Abstract
This paper presents the latest information
available about the marine data subject area in the Global Spatial
Data Infrastructure (GSDI) initiative, which began at an international
meeting in Bonn, Germany, 4 September 1996. The purpose of the
GSDI initiative is to examine the degree to which a global information
infrastructure for spatially referenced data can be implemented
and which areas of use of spatial data are most relevant to international
cooperation. Coastal zone management (especially in Europe, where
national coastlines form the European coastline) and ECDIS (electronic
charts) are two areas of special interest. A review of strengths
and weaknesses in these areas, at global level, will be presented.
The second global conference on GSDI will take place in October,
1997 in North Carolina, USA.
Introduction
The concept of a Global Spatial Data
Infrastructure (GSDI) has been discussed in one form or another
for some years now, adopting the current title in 1994, when a
proposal for a GSDI was published in the proceedings of a major
European GIS/LIS conference. (Morrison 1995) The proposal made
in Morrison's paper appeared only two months following the now
famous US Presidential Executive Order to create the National
Spatial Data Infrastructure, issued on 13 April 1994. Since that
time, most major developed nations have either launched or are
launching NSDIs in their respective countries and several initiatives
exist at regional level, e.g. the EGII (European Geographic Information
Infrastructure) (EUROGI 1997) and the Permanent Committee on GIS
Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific, initiatives which began
in 1995 and 1996, respectively (AUSLIG 1996).
However, researchers into coastal
zone management (CZM) and other marine research (MR) were already
taking "global" views from the mid-1980's (at least)
and major international conferences and conventions were being
held or entered into from the early 1990's. Key globalisation
issues revolve around climate change and other environmental aspects
of ocean use - or misuse.
Several parallel activities led the
way towards a more structured look at what a GSDI might entail,
how it might be implemented, and how much effort would be involved,
including:
Thus, the time was considered right,
in 1996, to convene a major international meeting to investigate
the extent to which a GSDI could be implemented and/or should
be implemented.
History of the GSDI initiative
The first Emerging Global Spatial
Data Infrastructure conference was held in September 1996, in
Bonn, Germany. It was organized by the European Umbrella Organisation
for Geographical Information (EUROGI), the German Umbrella Organisation
for Geoinformation (DDGI), the Atlantic Institute (AI), the Institute
for Land Information and its Land Information Assembly (ILI/LIA),
the Open GIS Consortium (OGC), the Federal Geographic Data Committee
(FGDC) and the Federation Internationale des Geometres - Commission
3 (FIG-COM3), under the patronage of Dr. Martin Bangemann - Member
of the European Commission, responsible for Industrial affairs
and Information and telecommunications technologies. The conference
was attended by 63 invited representatives of organisations from
around the world and from almost all the GI sectors, representing
20 countries
The main goals of the conference
were:
Speakers from many nations presented
their views on what GSDI might or might not be, how it could evolve
in either a planned or ad hoc fashion, what benefits could accrue
to global GI users if a GSDI followed some agreed development
path, and even who had the right, let alone the legal mandate,
to attempt such a venture as to define a GSDI implementation route.
It was agreed that any GSDI would by default be built upon the
scores of NSDIs already in place or being created around the globe.
Therefore, it was important that all creators of NSDI policies
should be made fully aware of the global ramifications of their
evolving spatial infrastructures.
The meeting reached a consensus that
it is the right time to start thinking about the major
issues implied in the concept of a GSDI and a possible way forward,
even if this can not yet be formalised as an 'implementation plan'.
It was proposed that the participants to this first meeting comprised
a GSDI Forum, which should be extended to all sectors in the Spatial
Data/Geographical Information communities, world-wide. It was
also accepted that there was no need to create new 'artificial'
global projects in order to investigate the main issues. Rather,
existing global projects, such as those of the G7 and other international
projects (Earthmap, Global Mapping, other international environmental
and geophysical projects, African projects like Africover, etc.),
should be examined to see if common problems were being met and
could be overcome.
Although this first GSDI Forum meeting
arrived at no major conclusions in regard to GSDI, it became apparent
that some body or Forum is needed to review and comment upon the
practical problems being faced today by global GI projects. Exchange
of data sharing and data use/re-use experiences from across disciplines
was considered crucial, e.g. case studies prepared by participants
in the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project
could be most useful.
