A description of spatial data infrastructure stakeholders in Ghana using the ICA model

Abstract

The National Framework for Geospatial Information Management (NAFGIM) was a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) initiative in Ghana which started around the year 2000. NAFGIM was developed as an integral part of a national effort to manage spatial data pertaining to the environment and natural resources. It sought to bring together technology, policies, institutional resources and standards to enhance the production, storage, access and utilization of geographic data and information. NAFGIM is no longer functional but Ghana is again embarking on another SDI initiative. This precipitated key diagnostic questions, such as: what led to NAFGIM's decline and how can lessons learnt from NAFGIM inform current SDI developments in Ghana? The International Cartographic Association (ICA) has developed formal models of an SDI, including identifying six types of SDI stakeholders and their specializations. The ICA model has been applied to describe the Namibian SDI (NamSDI). In this chapter, we follow this work and use the ICA model to describe the types of stakeholders in NAFGIM, their contributions, roles and impact. Current SDI developments in Ghana can benefit from this stakeholder analysis, because most of the NAFGIM stakeholders are still relevant in current SDI developments as part of the ongoing Land Administration Project. Research results confirm the value of modeling stakeholders of an SDI: Stakeholders are identified and their roles assigned, potential conflicts are identified and can be pro-actively mitigated, facilitating harmonized stakeholder participation. The results also contribute to understanding commonalities between stakeholders in different SDIs generally. This is important because SDIs provide access to the geographic information that is essential for sustainable development and for advancing science.