The Future of Geoinformation at ECA

1
The Future of Geoinformation at ECA

• Brown Bag Seminar
• By Dozie Ezigbalike
• 13 December 2001

2
Outline

• Our Geoinformation Vision
• But What is Geoinformation?
• Geoinformation Tools
• Spatial data infrastructures
• ECA Proposals
• Conclusion

3
Our Vision
The vision is for all staff of ECA engaged in
socio-economic analyses and decision making to
have easy and transparent access to relevant
geoinformation resources in a timely and useable
manner
with simple spatial tools, right from their
desktops
including data and tools sourced from
collaborating organizations
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Data

• A body of facts or figures
• Gathered systematically
• From which conclusions may be drawn

904794 120000 1.3 3054 789098 310000 2.4 3130 65
4678 111000 0.9 3031
5
Information

• Processed or refined data
• Meaningful to recipient
• A perceived value (in decision making)

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Example

• Very basic processing applied by adding column
  headers and dividers to convey meaning
• Parcel ID Value in Ha. P/code
• 904794 120000 1.3 3054
• 789098 310000 2.4 3130
• 654678 111000 0.9 3031

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Knowledge

• Comprehension and understanding from information
• Summation of Information organised as a coherent
  entity

8
Basic Information System
Data
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Typology of Information

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Hard Information (vs. Soft)

• Factual Information
• Statistics and Statistical Analyses
• Quantitative scientific information
• Use in decision-making easier to observe

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Soft InformationKnowledge(vs. Hard)

• Qualitative
• Not based on research
• Common sense
• General Knowledge
• Non-scientific language
• Use in decision-making more all-encompassing

12
Neutral vs Persuasive Information

• Neutral Information
• Truth from objective research
• Persuasive Information
• Public opinion
• Pressure groups political consequences,
  alternative courses of action
• Varying degrees of persuasion goals and
  perspectives of decision-maker and of his/her
  organisation

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Problem vs. Domain vs. Problem-solving Information

• Problem Information
• Info on problem to be solved
• Domain Information
• Facts, relations, theories, laws about domain of
  problem
• Problem-solving Information
• Knowledge about methodology

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Different Treatment

• Different types of information may play different
  roles in, and have different impacts on,
  decision-making
• Sources and means of supply of information may
  differ according to type
• Treatment required for different types of
  information may differ according to type
• Not all types necessarily require systematic
  treatment!

15
Dissemination Options

• Tables and reports
• Charts and diagrams
• Maps and plans
• Spoken words and visual displays
• On paper, demarcated on the ground, on tape
  devices, computer storage, etc

16
Role in Decision Making

• Some types of information relate decision to
  space
• Anchor to geography
• Where is it?
• How far is A from B?
• Extent/territory of some phenomenon?
• How do I get from A to B?
• What areas are suitable for a certain activities?
• Where is it found?

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Whats in a name?
Geographic(al) Information
Spatial Information
Synonyms
Geo-spatial Information
Geo-Information
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Data type and decisions

• Type of decision determines type of data
  required,
• Type of processing desirable and possible,
• The form of dissemination and presentation
• Spatial decisions require spatial data
• Graphical presentation of spatial information
  requires cartographic quality output
• Spatial data require special tools and techniques
  for processing and presenting them

19
Geographic Information System (GIS)

• Resources, techniques, procedures
• For collecting, storing, processing, managing,
  displaying, disseminating
• Spatial data and information products
• And supporting spatial decisions
• At management and operational levels

20
Level 1 GIS as a Tool

• IT resources which integrate spatial and
  non-spatial data to produce info for spatial
  decisions
• Hardware components, software packages,
  associated peripherals, procedures and techniques
• Project level application
• digitise or scan maps, collect field data,
  analyse data, produce reports and maps

21
Level 2 GIS as a Resource

• Data collected for one project usually useful for
  others
• Some data sets are transient
• Substantial costs associated with data collection
  and information procession
• Commoditisation of data and information
• Databases and information systems containing
  spatial data
• Together with the tools for managing and using
  the collection

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Level 3 GIS as infrastructure

• Spatial information resources are expensive to
  maintain
• Input from, and cooperation of many disciplines
  required
• Coordination and management result in
  infrastructure-type arrangements
• New concept Spatial data infrastructures (SDI)

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Justification for SDI

• Spatial data collection technology has advanced
  greatly
• Easy to collect spatial data
• But still expensive
• Duplication of effort is wasteful of scarce
  resources
• Economic characteristics of information
• Possible inconsistencies
• Several project-specific data sets can be used
  for various other purposes
• But only if the potential users
• Know that the data exist
• Have ready access to them

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Justification

• Increasing emphasis on community participation in
  planning and decision making

• The quality of life in a free society is
  determined by the collective decisions of its
  individual citizens acting in the home, the
  workplace, and together as members of the
  community ?
• Properly mandated, empowered and informed,
  communities can contribute to decisions that
  affect them and play an indispensable part in
  creating a securely based sustainable society?

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Citizenship Engagement

• What we need is a new model of citizenship based
  on the act of participation itself, not on some
  quality or thought or right enjoyed by its
  possessor. This participatory citizenship doesnt
  simply demand action from existing citizens it
  makes action at once the condition and the task
  of citizenship.?

