II status is a crucial point for NSDI development. - EC GI & GIS Portal

GIS, SDII and II 

position statement 

Jiri Horak 

VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, institute of 

geoinformatics 

& Czech Association for Geoinformation

Does customer need GIS or IS? 

A typical enduser is not interested if he/she uses IS 

or GIS, or how much is the application spatial 

enabled. 

He/she expects that the designer of application takes 

advantages of all relevant technologies. 

Every developer of „spatial“ application cannot omit 

the IT progress. 

� difficult to separate the development of IT and GIT, 

they are coupled, and the similar can be said about II 

and SDI. 

Enschede 31.3.-1.4.2005 Cross-Learning between SDI and II Jiri Horak

IT development reflecting 

spatial data and application 

Appropriate ways to store spatial data 

Improvement of accessibility (indexing, 

sorting, data querying) 

Appropriate design of spatial extended 

application 

� Some features are still missing to be reflected 

appropriate and sufficient way 


GIS = good consumer of foreign data 

GIS is highly dependent on data and uses “abnormal” portion of 

external data (data provided by external organisation, typically state 

organisation or private spatial data provider) 

The reason = scale. The typical GIS models a part of the landscape 

or country and shares a relevant part of the space with other subjects. 

=> no sense to develop and maintain own description of this part of 

space. Morever, primary acquisition of spatial data requests experts 

and the cost is relatively high. 

decision maker has to rely on “foreign” data – requests for data 

relevancy, appropriateness, content, and other aspects of data quality 

Issues of reusing of existing data sources, process of data 

harmonisation, exchange, supply 

We need to assure: 

� data exchange 

� Metadata (and services) 

� Reference (core) data 

� Guarantee (certification) both for data content and for services of data supply 


Selected specific features 

of spatial data 

Most of spatial data is georeferenced - they are connected and 

dependent on the reference system and, more, quite often to the 

“master” layer on which new data was created. This sort of 

dependency is not trivial, because it is not easy to replace one 

referencing system (or reference data) by another one. 

The spatial data are scale dependent. The data formalisation is 

toughly connected with certain level of object recognition. 

Existence of more than 1 representation of the modelled object in 

spatial data. Each representation is linked with specific request for 

recognition, understanding and formalisation of the object, relevant to 

specific purposes. The issue arises when we need to establish joint 

core data derived from a common representation of the object. 


Expected technological 

development in GIT - 1 

spatial data collection with high accuracy, high 

resolution, equipped with full metadata during the 

collection (condition of measurement, identification of 

measurement tool, automatic recording of location, identification 

of person, etc.). 

The movement of interest from “point” measurement 

and data collection to “continual” measurement and 

data collection. 

processing of vast volume of data – how to store 

such volumes, prepare appropriate ontology, 

methods of processing (e.g. interpolation, pattern 

recognition, automatic feature recognition and extraction); 

methods of evaluation and interpretation. 

How to manipulate with unstructured (original) data? 




data assimilation techniques – combination of various 

data, which differs by source, form, quality aspects 

etc. 

new type of sensors connected with rapid progress in 

nanotechnologies (e.g. smart dust) and identification 

techniques – how to process such volume of data, 

application of interpolation techniques, spatial 

statistics of results, spatial modelling, feedback to 

sensors or control tools etc. 

dealing with uncertainty. Various sources of 

uncertainty. Movement from “hard” (crisp) methods to 

“soft” and fuzzy methods. Processing of continuous 

data, often with random value variation. 




utilisation of large volume of data originated from egovernment 

(person, building, lot, address, company 

registers and evidence of activities) – utilisation in broad 

range of application like socio-economic monitoring; 

issues of data protection, data adjustment, data 

visualisation. 

new methods of storing, processing and visualisation 

of data continual in space and time (usually data are 

measured in some point or slices both in space and on time axe, 

but we need to evaluate the whole segment in space and time 

range) 

new methods in spatial analysis – e.g. advanced 

spatial statistics 




extended application of modelling approach 

(numerical modelling, stochastic simulation) 

in various branches 

visualisation and realistic visualisation 

--------------------------------------------------------------- 

development of interoperability standards - 

e.g. standards for services SOA 

application of semantic web and ontology 

development 



Common challenges 

The design and development of application 

for handicapped people. 

