CHAPTER ONE: 1

Overview 1
Problem statement and objectives 1
Objectives 4
Spatial data, their importance and necessity 7
Spatial data infrastructure (SDI) 10
Organizations and people 11
Laws and Policies 11
Geospatial Data Service Centre (GDSC) 15
Data center 16
SDI conceptual model 17
Information Technology (IT) 18
The relationship between ICT and SDI 19
CHAPTER THREE 22
NSDI implementation problems in Iran 22
Internal factors – weaknesses 22
External Factors – Threats 25
The problems and challenges facing NSDI development from the point of view of IT 26
The PROBLEMS and challenges of DIFFERENT aspects of IT for NSDI development 27
Information and Content 28
Data infrastructure and communications 30
Applications 31
Culture and users 31
Conclusion 31
CHAPTER FOUR 33
Solutions to problems in implementing NSDI in Iran 33
Operational solutions to eliminate internal factors – weaknesses and external factors – threats 34
Operational solutions to the problems and challenges facing the development of NSDI from the point of view of IT 34
Classification of spatial data server architectures 36
Conclusion 52
CHAPTER FIVE 53
Evaluation of practical solutions 53
Validity 53
Reliability 55
Evaluation of practical solutions in the population 56
Conclusion 69
CHAPTER SIX 71
Conclusion and recommendations 71
Overview of NSDI problems in Iran 72
Conclusion 75
Technical and non-technical recommendations 76
Recommendations for further studies 80
References 81

Overview
The term SDI often means a basic set of technologies, policies, and organizational arrangements that ensure the availability of spatial data. In other words, SDI creates a platform to find, evaluate, and use of spatial data for all users and providers of spatial data at all governmental, private and academic levels, and other segments of society.
The term infrastructure means a reliable and supportive environment such as a network of roads or communication lines that enables everyone to access specific resources. In this regard, SDI facilitates access to spatial data sources and the exchange of large packets of spatial data.
Problem statement and objectives
Problem statement
Spatial data are key and essential factors for proper and proper decision making at local, national, regional and global levels. For example, decision makers can use spatial data and related infrastructures (SDI) for tasks such as crime management, flood risk reduction, natural disasters, environmental rehabilitation, land use assessment, and compensation for damage caused by the disaster. Spatial data infrastructure (SDI) supports the provision, access to and use of spatial data for various applications. Preparing and managing data, and especially spatial data, is costly, despite the above benefits. As a result, it is not always easy to access the data and resources needed to fully exploit them, especially in developing countries. Many programs and projects are being implemented at national, regional and global levels that address the following:
1. Improvement of how to access to existing location data;
2. Promoting reuse of them;
3. Investment in the production of spatial data for the development of spatial dataset
Moreover, the areas of harmonization of standards obtained and the exchange of spatial data, coordination in the field of data collection and storage, as well as the use of data sets shared by different organizations are discussed in the form of some of these activities.
Sharing spatial data is not possible for the following reasons:
1. Lack of awareness of available data
2. Lack of appropriate specifications for data quality definition
3. Lack of data standard
4. Lack of appropriate legal framework for data distribution and sharing
Spatial data from different sources should be accessed, integrated and used to improve decisions. The provision, access, use and sharing of spatial data required by decision makers at local, national, regional, and global levels can only be achieved if there are common rules and regulations in the field of spatial data. The existence of these rules can also be economically justified, as their use reduces the costs involved in integrating data sources. All of this implicitly suggests that SDI is necessary to make the right decision at the local, regional and global levels to ensure cross-sectorial compatibility and expand access to data and their proper use. To better manage and make more effective use of spatial data in achieving sustainable development, various SDI activities are ongoing at various global, regional, national, provincial and local levels. Activities performed at different levels of SDI are highly interdependent and influenced by each other. The SDI hierarchy can be seen in Figure 1.1.

The SDI hierarchy is built on the inter-relationships between local, provincial, national, and regional (multinational and global) SDIs. The tasks of a high-level SDI (for example, at the national level with NSDI) include policy-making, providing appropriate frameworks, defining data frameworks, standardizing, and generally performing supportive, strategic, and coordinating activities, and monitoring lower level SDIs (e.g. provincial level). In order to perform SDI activities at the lower levels (for example, local and provincial levels), their policies and standards must be defined and implemented in accordance with the rules and standards of the higher levels. In this case, data at lower levels in the SDI hierarchy can be used by higher levels to create an appropriate dataset.

Objectives
This study was mainly conducted aimed at identifying the causes of the failure to build the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the point of view of IT and providing operational solutions to eliminate these causes.
The secondary objectives of the study were:
1. Identification of the requirements for NSDI implementation in Iran
2. Identification of the key components for the creation of NSDI
3. Understanding the relationship between ICT and SDI
4. Classification of the causes of NSDI failure in Iran
5. Identification of the technical causes of NSDI failure in Iran from the point of view of IT and prioritizing them
6. Provision of solutions to solve the problems of creating NSDI from all aspects, especially ICT, and evaluating these solutions