Defining National Spatial Data Infrastructures as Complex Adaptive Systems

After two decades of intensive worldwide development of (National) Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) initiatives it is increasingly important to assess the outcomes in order to justify the resources spent on those programs. Many researchers throughout the world have been struggling with building NSDI assessment programs. However it is very difficult to assess NSDIs due to its complex, dynamic and constantly evolving nature. The reason for this difficulty might be that our knowledge of the real forces and mechanisms behind NSDI is still limited. This paper describes a new approach of defining NSDI. It is argued that NSDIs can be treated as Complex Adaptive Systems (Waldrop, 1993; Holland, 1996). Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) are frequently described by the following characteristics: openness, components, non-linearity, emergency, feedback loops, adaptability, self-organization, multi-understanding, dynamics, unpredictability, sensitivity to initial conditions, scale-independence (fractal building). Both CAS and NSDI characteristics are presented, examined and compared using three case studies. Australian Dutch and Polish SDIs are analyzed in the context of Complex Adaptive Systems. This explorative and comparative study confirms that NSDI has similar properties and patterns of behaviour as CAS. Analyzing NSDI as CAS enriches our understanding of NSDIs’ complex character. As a result it appears possible to better identify and understand the key factors and conditions for NSDI functioning. The presented research is part of the Dutch program Space for Geo-Information “Development of Framework to Assess National Spatial Data Infrastructures”.