SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE (SDI) IN OMAN AND QATAR – CURRENT STATUS AND PERSPECTIVES

Urban infrastructure deals with various objects, such as multi-floor buildings, underground utilities, and other typical two-dimensional (2D) geographic information system (GIS) objects. Currently, Oman and Qatar authorities attempt to manage and handle all these spatial objects and features via spatial data infrastructure (SDI). Qatar has a long tradition of applying SDI, while Oman has made rapid progress in building SDI according to the current practices in this field. Governments in both countries work toward smart cities and e-government to meet the fourth industrial revolution requirements. Current literature, indicate that SDI could be considered a major building block for such smart initiatives in the near future. This paper describes the status and challenges of developing SDI (including 3D SDI) for Oman and Qatar. We anticipated these 2D and 3D SDI initiatives would eventually provide future direction for the smart city and e-government. The current status and challenges form major discussions of this paper. It also discusses 3D SDI development. This paper ends by describing a framework for implementing the 3D SDI. The outcomes could significantly improve the awareness for developing 3D SDI in Oman and Qatar.

INSPECTORMAP: A Spatial Data Infrastructure Applied to the Maintenance of Solar Plants Using Free Satellite Imagery

Photovoltaic solar plants are one of the main facilities away from urban centers for the generation of clean energy. Since its appropriate maintenance ensures its suitable operation, optimizing their maintenance tasks in a preventive way is key. This article presents a spatial data infrastructure called INSPECTORMAP that, based on the analysis of free satellite images within the optical spectrum, can detect unusual vegetation and bodies of water in the vicinity of photovoltaic plants that can affect their correct operation. Thanks to the implementation of a monitoring and alert system, it is possible to know and map the status of the photovoltaic plant in terms of unusual coverages appearing, both natural and artificial, at any moment. Thus, maintenance workers would travel to the solar plant to carry out their maintenance tasks in this regard only when the system detects a risk.

Spatial Data Infrastructure in Natural Disaster Management

Natural disasters that cause tremendous material harm and threaten human lives, infrastructure, and economic and social activities become more frequent. While most material and human casualties are the effects of sudden and brief natural disasters, it is not possible to disregard long-term disasters, most frequently triggered by climate change. Damage from long-term disasters is quite significant and hampers the sustainability of the economy and life in densely populated cities. Following climate change, it is concluded that special attention should be paid to coastal cities, cities along rivers and the potential risks of possible disasters should be reduced before they materialize. The reduction of disaster risk is an endeavor involving various professional fields, viewpoints, and stakeholders. An integrated approach that brings together all the necessary elements is therefore required. The planning for protection against natural disasters and in the very moments when it occurs, it is necessary to quickly obtain reliable data to coordinate activities in the field well. However, there are problems in the field with the availability, access, and spatial data use. In this sense, the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) can provide an appropriate framework for sharing spatial data through the cooperation of administration, public, and private institutions and citizens.

Development and Assessment of a Web-Based National Spatial Data Infrastructure for Nature-Based Solutions and Their Social, Hydrological, Ecological, and Environmental Co-Benefits

Comprehensive datasets for nature-based solutions (NBS), and their diverse relationships have not yet been accumulated into a deployable format. This research describes the development of a novel National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) system for NBS co-benefits throughout the contiguous United States. Here, we gather and integrate robust geospatial datasets from the social, ecological, environmental, and hydrologic domains using seamless, cloud-based data services to facilitate the trans-disciplinary assessment of NBSs as a function of society and Earth. This research enhances practical decision making and research by assimilating web-based datasets and describing the missing links between national policy and robust adoption of NBSs as a sustainability solution. This NSDI serves to foster participatory planning capabilities and integrate local sustainability goals into decision–support frameworks. Such a platform strengthens the knowledge base necessary for addressing multiple, co-evolving issues of societal relevance, an essential component of fully espousing NBSs within the realm of socio-technological systems and improving policies and implementation regarding sustainable solutions. The efficacy of the proposed platform to serve as a holistic data information system is assessed by exploring important characteristics associated with geospatial NSDI tools, namely, openness, spatial functionality, scalability, and standardization. By placing GIS strengths and weaknesses in the context of transdisciplinary NBSs, we reveal strategic directions toward further co-production of such NSDIs. We conclude with recommendations for facilitating a shared vision of transdisciplinary technologies to strengthen the amalgamation of broad co-benefits and multi-disciplinary influences in sustainability planning.

Strategic Analysis for Governance Development of National Spatial Data Infrastructure Portal in Korea

The Korean government released the National Spatial Data Infrastructure Portal (NSDIP) by integrating the spatial information possessed by 205 agencies to implement governance through the portal. In this study, four evaluation criteria groups (disclosure, participation, civil petition service, and website usability) were established through a literature review related to governance and government portals. After evaluation based on the four evaluation criteria, governance improvement measures were suggested. As an improvement measure, in terms of information disclosure, it was necessary to manage the quality of data update cycle, accuracy, metadata, etc., and to provide customized spatial information. In the stakeholder participation section, feedback from users is reflected in policies, and activation of participation spaces through education and exhibitions is required. In terms of civil petition service, it is necessary to introduce an incentive system to improve innovative services and to prepare measures to prevent infringement of security and privacy in the civil petition process. In website usability, it is necessary to prepare an improvement plan by introducing user-friendly interface design using GIS viewer, and statistics and GIS spatial analysis functions. The improvement plan by the evaluation criteria is expected to be the direction to implement inclusive portal governance.