Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications

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    Seamless SDI model: bridging the gap between land and marine environments
    Vaez, Sheelan S. ; RAJABIFARD, ABBAS ; WILLIAMSON, IAN (Netherlands Geodetic Commission, 2009)
    With climate change, rising sea levels pressing harder year on year and the need to manage our resources more carefully in this dynamic environment, the inability to integrate land and marine base information is an increasing problem in many countries. The absence of a seamless spatial data framework prevents the execution of standard practice of locating and referencing spatial data across the land-marine interface where so much pressure and development is taking place. There is a growing and urgent need to create a seamless SDI model that bridges the gap between the terrestrial and marine environments, creating a spatially enabled land-sea interface to more effectively meet sustainable development objectives. This article discusses drivers for integrating land and marine environments and proposes a seamless SDI model as an abstract level SDI and its associated components. This is followed by issues and challenges that must be overcome in developing an overarching architecture for a seamless SDI that allows access to and interoperability of data from marine, coastal and terrestrial environments.
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    Local government and SDI: understanding their capacity to share data
    MCDOUGALL, KEVIN ; RAJABIFARD, ABBAS ; WILLIAMSON, IAN (Netherlands Geodetic Commission, 2009)
    Local government has been recognised as an early leader in the development, deployment and innovation in spatial information systems. The introduction of corporate wide spatial data portals within local government was as significant as the release of Google Earth to the wider public. Although these information systems continue to expand and mature, the potential for these local spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) to contribute to higher level SDI initiatives remain largely unrealised. This article explores local government SDI within Australia to assess its capacity to contribute to higher level SDI initiatives. A comprehensive survey of over 100 local government authorities was undertaken to assess their SDI capacity and collaborative initiatives. The results were analysed to identify factors that contribute to their successful local SDI development and, more widely, to the development of higher level SDI initiatives through data sharing partnerships. The findings from the analysis indicate that suitable policy frameworks, an understanding of business needs, organisational support and ability to access data through equitable sharing arrangements are critical drivers in building and developing SDI from the local level.