Spatial Data Infrastructures: The Vision for the Future and the Role of Government in Underpinning Future Land Administration

An information-starved society is limited in its social and economic development. It follows that a society which is not geographically aware or “spatially enabled” is deprived of the ability to effectively plan. The need for accurate spatial information for planning and monitoring of present activities and ensuring sustainable future development has led to the concept and development of spatial data infrastructures. Spatial planning, made possible through a spatial data infrastructure, is a device for bringing, or augmenting order to the cultural landscape. In adopting this approach the institutional envelope in which the land administration agencies and co-ordination initiatives reside is being reshaped by the sharing of responsibilities between the private and public sectors and the reengineering of the bureaucracy.