Access to Marine Data on the Internet for CZM
569
Management, through decision-making and planning in the coastal zone
requires ready access to data and information. At present, much of this data and
information is scattered in many disparate forms and is held by many related and
unrelated organisations (academic, commercial, private, and government). Much of this
data is not catalogued or documented, and very little information about information
(Metadata) is held.
Realistically there is a need to bring this data and information together under
'one roof'. But, there is also a need to go further than this and to standardise the
collection and storage of further data and information in the future, so that new datasets
become more widely applicable.
In practice, it is neither practical nor economically feasible to physically bring
all the available data and information together in one place. However, in theory the
rapid development of the Internet communications and networking technology offers
both a practical and economic solution to the provision of rapid and efficient access to
geospatial data and information. Instead of creating a 'new central building' approach to
the problem, individual organisations would be linked via the Internet. This does,
however, mean that there would need to be a national framework, established by a
national co-ordinating body to look after the implementation of this proposed Internetbased data and information resource, that this organisation should be government in
origin, with the power to implement such co-ordination, the required data quality and
standards (Metadata), and to provide what must undoubtedly be seen as an essential
source of data and information for the UK.
Progress to Date
What progress has been made to date with respect to the development of such an 'ideal' -
a UK geospatial information resource for coastal zone management?
In the UK we are 'blessed' with a wide range of data and information sources,
the national mapping agencies, the Ordnance Survey (OS) and the UK Hydrographic
Office providing some of the best resources of land and marine data in the World. In
recent years their products have become transformed to a digital format. Remote
sensing data and imagery catalogues have also been produced e.g. SPOT Image.
Relatively few organisations (government agencies interested in coastal management)
have to date put GIS data onto their websites except English Nature. These go someway
towards the ideal, by providing access to free downloadable Arc View datasets, although
there is little documentation that is currently in a useful form.
The Ordnance Survey - under Geoffrey Robinson - was seriously looking at the
pricing structure for key datasets, licensing, and the potential of the Internet
(particularly e-commerce and on-line supply of data, and integration of other people's
information) earlier in the year (Robinson, 1999, pp. 17-18). With his departure it
remains to be seen what will now happen.
However, it is really only recently that real progress towards the potential for
greater provision of access to such data and information has seriously been considered.
To date this has been relatively slow, and whilst advances have been made, with all
sorts of initiatives being undertaken e.g. AVID - UK Hydrographic Office and
European equivalents:
569
Management, through decision-making and planning in the coastal zone
requires ready access to data and information. At present, much of this data and
information is scattered in many disparate forms and is held by many related and
unrelated organisations (academic, commercial, private, and government). Much of this
data is not catalogued or documented, and very little information about information
(Metadata) is held.
Realistically there is a need to bring this data and information together under
'one roof'. But, there is also a need to go further than this and to standardise the
collection and storage of further data and information in the future, so that new datasets
become more widely applicable.
In practice, it is neither practical nor economically feasible to physically bring
all the available data and information together in one place. However, in theory the
rapid development of the Internet communications and networking technology offers
both a practical and economic solution to the provision of rapid and efficient access to
geospatial data and information. Instead of creating a 'new central building' approach to
the problem, individual organisations would be linked via the Internet. This does,
however, mean that there would need to be a national framework, established by a
national co-ordinating body to look after the implementation of this proposed Internetbased data and information resource, that this organisation should be government in
origin, with the power to implement such co-ordination, the required data quality and
standards (Metadata), and to provide what must undoubtedly be seen as an essential
source of data and information for the UK.
Progress to Date
What progress has been made to date with respect to the development of such an 'ideal' -
a UK geospatial information resource for coastal zone management?
In the UK we are 'blessed' with a wide range of data and information sources,
the national mapping agencies, the Ordnance Survey (OS) and the UK Hydrographic
Office providing some of the best resources of land and marine data in the World. In
recent years their products have become transformed to a digital format. Remote
sensing data and imagery catalogues have also been produced e.g. SPOT Image.
Relatively few organisations (government agencies interested in coastal management)
have to date put GIS data onto their websites except English Nature. These go someway
towards the ideal, by providing access to free downloadable Arc View datasets, although
there is little documentation that is currently in a useful form.
The Ordnance Survey - under Geoffrey Robinson - was seriously looking at the
pricing structure for key datasets, licensing, and the potential of the Internet
(particularly e-commerce and on-line supply of data, and integration of other people's
information) earlier in the year (Robinson, 1999, pp. 17-18). With his departure it
remains to be seen what will now happen.
However, it is really only recently that real progress towards the potential for
greater provision of access to such data and information has seriously been considered.
To date this has been relatively slow, and whilst advances have been made, with all
sorts of initiatives being undertaken e.g. AVID - UK Hydrographic Office and
European equivalents: