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Global Perspective of NGDI
The Global Map product
Global Map is a product of the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping (ISCGM)8 . The concept for the development of Global Map was originally presented by the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan as a result of the call for global data in Agenda 21, the document resulting from the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro.
The plan is for a global database that consists of elevation, vegetation, land use, drainage systems, transportation, and administrative boundary layers. Each layer will be built to a common specification9 . The initial sources for these data include the Vector Map Level 0 (drainage, transportation, populated places, and administrative units), GTOPO30 (elevation), and the International Geosphere Biosphere Program’s global 1 km land characteristics data product (DISCover) which was produced from the 1 km AVHRR land cover data (vegetation, land cover, and land use).
The Global Map product is envisaged to be accessible online at no cost for non-commercial use.
An important characteristic of this project is the involvement of National Mapping Agencies and other interested organisations in the production and contribution of data sets and the validation of their accuracy (Estes 2000).
The full benefit of the Global Map product will only be derived when long-term data maintenance arrangements are in place with contributing countries. Desirably, the NGDI will be the primary and authoritative source of up-to-date geospatial data.
The APSDI
The Asia Pacific Spatial Data Infrastructure10 (APSDI) is being constructed by the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific11 (PCGIAP). The PCGIAP is managed through an executive board and its work program is implemented through several working groups12 .
The PCGIAP’s vision for the APSDI is of a network of databases, located throughout the region, that together provide the fundamental data needed to achieve the region’s economic, social, human resources development and environmental objectives.
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Dimension of geo-spatial data infrastructure
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Role of NGDI
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Role of regional and global initiatives
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Policies and institutional arrangements
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NGDI will contribute to policy development through participation in regional and
global initiatives; and will facilitate implementation of policies within
countries through local institutional arrangements
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Global and regional initiatives will exercise leadership in development of
relevant policies; and will provide effective institutional mechanisms that
allow NGDI to contribute to policy development.
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Geo-spatial data standards
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NGDI will contribute to development of international geo-spatial data standards;
will adopt these standards wherever possible; and will facilitate implementation
of these standards within countries.
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Global and regional initiatives will exercise leadership in development of relevant
geo-spatial data standards; and will facilitate participation of NGDI in standards
development
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Geo-spatial data
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NGDI will be a primary source of authoritative and up-to-date fundamental
geo-spatial data for initiatives at regional and global level
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Global and regional initiatives will provide geo-spatial data over much larger
areas than covered by NGDI for applications in countries
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Clearinghouse
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NGDI will implement their national clearinghouse and will support regional and
global clearinghouse implementation
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Global and regional initiatives will facilitate linking of NGDI clearinghouses.
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Those distributed databases include geodetic, topographic, hydrographic, administrative and environmental data. They may, in the future, be linked electronically so that they appear, to the user, as a virtual database, but they will also be linked together in a number of other important ways
- They will be linked by an intra-regional institutional framework that provides mechanisms for sharing experience, technology transfer and coordination of the development of the regional fundamental datasets;
- They will be linked by the use of common technical standards, including a common geodetic reference frame, so that data from numerous databases can be brought together to create new products and solve new problems, both regionally and globally;
- They will be linked by the adoption of common policies on data access, pricing, privacy, confidentiality and custodianship;
- They will be linked by the implementation of inter-governmental agreements on data sharing; and
- They will be linked through a comprehensive and freely accessible directory of available datasets containing descriptions and administrative information that accords with agreed standards for metadata.
It is this suite of administrative and technical linkages that distinguishes the APSDI from a collection of uncoordinated datasets, and which will make it such a powerful tool for the region’s economic and social development.
The APSDI will be dependent on effective links to the NGDI in the region.
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