Spatial Data Infrastructures in Morocco in light of international experiences

Abstract

The Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) is a platform to coordinate the exchanging and sharing of the spatial data between several actors producing or using data with spatial reference. In Morocco, massive spatial data is produced and several government agencies are feeling the urgent need for a data exchange mechanism to optimize their efforts and avoid redundant production. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate a state of the art on the SDI to illustrate the good practices and study their role in implementing a platform for sharing spatial information in Morocco. The approach consists of describing and highlighting the concept of SDI through an analysis of the existing literature. A Benchmarking study on the construction of SDI at national and international level will be conducted. Through this study, it was found that the national context presents advantages for the implementation of a Spatial Data Infrastructure and that the initiatives in progress will allow the setting up of an observatory facilitating the implementation of an SDI in Morocco.