Open Spatial Data Infrastructure Active Learning and Teaching Methods in Practice

Abstract

There is an increasing need for spatial data to be used for informed decision-making and as a resource for developing innovative products and services. A Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) facilitates access to and sharing of spatial data by providing a framework in which technical and non-technical aspects are established. Traditionally, SDIs are developed by and for government organisations to share spatial information within government. Non-government parties may also use SDIs to access government spatial data, either as open data or as fee-based data. There are also non-government SDIs, such as company SDIs used to share spatial information within a private sector organisation. OpenStreetMap is another example of a non-government SDI, whereby citizens have created a worldwide map based on crowd-sourced information and contributions from private and public sector organisations. The concept of Open SDIs has emerged from an increased interest in open data initiatives steered by national and international directives, such as the EU Open Data Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1024), as well as the large investment of European public authorities in developing SDIs. Open SDIs are SDIs in which citizens, research institutions, private organizations and other businesses and non-governmental actors are recognized as key stakeholders of the infrastructure (Vancauwenberghe and van Loenen, 2018; Vancauwenberghe et al., 2018). The concept of Open SDIs is about openness to new stakeholders in the open data ecosystem, in which stakeholders can be both producers and users of spatial data. Open SDIs are also linked to developments and trends in other domains, such as open government, open data, open science, and open software. This new paradigm regarding Open SDIs means that new particular skills are required, which currently are not offered by traditional SDI education