E.g. “blind friendly” applications are important for 

not neglected part of population. 

find appropriate way to change “visualisation” to 

more common “perception” (hearing, touching etc.) for 

spatial applications (maps, spatial models) 


Progress in geographical thinking 

Not only development of technical aspects of GIT 

Development of the cognitive aspect of spatial 

information transfer 

Geoinformatic literacy consists of geographical, 

cartographical and informatic literacy and each kind 

of literacy cannot be underestimated or omitted. 

If cartographical literacy is neglected the scientific results are 

not presented or transferred appropriate way and it can 

easily lead to misinterpretation of these results. 


Final goals of INSPIRE: 

SDI 

• The Implementing Rule on metadata – description of 

the content and structure of the metadata for spatial 

data. Two kinds of metadata - metadata for spatial 

services and metadata for spatial data. 

Rules; multilingual issues; certification, quality, accuracy, 

thesauri; standards. 

• Implementing Rule for harmonised data 

specifications and exchange (definition of basic 

conceptual model, guidelines, generalisation rules, encoding) 

• Implementing Rule on network services 

• Implementing Rules on data and service sharing 


NSDI - National Geoinformation 

Infrastructure - Czech republic 

prepared by CAGI (Czech Association for 

Geoinformation) and NEMOFORUM (2001) 

approved by the Advisory board of the government 

for information policy 

The main goal is to assure and to facilitate for the 

most broad set of users the access to wide range of 

geoinformation in user friendly form and with full 

utilisation of up-to-date (geo)information and 

communication technologies. 


NSDI requests 

the existence of the Programme of NGII development and its 

acceptation by public administration and self-government bodies 

development and shaping of NGII in relation to existing Pan-European 

and World initiative 

coordination and cooperation of stakeholders in geomatic and 

geoinformatic fields 

technical conditions for processing and accessibility of geodata and 

geoinformation 

organisational, legislative, financial and other conditions for 

accessibility of geodata and geoinformation 

basic data funds (data bases) of geodata 

information support for available geodata data funds, its sources and 

conditions of availability 

standard exchange format for geodata (and files), standard description 

of data funds, terminology in geomatics and geoinformatics branches 

qualification of experts in geomatics and geoinformatics branches 

knowledge level of user which enables to use new possibilities and 

availability of geodata and geoinformation 


CAGI contribution in education 

a periodic review of educational activities aiming to 

GI&GIT. 

a competition „Geoaplikace“ (Geo-application) since 

1999 to improve a geoinformatic literacy 

other educational activities targeted to officers of 

public sector – training courses: 

� Introduction to GIS/GIT, 

� metadata, 

� spatial analysis for labour market, etc. 


Appropriate framework of NSDI … II 

Main aspects to be solved (but not only): 

definition and acceptation of legislative norms – the 

protection of private data, free access to information, the 

protection of secret information, electronic signature, authors 

rights, acting of information system of public administration 

wide accessibility of information and communication 

technologies, including geoinformation technologies 

II status is a crucial point for NSDI development. 

If II is weakly prepared and developed, the NSDI 

development cannot standalone solve common 

issues and still fight with basic obstacles and barriers 

that are not eliminated by the appropriate II 

development. 


Remarks to Czech II development 

New document “State information and communication 

policy – e-Cesko 2006” (Czech government according to 

e-Europe+) in negotiation process: 

Available communication services 

Informatic literacy (reach the one half of citizens with basic 

computer skill) 

Public services on-line 

Environment suitable for e-business 

Main access point for e-government - Portal of public 

administration (central access to information and eservices) 

Example of spatial e-service - distant access to Cadastral 

Register (Czech Surveying and Cadastral Office) 


Thank you for your attention. 

jiri.horak@vsb.cz 

Thanks to JRC and ITC Enschede 

Thanks to Eva Pauknerova (JRC), Petr Kubicek (Intergraph 

CZ), Vit Vozenilek (Palacky University of Olomouc), Petr 

Rapant, Bronislava Horakova (VSB-TU Ostrava)

II status is a crucial point for NSDI development. - EC GI & GIS Portal

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