The will for good cooperation and
of sharing ideas about infrastructure architectures and solutions
between the nations was very evident at the meeting. However,
because there was no formal mandate involved, and no fixed budget
available for this initiative from national, regional or global
institutions, advancement of the GSDI concepts, further communication
and investigations into the issues, and practical work such as
setting up Web sites to exchange experiences, must be effected
on a purely voluntary basis. Fortunately, several participants
were in the position to use their own project funds to help in
this regard. A summary report of the first GSDI meeting can be
found on the EUROGI Web site at URL http://www.frw.ruu.nl/eurogi/eurogi.html.
The second meeting of the GSDI Forum
will be held in North Carolina, USA, 19-21 October 1996, again
under the patronage of EU Commissioner Dr. Martin Bangemann, hosted
by the Governor of North Carolina, chaired by Mr. Michael Brand,
President of EUROGI. (details on URL http://www.gov.state.nc.us/GSDI97)
Coastal Zone Management and Marine
Research in the GSDI Agenda.
It goes without saying that much
CZM and marine research and development is global in scale. Much
of the work required in globalizing" marine GI relates to
standards and to analysis of practical experiences in collecting,
using (i.e. in various models) and disseminating marine GI, especially
on a regional and/or global basis.
Marine GI Standards.
As to marine GI standards, a major
player is the IHO. At the September 1996 GSDI Forum meeting,
a presentation on the issues surrounding a Marine GSDI (Anderson
and Evangelatos 1996) focused primarily on the achievements of
the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), whose membership
includes 60 countries of the 130 coastal states in the world.
The IHO produced the first global series of bathymetric maps
- the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, the latest edition
of which was produced by Canada. Several countries are now producing
digital versions of this important body of marine GI.
The IHO's International Hydrographic
Bureau, in Monaco has also achieved the IHO S-57 spatial data
standard for use in Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems
(ECDIS). Harmonisation work is also underway between IHO's S-57
standards and those of NATO's Digital Geographic Information Working
Group (DGIWG) DIGEST exchange standard, via a joint IHO/DGWIG
Technical Committee. The work of both these organisations has
also been made available to ISO's TC 211 which is now working
on GI metadata and interoperability standards.
The IHO also created a committee
in 1992 to bring together national and regional Electronic Navigation
Charts (ENC) infrastructure with the view to creating a global
ENC infrastructure. The current concept is that Regional Electronic
Navigation Chart Centres (RENC) will eventually be interconnected
to form the global system. IHO's ultimate goal is to develop
standards to provide the basis for all hydrographic data, which
can also be extended to cover all other products and data related
to hydrography and navigation.
Thus, international standards for
marine geo-spatial data are progressing. Anderson and Evangelatos
contend that "the hydrographic electronic chart infrastructure
is the basis of the marine geo-spatial data infrastructure"
and that "..international standards for marine geo-spatial
data are progressing ... not yet mature, but far enough advanced
to provide a clear direction for the development of the Global
Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure". The question is, does
the global CZM and marine research community agree with this summing
up of the situation? If not, then they should make their thoughts
known to the organisers of the forthcoming GSDI Forum meeting
in North Carolina, perhaps by contacting the EUROGI President,
Mr. Michael Brand, who will be chairing the conference. (M Brand
can be contacted via Eurogi at e-mail: eurogi@euronet.nl).
The CZM/Marine research community
will probably have far less trouble concurring with the concluding
statement in marine section of the GSDI forum report, namely:
"The requirement now is for
an international program to conduct comprehensive mapping of proritized
ocean and biomass resources, to create databases that can be made
available internationally and to create the infrastructure to
support a conservation and management regime".
Practical Experience in Sharing
Global Marine GI.
The Land-Ocean Interactions in the
Coastal Zone (LOICZ) core project within the International Geosphere-Biosphere
Programme (IGBP) of the International Council of Scientific Unions
(ICSU) is but one example of a truly global research initiative
which has much to contribute to the GSDI debate. This project
has already faced the problems of acquiring, using and disseminating
large volumes of multidisciplinary GI from across the globe.
LOICZ began in 1993 and will run for 10 years. More than 400
scientists were involved in developing the Science Plan and more
than 2000 scientists in over 130 countries are now involved in
the project. The experiences of the participants in specific
LOICZ research projects will be invaluable in regard to the GSDI
discussions now underway. (Details of LOICZ can be found at URL
http://www.nioz.l/loicz/).
