Presented by Conor Smyth at SDI-Open 2015, IBGE, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil http://sdistandards.icaci.org/sdi-open-2015-proceedings/ 20-21 August 2015

2. SDI – National to Global:
perspectives from the
UK academic sector
Conor G. Smyth,
Ph.D., FRGS, C.Geog (GIS)
Head of Research and Geodata Services
SDI-Open 2015, IBGE, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

3. Agenda SDI-Open 2015
I1. Introduction to the UK academic SDI
2. SDI implementation
3. Why the academic SDI matters
4. Future strategic considerations

4. 1. Introduction to the UK academic SDI
I
q The basis for UK a-SDI
q The sectors that we serve
q What we offer today

5. 1a. Introduction to the UK academic SDI
I
Basis:
§ EDINA national centre of digital expertise*
§ Formed as part of Jisc (national acad. ICT)
§ Policy level; Dpt. of Ed; funding councils
§ Portfolio of online digital services to sector
§ Objective to: promote discovery, access,
exchange and sharing of GI/services to
the academic community, and beyond
§ Standards & interoperability are key
§ Centre of international digital expertise
*since 1995

6. 1b. Introduction to the UK academic SDI
I
Our Sectors (total numbers):
§ UK Higher Education (165)
§ UK Further Education (390)
§ GB Schools (28,681)
§ UK (& Scottish) Government
§ Also, EU/International (global SDI)
§ …via Subscription and Open models
& Funded by Jisc, Grant awards,
Contracts..

7. 1c. Introduction to the UK academic SDI
I

8. 1d. Introduction to the UK academic SDI
I
I
DISCOVER
ACCESS
SHARE
CREATE
Our Offering:

9. 2. SDI Implementation
I
q The Technical Platform
q Open software, standards, data
q Case study, Digimap

10. 2a. SDI Implementation
I
Technical Platform:
§ Diverse technical components
to support access, services & middleware
§ Desktop and Mobile (Apps) environment
§ Subscription vs. Open modes
§ Varied use of Open standards, OSS,
libraries & data ...& is service dependent
§ Single development code base
§ Interoperability very important
§ Proprietary software utilised (limited)

11. 2b. SDI Implementation
I
Open geospatial software, standards &
data underpin our services
§ Authentication: Shibboleth
§ OSS: Apache, PostGres/GIS, etc..
§ Open Libraries: Spring framework/JQuery
§ OGC: WMS; WFS; WTS; WCS; WPS
§ Metadata: AGMAP/ UK Gemini 2.1
§ UK Open data
§ OSM & open global gazetteers
§ But also, licensed data providers too

12. 2c. SDI Implementation
I
GoGeo:
Discover GIS resources
Find Data
Create standards compliant metadata
Learn about metadata standards

13. 2d. SDI Implementation
UNLOCK provides an Application Programming Interface (API) for querying over
11 million geographic names across variety of gazetteers:
• GeoNames & Pleiades ancient place names (world coverage)
• Natural Earth (world coverage)
• OS products (UK coverage): 1:50,000 Placename Gazetteer, Meridian 2,
Boundary-Line, BN Grid references
Some more components...
http://openstream.edina.ac.uk/
Dspace Repository - ShareGeo

14. 2e. SDI Implementation
I
Digimap: map client and data download
22 million screen maps
470k print maps
145k data orders

15. 2f. SDI Implementation
I
Digimap: inc. training, support & OER
Collection Active
users
Subscribing
Institutions
Digimap OS Collection 58,000 116 *
Geology Digimap 25,000 56
Historic Digimap 27,000 83
Marine Digimap 9,000 25
Environment Digimap 22,000 54
Digimap for Colleges No
individual
registration
189 **
Digimap for FE (all Collections
“bundle”)
- 23
* 16 out of 18 Scottish HEs
** 12 out of 16 Scottish Colleges

16. 3. Why the academic SDI matters
I
q Principal motivations & benefits
q Key barriers
q Current challenges

17. 3a. Why the academic SDI matters
I
§ National SDI supports ecosystem
development
§ Promotes discoverability & access, with
focus on sectoral user needs
§ Key SM expertise developed
§ Standards based
§ Cost base (& role of Open)
§ Support/Enhance research & teaching
§ Eliminates duplication at institutional
level (data, infrastructure, licence)
Principal motivations & benefits:

18. 3b. Why the academic SDI matters
I
Principal Barriers:
§ Access to (some) services (subscriptions)
§ Licensing requirements (cost/feasibility)
§ Funding constraints
§ Open technology - TRLs / maturity
§ Effective monitoring - Open services
§ Open demands new business models

19. 3c. Why the academic SDI matters
I
Key Challenges:
§ Sectoral/organisational change
§ Sustainability & competitive edge
§ Pace of Technology change
§ Meeting User expectations
§ Embracing ʻOpenʼ & new business models
§ Resource implication of multi-platforms
...at local, national & international levels

20. 4. Future Strategic considerations
Iq Changing environment
q Changing technology
q Changing expectations
q New opportunities
q Collaboration and partnerships

21. 4. Future Strategic considerations
I
§ Innovate further, beyond UK
§ Embrace emerging Tech trends (cloud, IoT)
§ Mobile ʻfirstʼ
§ Migration - Proprietary to OSS
§ Support T&L lifecycle in sector
§ Consider impact of global open initiatives
§ Leverage our expertise globally
§ Evaluate new roles at local, national, &
global levels, inc. capacity building
§ Seek new partnerships & collaborations

22. Obrigado – Thank you!

23. E-mail:
conor.smyth@ed.ac.uk