Changing Notions of a Spatial Data Infrastructure

This article examines some of the changes that have taken place in the notion of a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) over the last 15 years. The discussion is divided into five parts. The first of these considers the impacts of innovations in communications and information technology during this period on the nature of SDIs. The second examines the changes that have taken place in the conceptualisation of SDIs while the third discusses the changing nature of SDI implementation in the context of the concepts of multi level governance that have been developed by political scientists. Underlying this discussion is the realisation that SDI development and implementation is very much a social process of learning by doing. This process is explored in the fourth section of the article with reference to the experience of the State of Victoria in Australia. The concluding section of the article considers the challenges facing SDI implementation and identifies a number of dilemmas that have yet to be resolved.