Earthmap
One of the global earth observation
programmes presented at the GSDI Forum meeting was Earthmap, a
public-private consortium which proposes to advance the use of
geospatial data and tools for decision makers. Earthmap is being
promoted by the Global Environment and Technology Foundation in
the USA, where further details can be found at URL http://www.gnet.org/earthmap.
Earthmap is ultimately about better decision making for "sustainable
development" which, on a global basis, requires the best
use of huge amounts of multidisciplinary GI. The consortium feels
that the time is right to exploit the rapid advances in satellite
imagery and in computer and telecommunications technologies which
now make it possible to systematically collect, organise, analyse,
and share earth observation data with tremendous speed and from
hundreds of locations, simultaneously.
Earthmap is organized around 17 major
actions, three of which are of relevance to the CZM/marine research
community. These are:
Earthmap activities are divided into
ten areas of sustainable development, of which CZM and marine
research figure only slightly in Area A - Natural Resources Management
(why not more CZM here, you ask?) and strongly in Area B - Environmental
Monitoring (monitoring oceans, reefs, and coastal zones). In
this latter area, mention is made of the Global Ocean Observing
System (GOOS) and of the International Coral Reef Initiatives
under the Coastal Zone Module of GOOS, under which initiative
the World Conservation Monitoring Center is digitising existing
maps of the world's reefs. The problems of data management and
use are highlighted by the statement that "in just two minutes,
a satellite can collect phytoplankton data for an area the size
of Texas and New Mexico, which would have previously taken a ship
an entire decade (to collect)". The latest information on
Earthmap and its discussion forum can be found on the Web at URL
http://cdserver.er.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/folioisa.dll/earthhom.nfo?.
International initiatives/programmes
in relation to the GSDI discussion
Numerous global initiatives exist
which include elements of CZM and marine research and which should
be part of the GSDI discussions. The United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) is involved in a series of major initiatives
springing from the 1992 Rio Conference. The Baltic Sea programme
underway at UNEP-GRID is a typical example of such work. Other
UN organisations involved in marine or coastal research, training
or education include UNESCO, the WMO - World Meteorological Office,
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNIDO - UN Industrial
Development Organisation, IMO - International Maritime Organisation
and more.
Unfortunately for the CZM and marine
research community, there were no representatives of these major
environmental or ocean-related organisations or initiatives in
attendance at the GSDI meeting in Bonn in September 1996. The
needs of this large and growing community must be brought to the
close attention of those attending the second GSDI meeting in
October 1997.
UNEP and core environmental
data.
Much of the work of UNEP is now focused
on global climatic change and/or environmental monitoring at regional
level. In 1994, a symposium was held in Thailand which focused
on the core data sets which would be needed to intelligently analyse
environmental and sustainable development issues. One of the
five key topic areas where such data was considered essential
was "fresh water and coastal zone management". One
recommendation of the meeting was that national governments, donor
agencies and international organizations should conduct surveys
to document the status of core data sets. These surveys were
to be concluded by 1997 and some results are already becoming
available, although finding them can be difficult, as they are
not listed in one convenient place. (UNDP 1994)
Another UNEP initiative is the Global
Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment
from Land-Based Activities. A major element of work in this programme
has been the creating of a GPS information clearinghouse, which
can be visited electronically at URL http://www.unep.org/unep/gpa/gpaich.htm.
This major global initiative was created by an intergovernmental
conference held in Washington, D.C., USA in December 1995. The
goals, global plan of action, participants, and other relevant
background documents can be found at the GPA home page at URL
http://www.unep.org/unep/gpa/home.htm.
Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC) - UNESCO
IOC, founded in 1960 as a UNESCO
initiative, comprises an Assembly, Executive Council and Secretariat
(based in Paris) representing 125 member states and has established
several subsidiary bodies. The IOC's activities are mainly global,
with regional subsidiaries in the major ocean areas of the world.
The IOC lends support to numerous national and regional programmes
and initiatives, such as ICoD, ICCOPS, MEDCOAST and others in
the Mediterranean region, and has a separate Regional Committee
for the Black Sea. It also supports TEMA - Training, Education
and Mutual Assistance in the marine sciences. IOC is also responsible
for the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), including coastal
zone activities.
