Spatial Data Infrastructures in Context

Joep Crompvoets is an associate professor at the Public Management Institute of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and lecturer at the Centre for Geo-Information of Wageningen University in The Netherlands. He holds two MSs and a Ph.D. from Wageningen University.

• Institutions and Organizations: When Is Providing Spatial Information a Public Task? A Search for Criteria. Institutionalization Does Not Occur by Decree: Institutional Obstacles in Implementing a Land Administration System in a Developing Country. Integrating Spatial Information and Business Processes: The Role of Organizational Structures. GIS Database Development and Exchange: Interaction Mechanisms and Motivations. Data and Technology: SDI Reality in Uganda: Coordinating between Redundancy and Efficiency. Social Network Analysis of the SDI in Flanders. Thinking in Circles: How National Geo-Information Infrastructures Cannot Escape from the Temptation of Technology. People and Practices: Enlisting SDI for Urban Planning in India: Local Practices in the Case of Slum Declaration. Considerations from the Development of a Local Spatial Data Infrastructure. An Exploration of SDI and Volunteered Geographic Information in Africa. Sense-Making and Summing Up: SDI in North and South—A Full Circle Yet? Conclusion: Implications for Future Research and Practice—Toward Scientific Pragmatism. Afterword. Index.

This interesting book collects essays by established academics and early career scientists ... [Chapter 5] is one of my favourite chapters in the book and I found the theoretical framework really helpful to explain behaviours present all over the world. ... Chapter 8 ... is definitively another highlight.... [T]his fascinating chapter sheds light onto the real-world practice of information making ... The editors make a strong case for devoting more energy to understand the local, and the multiple rationalities in a socio-technical framework rather than using the architectural blueprint approach to develop an SDI. ... A good book, worth buying. —Max Craglia, in International Journal of Geographical Information Science, Dec 2011