The World We Want, 2000
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• Link to map

• Link to Assessment data

Map, or in fact, data/information stockpiling is
no longer able to satisfy ever increasing demands
from more sophisticated users
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A different jurisdiction

• 2000 hectares of land available for development
• Information to determine suitability for
  particular activity
• Vegetation cover
• Road network
• Hydrology
• Historical rainfall data
• Long term forecasts
• Soil types
• Administrative jurisdiction
• Legal interests

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Various data sets

• Maps and surveys data
• Agriculture
• Water affairs
• Meteorology
• Land records
• Highways
• FAO, UNEP, WRI, World Bank,

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Transparent Access

• Put in place policies, resources and structures
• To make information available to decision makers
  and the general citizenry
• When they need it
• Where they need it
• In a form they can use (almost) immediately
• Help them make sense of the information
• To tap into national, regional and global data
  resources transparently
• Also arrange for widest possible dissemination of
  available information
• Unlock the hidden potential in the data
• Stimulate activity in the economy

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Tukus Chant

• Right direction
• Treat spatial data production, management,
  dissemination and utilization systems as
  infrastructure
• Just like roads, bridges, telecommunications, etc

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Infrastructure Defined

• The underlying foundation or basic framework
  (e.g., of a system or organization)
• The basic structural foundation of a society or
  enterprise, a substructure on which other
  components are based

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Infrastructure

• Collective or No ownership
• Custodianship principle
• Standard delivery and standard equipment
• In most cases, user is responsible for any
  equipment required to use
• Public good
• Taken for granted

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What is a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)?

• the technology, policies, standards, and
  institutional arrangements necessary to acquire,
  process, store, distribute, and improve the
  utilization of geospatial datafrom many
  different sources and for a wide group of
  potential users?

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Components of a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)

• Technology
• hardware, software, networks, databases,
  technical implementation plans
• Policies Institutional Arrangements
• governance, data privacy security, data
  sharing, cost recovery
• People
• training, professional development, cooperation,
  outreach

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Components of a spatial data infrastructure

• One overview of the pieces of the SDIUsually at
  national or organizational level

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• Provides documentation of existing internal
  geospatial data resources within an organization
  (inventory)
• Permits structured search and comparison of held
  spatial data by others (catalog)
• Provides end-users with adequate information to
  take the data and use it in an appropriate
  context (documentation)

Metadata
37

• Metadata describes existing data holdings for
  order, retrieval, or local use
• Metadata should be used to describe all types of
  data, emphasis on truth in labeling

Metadata
Geospatial Data
38

• Special-use thematic layers are built and
  described as available geospatial data
• Common data layers are being defined in the
  Framework activity
• Variously referred to as
• Foundation data
• Core data

Metadata
GEOdata
Framework
39

• Spatial Data Infrastructures include services to
  help discover and interact with data

Services
Metadata
Framework
GEOdata
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• An important common service in SDI is that of
  discovering resources through metadata

Discovery
Access
Processing
Services
Metadata
Framework
GEOdata

• This Discovery Service is the core function of
  the Clearinghouse for geospatial information

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Clearinghouse provides...

• Search for spatial data through fields and
  full-text in the metadata
• Links through to full data access, where
  available
• Supports uniform, distributed search through a
  single user interface to all servers worldwide
• A free advertising mechanism to provide world
  access to your holdings under the principle of
  truth-in-labeling

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• A second class of services provides standardised
  access to geospatial information

Discovery
Access
Processing
Services
Metadata
Framework
GEOdata

• This may be made via static files on ftp or via
  online data streaming services. These services
  deliver raw data, not maps.

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Data Access Concepts

• Standardisation of data access implies several
  things
• Definition of model used for the data to be
  exchanged
• Adoption of an exchange or encoding format
• Agreement on data access protocol(s)
• Organisations should strive to identify the
  mode(s) of operation to simplify data exchange

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• A third class of services provides additional
  processing on geospatial information

Discovery
Access
Processing
Services
Metadata
Framework
GEOdata
45
Processing Services

• These include capabilities that extend and
  enhance the delivery of data through processes
  applied to raw data
• Web Mapping Services
• Symbolisation
• Coordinate Transformation
• Analysis or topologic overlay services
• Data integration

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• Standardisation makes SDI work
• Standards touch every SDI activity

Discovery
Access
Processing
Services
Metadata
GEOdata
Framework
Standards

• Standards include specifications, formal
  standards, and documented practices

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Partnerships are the glue...

• Partnerships extend local capabilities in
  technology, skills, logistics, and data

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The future is here
Some data on your desktop.
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Objectives

• Facilitating use by ECA staff of appropriate
  geoinformation tools and incorporation of
  relevant spatial data into ECAs socio-economic
  analyses and decision-making
• Empower ECA staff to do as much as possible on
  their own
• Facilitating ECAs access to relevant outside
  geoinformation analytical tools and data sets
• Sharing ECAs analytical tools and techniques
  with partners and collaborators
• Disseminating ECAs spatial information and
  knowledge to member states and the world at large
  in appropriate formats and in a timely manner

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African Conferences of Ministers
African Conferences of Ministers
Conceptual Framework for harnessing Development
Information
Institutional Portals and Data Services
Institutional Portals and Data Services
Country Clearinghouses and Agency Nodes
Country Clearinghouses and Agency Nodes
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Next Steps
Jun 02 onwards Implement apps in ECA Set up
metadata clearinghouse
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Thank You