Last modified: 2016-07-29
Abstract
It is well known that effective use of geospatial information assists in addressing many of the current challenges that the world is facing, such as climate change, natural disasters, food and economic crises and population dynamics, many of which have a cross-border nature requiring global, regional and national policy responses.
In the past, there was little coordination in geospatial information production and management. It was not recognized that building infrastructure for the collection, management, and dissemination of geospatial information is critical to countries much like other basic services such as road and telecommunication networks.
In recent years, Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) are increasingly recognized as an indispensable part of the national information infrastructure. Developing a functioning national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI) will better facilitate the availability of and access to spatial data, facilitating data-sharing among data producers, users, decision makers and the general public.
There is a growing consensus in Africa that better governance as a key element in promoting growth and development and enabling African countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
This paper reviews the current status and challenges in spatial data infrastructure and governance at regional and national level in Africa.Keywords
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