Ivan-Dario Gomez
Director General
Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute – IGAC
Executive Secretary of Colombian Space Commission
[email protected]
Lilia-Patricia Arias
Chief of the Research and Development
Center of Geographic Information – CIAF
Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute – IGAC
[email protected]
The Colombian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ICDE) is an operational entity that works with policy, standards, organisations and technological resources to facilitate the production, access and use of geographic information (GI) in Colombia as a means to support public policy decisionmaking in all the sectors of the Colombian government.
Five development phases can be identified in ICDE's history. Each can be characterised by advances in geographic information management; formalised geographic information policies; the preparation, formalisation and implementation of geographic information standards; the development and use of information technology tools such as the geoportal and the geographic metadata catalogue; strengthening institutional capacities; the implementation of knowledge management strategies; and cooperation with other SDI initiatives on the national and international levels.
Phase 1: Formation of the concept (1997-2001)
The origins of the ICDE stem from research undertaken by the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute (IGAC) in 1996. The initiative was influenced by advances in Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, among other countries; modern technologies improving the production of basic and thematic digital cartography; the incorporation of GPS and digital photogrammetry to increase productivity and research activities and the development of user-oriented applications. Consequently, the first interinstitutional coordination effort to share organisational criteria and geographic information took the form of the Technical Committee on Geographic Information Standardization in 1997, which operated under the auspices of the Colombian national standardisation body, ICONTEC. As a result of coordination efforts of several institutions related to the environmental management, a "Basic Agreement" was signed in 2000 by leading government producers and users of geographic information in order to organise the production of and access to this data at the national level.
In 2000, recognising the importance of sharing experiences about cadastral systems and the future of land management in the region, IGAC lead the Permanent Committee of Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Americas (CPIDEA), which was formed pursuant to Resolution No. 3 from the Sixth United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for the Americas (UNRCC-Americas).
Phase 2: Consolidation of the geographic information standardisation process (2001- 2003)
Phase 2 was characterised by advances in geographic information standardisation made by working groups from the Standardization Technical Committee, including the development of the first national standards. The geospatial metadata, geographic feature catalogue and basic concepts of geographic information quality standards were passed in 1999, 2001 and 2002, respectively. Metadata production received a boost in 2003 with the development of the first version of the Geographic Metadata Administration Web System (SWAMI). More than 120,000 metadata were produced for IGAC geographic products. That same year, two related standards were also adopted: Precision of Spatial Data and Precision of Geodetic Networks.
Phase 3: Organisational and political growth (2003-2005)
Decree 3816 of 2003 established the Inter-sector Commission on Public Information Policies and Management (COINFO), the purpose of which was to define strategies and organise programmes on information and communication technologies, create mechanisms for citizens to be able to access information, and promote public administration policies to be submitted to and adopted by CONPES (National Social and Economic Policy Council). The Online Government strategy from the Connectivity Program was once such policy. From a technical point of view, IGAC, as Colombia's main institutional producer of basic, official geographic information, made strides in the consolidation of the seamless geospatial databases and the National Imagery Repository, which produced the national framework cartography at scales of 1:100,000 and 1:500,000, as the baseline of ICDE.
A strategic partnership with the National Administrative Statistics Department (DANE) in 2005 led to map creation for the General Census 2005. The ICDE also benefited from two policy documents: Visión Colombia 2019 and the earliest draft of the CONPES document "Guidelines for Consolidating National Policy on Geographic Information and the ICDE."
Phase 4: Colombian geoportal and thematic use of ICDE (2006-2008)
This phase was included in the National Development Plan 2006- 2010's chapter Friendly Cities strategy and the Territorial Development Information Program. It was at this time that the need to strengthen the Environmental Information System for Colombia (SIAC) was recognised.
DANE's Decree 3851 of 2006 created an administrative system for basic official information which in turn led to the Colombian Data Infrastructure (ICD). ICDE, managed by IGAC, is a major component of the ICD. Technologically, the first version of the Colombian geoportal was developed and released during this phase. During this same period, in 2007, efforts were devoted to data interoperability.
Phase 5: Consolidation of the National Geographic Information Policy (2007-2010)
In 2009, CONPES 3585, "Consolidation of the National Geographic Information Policy and the Colombian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ICDE)," was passed by the National Economic Policy Council. The document identifies the following strategic axes:
- Strengthen geographic information management standards on production, ownership, access, use, and price.
- Improve interinstitutional coordination on the production, acquisition and use of geographic information.
- Increase geographic information production.
- Improve institutional capacity for geographic information management.
- A work structure was also established in which each entity would participate according to the sector to which it belonged. This structure is governed by a Coordinating Committee and five Committees:
- Environmental Committee
- Infrastructure Committee
- Defense and Sea Committee
- Socio-econonomic issues Committee
- Frontiers and Territorial Management Committee
In the framework of ICDE evolution, it is important to mention ICDE's international partnerships, the opportunity to participate in projects including Geosur, PREDECAN, DIECAN, SMIT, and the agreements sign with organisations such as PC IDEA, PAIGH, NGA, CYTED – IDEDES. The IGAC knowledge management strategy is used to offer research and development, training and consulting services to institutions, thereby strengthening its capacities to successfully implement and sustain technological and methodological developments.
Finally, the vision of ICDE consists of consolidating the harmonisation strategy with the National Earth Observation Program supported by CONPE 3683 and to direct the application of geospatial technologies in various sectors.
