• Institutions and Organizations When Is Providing Spatial Information a Public Task? A Search for Criteria, Katleen Janssen, Joep Crompvoets, and Jos Dumortier Institutionalization Does Not Occur by Decree: Institutional Obstacles in Implementing a Land Administration System in a Developing Country, Leiser Silva Integrating Spatial Information and Business Processes: The Role of Organizational Structures, Ezra Dessers, Geert Van Hootegem, Joep Crompvoets, and Paul H. J. Hendriks GIS Database Development and Exchange: Interaction Mechanisms and Motivations, Zorica Nedovic'-Budic', Jeffrey K. Pinto, and Lisa Warnecke Data and Technology SDI Reality in Uganda: Coordinating between Redundancy and Efficiency, Walter T. de Vries and Kate T. Lance Social Network Analysis of the SDI in Flanders, Glenn Vancauwenberghe, Joep Crompvoets, Geert Bouckaert, and Danny Vandenbroucke Thinking in Circles: How National Geo-Information Infrastructures Cannot Escape from the Temptation of Technology, Henk Koerten and Marcel Veenswijk People and Practices Enlisting SDI for Urban Planning in India: Local Practices in the Case of Slum Declaration, Christine Richter, Gianluca Miscione, Rahul De', and Karin Pfeffer Considerations from the Development of a Local Spatial Data Infrastructure, Clodoveu A. Davis, Jr. and Frederico Fonseca An Exploration of SDI and Volunteered Geographic Information in Africa, Yola Georgiadou, Nama Raj Budhathoki, and Zorica Nedovic'-Budic' Sense-Making and Summing Up SDI in North and South-A Full Circle Yet? Gianluca Miscione and Danny Vandenbroucke Conclusion: Implications for Future Research and Practice-Toward Scientific Pragmatism Afterword Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

In the wake of the so-called information technology revolution, many stakeholders from the public and private sectors (including citizens) have indeed grown accustomed to the promise and usability of spatial data infrastructures (SDI) for data access, use, and sharing. Analyzing the obstacles as well as the processes and mechanisms of integration and implementation, Spatial Data Infrastructures in Context: North and South investigates the technological and the non-technological aspects of the widespread adoption of spatial data infrastructures. Supporting theoretical issues with empirical studies, the editors pay particular attention to the non-technological aspects of organizational, financial, and legal issues including owner rights, liability, copyrights, and compatibility with precedent and supercedent laws. The authors also highlight the importance of understanding the local environment and circumstances in the process of tailoring the approaches to the conditions that characterize societies of different cultural, institutional, and economic settings. Designed to improve the accessibility, interoperability, and affordability of spatial data, the book focuses on the increasing challenges associated with integrating individuals and organizations into a network to support (1) public authorities and administrations at various levels, (2) thematic user communities, (3) enterprises, and (4) citizen-oriented society as a whole. It addresses the implementation and development of spatial data infrastructures for a wide range of themes, applicable technical standards and protocols, and specific organizational issues unique to data policy. Highlighting the potential for profound changes to the access, use, and exchange of spatial data for citizens, organizations, and geographically related applications, and therefore to the role and interaction of the stakeholders from the public and private sectors, this timely contribution provides new insights into improving our understanding of the increasing relevance, applicability, and value of spatial data infrastructures.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)