Opportunities for

Open Spatial Data

Bheshem Ramlal, Ph.D.

Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land

Management

The University of the West Indies

St. Augustine

Presentation Overview

• Introduction

• Spatial Data Development in Trinidad and

Tobago

• Open Spatial Data Access – Issues and

Prospects

• UWI’s role

• Conclusions

Introduction

• From its initial development in Canada in the

1960s, GIS has grown significantly to become

pervasive in almost all societies

• Globally, spatial data development is a multi-

billion dollar industry

GIS Worth -Global Estimates

Introduction

• With changes in ICT, spatial data have

become much more accessible to

users

• Initially most spatial data were not

accessible to the public.

• There has been a gradual move by

many countries from cost-recovery

policies to open access policies

• Move to develop the public

commons for Geospatial Data

ArcGIS Online

GEOSUR

IMAP Jamaica

Open Source Software

Open Source Software

GIS Development in

Trinidad and Tobago

• WASA

• TTEC

• TTPOST

• EMA

• IMA

• TCPD

• LSD

• LMD

• PETROTRIN

• NGC

• MoLG

• ODPM

• NEMA Tobago

• Forestry

• MFPLMR

• Police

• SUATT

• SSA

• MoH

• CSO

• MPA

• FSD

• MoEEI

• MoE

• MoWT

• LSA

• HDC

• MPESDGA

• MNS

• MSYA

• PoSCC

• TSTT

• TATT

Data Sets Available

Roads and other transportation

networks

Wetlands, Lagoons, Ponds,

Lakes

Administrative Boundaries

Soils

Geology

Food Supply Networks

Public Safety Organizations

Health Care Providers

Public Health Facilities

Water Quality

Watersheds

Electoral Boundaries

Dumps

Meteorological

Vegetation

WASA Installations and wells

Landslides

Buildings

Communications

Network

Utilities

Oil and Gas Facilities

Gas Stations

Watercourses

Flood Plains

Demographic Data

National Parks/ Protected Areas

Existing Land Use

Cemeteries and cremation sites

Industrial Plants

Emergency Op/ Disaster shelters

Educational Facilities

Sensitive Sites

Underground Storage Tanks

Oceanography

Topography

Coastline and Coastal Activities

Aerial Photos & satellite Imagery

Survey Plans

Seismic Activities

Quarries

Recreation facilities and open

spaces

Status of GIS Development

Status of Agencies No of Agencies

Interest in GIS development 31

GIS needs assessment completed 10

GIS implementation plan completed (document) 9

GIS training acquired 21

GIS database development initiated 19

GIS database completed 5

Enterprise GIS 8

Metadata Developed 2

Data Sharing Policy 5

Data and Spatial products available on website 4

Open Spatial Data: Issues

• Lack of Metadata

• No Metadata Standards

• Lack of Data Sharing Policies

• Lack of Accuracy Specifications

Open Spatial Data: Prospects

• Significant effort being made to develop

Enterprise GIS by government agencies

• Government moving towards the

development of national policy on Spatial

Data Infrastructure

• Technology becoming more available for the

sharing of spatial data in Trinidad and

Tobago

A Role for the DGELM

The UWI has had significant input in GIS

Development in Trinidad and Tobago

– The UWI has designed and delivered over

60 training courses in GIS to industry in the

last 15 years

– Certificate in GIS and a MSc Geo-

informatics programs delivered by UWI

– Provided consulting services for the design

and development of several enterprise

GIS for Government and Private

Sector organizations

– Set up the GIS Society of Trinidad

and Tobago

A Role for the DGELM

• Provide support and advice to stakeholder

with respect to policies, standards, and

technical requirements

• Conduct relevant research and develop

appropriate solutions

• Develop and make available spatial data

sets where possible

• Advocate for policy changes

• Support training needs of

stakeholders

Conclusions

• While extensive work has been done in the

development of spatial data sets most are not

available for open access to the public

• There is some movement by government

towards setting up a NSDI but this is still at a

very early stage of development

• There is much work to be done to convince

government to adopt open access policies

• The UWI has played a significant role in

making spatial data openly available