The developed countries now focus more on commercialisation and standardisation of geographic data, and on the issues related to metadata, data liability, copyright issues on digital data, etc.
If we look at international scenario, especially the developed countries, we find a different story altogether. Probably it is the attitude that matters. The willingness to progress, the innovative initiatives and perhaps more importantly, they have realised the importance of spatial data much ahead of us. And that is why when map users of in India are struggling to have the glimpse of data, the level of debate in US and Europe is not on data availability and accessibility. They are concentrating more on commercialisation and standardisation of geographic data, and on the issues related to metadata, data liability, copyright issues on digital data, etc.
Just to have a glimpse where the world is, consider this. Unlike Survey of India, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1:24,000 scale topographic maps are the basic scale maps for the USA and are not protected by any copyright. They comprise some 57,000 sheets. Projections for integrating and updating them into a coherent digital topographic database do not foresee completion until the early 21st century. It is technically and legally feasible for a low-labour cost developing nation to purchase the maps and digital files at minimal cost, update them from commercially available remotely-sensed imagery according to market priorities (there would be no real need for them to deal with remote and sparsely populated areas unless it was profitable), and resell the USA’s own maps back into the internal market, this time claiming commercial copyright (Krysia).
In Europe and US, several initiatives have been taken in development of spatial data infrastructure. Some of these efforts are discussed below:
The US-NSDI
The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is conceived to be an umbrella of policies, practices, standards, organizations, and data that contribute to improved availability and use of high quality geospatial data and technologies. Although the effort to develop the NSDI is being led by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), guided by existing federal policies related to data dissemination, liability, and privacy, the NSDI is envisioned to encompass all data producers, managers, and users in the United States, regardless of organisational affiliation (Nancy).
The concept of NSDI started taking shape during early 1990’s, when the Mapping Science Committee (MSC) of the United States National Research Council began to investigate the research responsibilities and future of the National Mapping Division (NMD) of US Geological Survey. The MSC coined the phrase ‘National Spatial Data Infrastructure’ and identified it as the comprehensive and co-ordinated environment for the production, management, dissemination, and use of spatial data. The NSDI was conceived to be the totality of the policies, technology, institutions, data and individuals that were producing and using geospatial data within the US. The MSC report (1993) proposed a number of actions and responsibilities for various agencies and for the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) which related to their version of NSDI whilst another report a year later urged the use of partnerships in creating the NSDI (MSC 1994). The FGDC team discussed the concept of NSDI with the Clinton Administration. The NSDI was recognised as an idea and means to foster better intergovernmental relations, to empower State and local governments in the development of geospatial data sets and to improve the performance of the Federal Government. In 1994, the national Spatial Data Infrastructure was signed by President Clinton, directing the federal agencies to carry out certain tasks to implement the NSDI. The Executive Order created an environment within which new partnerships were not only encouraged, but required. Perhaps more importantly, it raised the political visibility of geospatial data collection, management and use nationally and internationally.
The NSDI is defined in the Presidential Executive Order as ‘the technology, policies, standards and human resources necessary to acquire, process, store, distribute, and improve utilisation of geospatial data’. The Order and FGDC identified three primary areas to promote development of the NSDI. The first activity area is the development of standards, the second improvement of access to and sharing of data by developing the National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse, and the third is the development of National Digital Geospatial Data Framework. The NSDI Executive Order mandated that federal agencies use all FGDC-adopted standards. A data clearinghouse is operational: nearly all federal agencies, as well as most states and numerous local jurisdictions, have become active users of internet for disseminating geospatial data. Some considerable success has been achieved, especially in formulation of some standards and creation of clearinghouse of metadata (Rhind).