Building an Environmental GIS Knowledge Infrastructure

Abstract

Technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) enable geospatial information to be captured, updated, integrated, and mapped easily and economically. These technologies create both opportunities and challenges for achieving wider and more effective use of geospatial information in stimulating and sustaining sustainable development through smart policy making. This chapter proposes a simple and accessible conceptual knowledge discovery interface that can be used as a tool to accomplish that. In addition, it addresses some issues that might make this knowledge infrastructure stimulate sustainable development with emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa.