SDIs are developed with an aim to facilitate the exchange and sharing of spatial data between stakeholders in the geospatial data community (Crompvoets, Rajabifard, van Loenen, & Delgado Fernandez, 2008). SDI development is also about data coordination amongst organ of state. However, this seem to be a challenge since the development of SDI over a decade ago in South Africa.

”The work on global geospatial information management over the past two to three years has confirmed that one of the key challenges is a better integration of geospatial and statistical information as a basis for sound and evidence-based decision-making”. The Secretary General of the UN Economic and Social Council (2012)

The challenges in the development and implementation of a Spatial Development Infrastructure (SDI) to meet development information needs in South Africa is long overdue is beyond debate. Without proper integration of statistical and geospatial information, it will be difficult for South Africa to meet the developmental need stipulated in the National Development Plan, this failure is also attributed to the fact that SASDI is unable to achieve its goals.  Perhaps what could be the centre of debate would be, is our South Africa Spatial Data Infrastcture able to meet the developmental need of the state. Worldwide, it is observed that first world countries possess and continue to invest in well-developed SDI and they have measures in place to assess and evaluate if the SDI is able to meet its goal.

This paper attempts to assess and evaluate SASDI if it is able to meet its objective there by increasing better integration of statistical data and geospatial information for evidence decision making to help South Africa to meet its development information needs within a globalising economy and an informatising society.

It thus becomes crucial that we outline the detailed and critical issues with regard to the management of geo-spatial information in line with its long-term development priorities.

To systematically assess SDI and its relevance using a comprehensive framework is important. Rajabifard et al identify five core SDI components common to most SDI implementations: 1) people; 2) technology; 3) policy; 4) standards and 5) spatial data. This are also regarded as readiness measurable (Crompvoets and Garfield, 2007) Also others have used SDI components to describe and monitor SDI developments. Crompvoets et al 2007, use the SDI components as comprehensive frame to describe quantitatively and qualitatively the development of national clearinghouses.

The objective of this paper is to identify issues in the implementation of the Spatial Data Infrastructure as an integral part of planning by looking at South African Spatial Data Infrastructure as an enabler for transformation, its current status, ability to support evidence based decision making initiatives, and the future looking at all five components.

Finding from this paper will give SASDI a comprehensive analysis of what are the issues that prohibit functionality as oppose to guessing. It will also give use a good picture of to what extant are this issues.