The IOC is directly involved in management
of marine data via various experts groups, sponsorship of conferences,
workshops and numerous publications of "best practice"
(see References section). The IOC's IODE Group of Experts on
Marine Information Management (GEMIM), which first met in 1984,
produces periodic reports setting out numerous aspects of global
marine information, including standards, collection techniques,
information analysis products, dissemination by new technology
(CD-ROM and the World Wide Web) and much more. In discussing the
role of global information for CZM and marine research in a Marine
GSDI, the work of the IODE should not be ignored. Documents from
IODE already address such information topics as: a directory of
training opportunities in marine information management, WWW server
and CD-ROM of marine information, global directory of marine institutions
and scientists, ASFISIS - user-friendly package for the management
of bibliographic information, print and electronic tools for the
publication of marine science information, regional co-operation
in scientific information exchange (RECOSCIX), document delivery
over the Internet and reflections on IPR issues.
Because IOC/IODE operates in the
global arena with a UN mandate, readers are advised to consider
what its recommendations and achievements have been to date and
where the focus is for the future. (UNESCO 1996) IODE GEMIM reports
can be ordered from the IOC Secretariat at e-mail: p.pissierssens@unesco.org
and/or via the Web at URL http://www.unesco.org/ioc/.
International Council for the
Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Founded in 1902 and with current
membership representing 19 countries from both sides of the Atlantic,
including all European Coastal states (except the Mediterranean
countries east of, and including, Italy), ICES is the oldest intergovernmental
organisation in the world focusing on marine and fisheries science.
Its multi-disciplinary work programme concentrates on hydrography,
physical oceanography, population dynamics of fish stocks, standards
of quality and comparability of ocean-related data. The ICES
secretariat is located in Denmark, from which site three databanks
are maintained for oceanographic, fisheries and environmental
(pollution) data. More than 100 meetings are held each year by
ICES working groups, study groups, workshops and committees, the
latter of which advise national Member Country governments, international
regulatory commissions and the European Commission. Many of the
workshops deal with coastal or estuary problems, not only deep
ocean research, and focus on regions such as the Baltic Sea and
Mediterranean.
Other initiatives/programmes.
There are numerous other global and
regional initiatives which should be mentioned in relation to
formulating policies and practices for the GSDI. Some of these
are:
EU initiatives in relation to
GSDI
In the next few months, the European
Commission will send a Communication to the Council, to the European
Parliament, to the Economic and Social Committee and to the Committee
of Regions titled "GI2000: Towards a European Policy Framework
for Geographic Information". This document sets out Commission
thinking in regard to "... a policy framework to set up and
maintain a stable, Europeanwide set of agreed rules, standards,
procedures, guidelines and incentives for creating, collecting,
updating, exchanging, accessing and using geographic information.
This policy framework must create a favourable business environment
for a competitive, plentiful, rich and differentiated supply of
European geographic information that is easily identifiable and
easily accessible."(DG XIII/E, 1997)
The document refers to "global
issues" in a very few places, as follows:
"The most important political
actions needed are to achieve agreement between the Member States
... to ensure that European solutions are globally compatible."
[This is the last of four bullet points under 'political actions'
- RAL].
"The G7 Ministerial Conference
in Brussels on 25-26 February 1995 confirmed the opportunities
the information society will offer and stressed the need for global
cooperation. Several of the projects defined at this summit involve
significant use of geographic information. This concerns especially
the projects on Environmental and Natural Resources management,
Global Emergency Management and Maritime Information Systems."
"The policy should take account
of similar initiatives in other parts of the world and ensure
European contribution to initiatives of global harmonisation of
geographic information."
According to the proposed Communication,
either the Commission or a public/private partnership coordinating
group established by the Commission, will attempt coordination
in regard to global geographic information policy and projects,
such as those proposed via the G7 and discussions already initiated
at global level for the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure. (Chenez
1996)
However, there is little evidence
that the European Commission officials currently in charge of
the GI2000 "initiative" are greatly concerned about
globalisation issues, partly because these are at such an early
stage of discussion and because there is still so much work to
be done in the European arena on harmonisation of pan-European
GI. To support this statement, it is worth noting that no
European Commission official attended the first GSDI conference
in Bonn, held in September 1996, even though the meeting was billed
as being under the patronage of Commissioner Bangemann. European
interests at this meeting were represented by EUROGI and senior
academics from the European GI R&D community.
GSDI in the Next Millennium?
What
is the role of the CZM/marine research community in the current
GSDI debate and how much can be achieved as we enter the next
millennium? As with most "global" initiatives, there
are hundreds of actors and scores of main actions to be involved
in creating a GSDI. At this stage (mid-1997), we have not even
defined what should be the major elements in a GSDI, let alone
which of those elements will be of most interest to the CZM/marine
research community. However, one thing is certain, CZM is multi-disciplinary
and uses multiple types of GI, GIS tool sets and other modelling
tools. The GI collected, analysed and disseminated by the CZM
community varies widely in composition, scale, quality and content.
