Feasibility Reports Completed for NSDI in Uganda and Jordan

The studies were undertaken through funds from the Korean Trust Fund on ICT4D, administered by infoDev. Esri Canada partnered with Geo-Information Communication to conduct the feasibility study in Uganda, and with Interdisciplinary Research Consultants (IdRC) for the Jordan project. The two reports are part of a wider programme of work for the World Bank's Spatial Data Infrastructure for Development (SDI4MDGs) project, which also includes country case studies on Korea and Brazil, and an SDI manual for developing countries.

The studies looked at the situation of each of the countries' existing SDI systems, institutional settings, policy and legal environment, technology and geographic datasets, physical infrastructure, human resources and funding environment. Some common challenges identified were the lack of national regulations and standards in managing geographic data, difficulties in exchanging data, lack of human resources and funding. The reports provide recommendations for addressing each challenge and include lessons learned from both local and international case studies.