This article aims to draw a picture of the status of SDI development at different political and administrative levels in Asia. The main focus would be on institutional arrangements, technological, social and economic dimensions which affect the SDI growth nationally
and regionally in this region. To achieve this aim, the article starts by reviewing regional cooperation in this region and providing a brief description of the past and current status of spatial data and information in this region.
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Asia and the Pacific region is the largest region in the world with a vast geographic area of land and water, some 60 per cent of the world's population and includes 55 countries as defined by the United Nations. The countries span a wide part of the globe from Iran and Armenia in the west to French Polynesia in the east, from the Russian Federation and Japan in the north to New Zealand in the south.
This region is one of the first regions in the world that has started to develop Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for its regional level and has a complex social and political environment, typified by competing and often conflicting priorities and motivations. Every case in this region is unique because of its national context, language and characteristics (such as size, population, political systems, social and economic priorities, and varied infrastructures and skills), the national, traditional and cultural attitudes, and the people who participate, develop and use SDIs. In this region, spatial data and information are traditionally collected and disseminated by a range of mandated national organisations according to a wide variety of national standards. A major difficulty in relation to these types of data and information is a lack of coordination.
This article aims to draw a picture of the status of SDI development at different political and administrative levels in this region. The main focus would be on institutional arrangements, technological, social and economic dimensions which affect the SDI growth nationally and regionally in this region.
Regional Cooperation in Asia and Pacific
The rapid and sustained development in Asia and the Pacific has created vast trade and investment opportunities, especially for the economies of its individual nations. One of the most significant developments in Asia and the Pacific economy has been the rapid growth of regional cooperation. Within a few years, a number of regional initiatives have been endorsed and various forms of cooperative ventures have been established.
