develop a vision and strategy, underpinned by a coherent and agreed national
policy enabling the national spatial data infrastructure. All players need to understand what they
have, what they can offer, what's the cost and what they need to do next.

4. OBJECT OF THESIS

Many of the new NSDI initiatives in my country are in an early stage, but significant progress
is being made. An enabling platform aims to link public and private industries, facilitating the
sharing of spatial information, services and applications. The development of an enabling
platform shows that it will enhance the capability of government, the private sector and the
general community to engage in systems based, integrated and holistic decision making about
the future. It will allow decisions to be based on a model where a wide variety of
data/information in both vector format and raster format can be accessed to build a view of the
nation s social, environmental and economic management. The research aims to overcome the
inherent, locked-in effects that current systems have created over time, providing
an enabling environment in which spatial based applications and user communities can grow.
There are a number of actions that can be taken, including:

Step 1 :
Find and enhance access to current data holdings and improve knowledge and
training of users

Step 2 :
Enhance systems and data with both national and provincial requirements in mind.

Step 3 :
An integrated data infrastructure readily accessible when needed and well understood
by decision makers.