Marek Baranowski - Monographic Series No 15
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Spatial information infrastructure - the system approach
The publication is a synthesis of the author’s scientifi c works on the system approach to the topic of a spatial information infrastructure (SII). It has been based on the monothematic set of works published in the period of 1995–2011. It consists of seven chapters and the fi rst of them has been devoted to the essence of the spatial information and it has been completed by a set of selected terms and defi nitions of geo-information systems, their contents and related to a scientific discipline dealing with the systems of geographic information. The next chapter treats on the development of the spatial information infrastructure, which appeared as a solution for a problem of the dynamic and disordered evolution of the geographic information systems, their applications and created information resources.
The third chapter tackles the inclusion within the scope of the spatial information infrastructure in slightly different from being adopted in various studies, as well as formal documents. The next chapter discusses complex issues of spatial
datasets, also in the context of the INSPIRE directive, which specifi es specifi cations of data, underlying the assessment of the conformity of these datasets. The fi fth chapter presents the model of interoperability in the spatial information infrastructure, developed by the author during the past several years, starting even from the period preceding the creation of the spatial information infrastructures. It shows the process of shaping and development of his views in this regard. The important part is the typology of the roles and functions of each group earned stakeholders of the SII. The next chapter discusses the processes of harmonization and integration in the spatial information infrastructures, crucial for attaining the state of interoperability and, therefore, the main purpose of the IIP. Of particular note is the part of the chapter on harmonization and integration processes of spatial datasets, which shows the model developed by the author. In summary, one diffi culty of the implementation of the spatial information infrastructure has been highlighted. Namely, a time dimension for implementing an infrastructure is quite long (in the case of INSPIRE a period of more than ten years) raises
problems of maintaining the stability of the solutions adopted in the confrontation with the vast dynamics of technological change, as well as cultural.