Assignment – 1

OJASHWEE BABU MALLA (77242019)

Discuss the theoretical foundation of SDI development.

There are six theoretical foundations for SDI Development listed as below:

1) Hierarchical Spatial Theory and SDI Hierarchy: Conceptually a spatial hierarchy consists of
many levels with the higher levels in the hierarchy being aggregations of smaller units where a
system is subdivided in smaller subsystems, and further subdivision of subsystems can be
recursively repeated as long as the subdivision makes sense. There are two views on SDI
hierarchy:

a) Umbrella View: where the SDI at the higher level includes all SDIs at the lower level.

b) Building Block View: where a level of SDI such as at the state level, supports the SDI levels
above (i.e., national, regional) with their spatial data needs.

1) Diffusion Theory and SDI Diffusion: Diffusion theory concerns with the spread of an innovation
through a population. Diffusion Theory is a communication theory that describes how
information travels through a population, spreading from person to person in a pattern of social
contagion, until every individual in the population has adopted the innovation.. The analysis of
the adoption process involves three variables: (1) the innovation, i.e., new idea, practice, or object;
(2) the communication channels through which members of a community receive messages
about the innovation; and (3) the social system which refers to the characteristics of members
within a community and their relations to one another.

2) Evolution Theory and SDI Evolution: a gradual process in which something changes into a
different and usually more complex or better form. The concept of SDI first emerged in the mid-
1980s around the need for cooperation and sharing of spatially-related information across
countries and organisations. The second generation of national SDI initiatives started around
2000 when some of the leading nations on SDI development changed their development
strategies and updated their SDI conceptual models. The third generation of SDI is more open
and inclusive – VGI and crowd sourcing

3) Principal Agent Theory and Partnerships and Collaboration: The Principal-Agent Theory,
which emphasizes power and responsibility sharing. There are three aspects of P-A theory, The
first aspect is determining who has power/responsibility (principal) and who performs activity on
behalf of an authority (agent). The second consideration is the amount to which a principal can
control or check the agent, while the third is the extent to which an agent can assume authority
and responsibility. SDIs must have effective data exchange among participants in order to be
completely operational in practice.

4) Actor Network Theory (ANT) and SDI Networking: Actor Network Theory is a way of analysing
different technological systems, social/scientific issues, and how different organisations function.
It does not focus on human-social features rather it examines humans and their non-human
interactions (such as technology). The idea is that objects and things are just as important in the
network or system as the people within it.
Assignment – 1
OJASHWEE BABU MALLA (77242019)

5) Social Network Theory and VGI: A social network is a set of nodes, which are generally
individuals or organizations. These nodes are connected by ties or edges, which can be viewed as
similar to friendship ties. Information, ideas and emotions can be effectively transmitted through
these ties. Social networks tend to vary in the amount of influence they bring upon the individual.