SDI Convergence - Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association

Figure 5: Secondary interface: organisation and GI flows.
Clicking on a specific organisation provides access to a new pop-up
window where
other organisations having a relationship to the first are linked in terms of GI flows (Figure
5). Inside this new window, users may also navigate from one organisation to another,
and also drill-down an organisation in which sub-organisations are available.
5.3. Applying the value chain concept to GI: perspectives
At the moment, the prototype can be used to create cartographical links, which exist
between various stakeholders of the geomatic sector in Quebec, representing the
movement of GI among the organisations. Socioscope could be implemented in a more
complex system that would allow us to trace the steps within which the value is generated,
from data acquisition and production, to sales, improvements, and distribution.
With the information gained by adding new attributes, defining the steps of the life cycle
of GI products, determining where and how the products are exchanged, as well as
when the value is created, it would be possible to support strategic decisions on the
market. For example, investing in a geodetic network in a region would normally lead to
a better GI capturing process. But what is the real value at the end of installing a geodetic
point? Or we can imagine that someone, for his private economic activity, needs
GI that can be acquired from an existing geographic dataset. Who on the market offers
a dataset that has economic value for the potential buyer?
We affirm that Socioscope is a highly appropriate tool to enable easy access to the
knowledge of GI flows among various organisations, and that it possesses remarkable
potential to the future goals of EcoGeo II.
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