The skills used in CZM span a wide range, from "simple"
coastal plain cartography to hydrography, remote sensing and analysis
of satellite imagery, biology, chemistry, hydrology, geography
and oceanography, to name but a few. New tools, methodologies
and techniques, theories and counter-theories are being proposed
daily. A major task of the CZM researcher is simply to keep informed!
Where
can the GSDI be most helpful to the CZM research community? Three
areas spring to mind:
How
is the CZM community represented today in regard to the GSDI?
Widely throughout the many regional and global environmental,
sustainable development and ocean observing programmes and initiatives
which already exist. Yet nowhere in regard to the current GSDI
Forum meeting(s). It is time that CZM and marine research staff
took an interest in these issues and discussion fora, in order
that all aspects of GI can be covered by or within the evolving
Global Spatial Data Infrastructure. This means participation
in the GSDI debates, which will become more numerous and (hopefully)
more focused, from organisations at all levels, e.g. independent
researchers, research institutions, national and pan-regional
research associations, global organisations (UNEP, WMO, FAO, IHO,
IMO and many others).
When
is it time to act? Now!
Find out what the September 1996
GSDI meeting in Bonn, Germany, was about (visit the relevant Web
sites, listed in this paper).
Find out what is planned for the
October 1997 GSDI meeting in North Carolina, USA.
Based on your own research experiences,
whether these be in purely local projects, or national, regional
or global investigations, let the convenors of the next GSDI meeting
know what it is that most concerns YOU regarding global marine
GI. Don't let the initiative for development of a Marine GSDI
default into the hands of only those who take the time to attend.
Should you care?
Yes!
Some of you are only now starting
on your CZM research careers while others still have many years
of productive work ahead. Technological advances continue apace.
Digital data grows in volume almost exponentially. Collecting,
managing, using and disseminating this data is already your direct
concern and will continue to be more of a problem as time goes
on. The job of a researcher becomes more multidisciplinary year
by year. The data required to solve marine research problems
becomes more interlinked year by year. New skills are required
and "old" skills can be improved via new technology.
Because of the tremendous importance of the oceans and the coastal
zone to the needs of mankind, local, national and regional governments,
research councils, international aid and development organisations
and numerous global climate and environmental investigation programmes
all need the best input from the CZM and marine research
community. Ideally, an effective GSDI will assist that community
in producing ever higher quality results, ever more quickly.
References
Anderson, N.M. & T. Evangelatos.
1996. "Marine Global Spatial Data Infrastructure", in
Proceedings of a Conference on the Emerging Global Spatial
Data Infrastructure, Bonn, Germany, 4-6 September 1996.
AUSLIG. 1996. Report of Proceedings
from the second meeting of the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure
for Asia and Pacific, 29.9-4.10.1996, Sydney, Australia.
AUSLIG - Australian Surveying and Land Information Group, PO Box
2, Belconnen, ACT 2616, Australia.
Chenez, C.C. 1996. Proceedings
of a Conference on the Emerging Global Spatial Data Infrastructure,
held under the Patronage of Dr Martin Bangemann, European Commissioner
for Industrial Affairs, Information and Telecommunications Technologies,
Bonn, 4-6 September 1996.
EUROGI Wider Approach Task Force.
1997. The European Geographic Information Infrastructure (EGII)
- Towards a wider approach: Raising awareness across Europe -
Executive Summary - What is the EGII? - How do we realise the
EGII? EUROGI, PO Box 508, 3800 AM Amersfoort, the Netherlands.
European Commission, DG XIII/E, 1997.
GI-2000: Towards a European Policy Framework for Geographic
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Langaas, S. 1993. Global GIS
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Sustainable Development Studies and Monographs Series, No. 9.
The World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA (ISBN 0-8213-3735-1).
UNDP. 1994. International Symposium
on Core Data Needs for Environmental Assessment and Sustainable
Development Strategies, Bangkok, Thailand, 15-18 November
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UNEP/GRID-Arendal, 1996. Annual
Report 1996, GRID-Arendal, Stockholm Office, Sweden.
UNESCO. 1996. IODE Group of Experts
on Marine Information Management (GEMIM), Meeting report on Fifth
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A. Miller, 1995. Earthmap - Design Study and Implementation
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