2. Exploring the Emergence of Open Spatial Data Infrastructures: Analysis of Recent Developments and Trends in Europe

In the past 20 years, European public authorities have invested considerable resources in the development of spatial data infrastructures. With the European INSPIRE Directive as an important driver, national spatial data infrastructures were developed throughout Europe to facilitate and coordinate the exchange and sharing of geographic data. While the original focus of these spatial data infrastructure was mainly on data sharing among public authorities, it became more and more evident that these data could also be of great value to users outside the public sector. In recent years, several countries and public administrations started to make a shift towards the establishment of an ‘open’ spatial data infrastructure, in which also businesses, citizens and non-governmental actors were considered as key stakeholders of the infrastructure. This chapter provides an analysis of the measures and solutions implemented in four European countries (the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Finland) to make their spatial data infrastructures open to businesses, citizens and other stakeholders. The analysis shows that in these four countries the move towards more open spatial data infrastructures can mainly be seen in the increased availability of geographic data and spatially enabled services to citizens, businesses and other stakeholders.