• Home
• GOVERNMENT CXO
• E-GOVERNMENT
• CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
• TAX AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT
• GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
• GREEN GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT DATA MANAGEMENT
• GOVERNMENT SECURITY
• GOVERNMENT CLOUD
• GOVERNMENT ANALYTICS
• GOVERNMENT GIS
• CONNECTED GOVERNMENT
• DIGITAL INCLUSION
• EDUCATION IT
• HEALTHCARE IT

Government GIS

Social Media to have indirect Influence on SDI

By Clarice Africa | 1 November 2011

In the midst of a big wave of social internet technologies, often referred to as web 2.0, would it have a significant influence on the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)?

For Prof. Abbas Rajabifard, President of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association, social networking sites such as Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter all have indirect effect on the SDI.

Prof. Rajabifard told FutureGov that web 2.0 has definitely opened up emerging channels for communication and engagement and in particular for contribution of information through the source of crowd-sourced data or Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) – that will be used by SDIs to help develop dynamic descriptions of places and provide another source of data for users.

“The concept and its implementation present a valuable and potential source of information, which we should consider. Although voluntarism has always been present in some way or form in the collection of spatial information, it has never before existed on such a prolific scale as evidenced from the plethora of sites on the internet that use, produce and share geo-referenced data,” he said.

“So, with the new facilities and technologies available today, we can now consider VGI being a potential role for society and a function within the SDI.”

According to Prof. Rajabifard, the integration of VGI with official information can be a powerful source of novel data that can be included in SDIs. Particularly for the disaster management, public safety and also covering the areas where not much information is available.

“This is especially important in developing countries and areas where reliable spatial data is scarce and the digital divide is more delineated,” he said, adding that such technologies can also add to the richness and diversity of data available when added to authoritative data and information.

“How an SDI is able to incorporate this type of data is the major area of influence from an SDI perspective, and one which we are now starting to research. We should also look to the future and consider new concepts and technologies such as the spatial marketplace and the impending ICT revolution,” he said.

Apart from being the President of GSDI, Professor Rajabifard is also the Director of the Centre for SDIs and Land Administration at the Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne and is also a member of Victorian Spatial Council, Australia.

He is a member of ICA-Spatial Data Standard Commission and was Vice Chair of Spatially Enabled Government Working Group of the UN sponsored Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP)

Tweet

---