Spatial Data Infrastructure as a Vehicle for Sustainable Development in

The Zimbabwe Spatial Data Infrastructure (ZSDI) steering committee is a group of voluntary geographic information practitioners that is advocating for the establishment of a functional spatial data infrastructure (SDI) in Zimbabwe. The initiative began in the late 1980s, but the progress has been painfully slow. Lack of awareness of SDI issues, knowledgeable personnel, and lack of government support, among other factors, has contributed to this slow pace of development. This paper is directed towards politicians, senior managers and professional organisations (high-level public and private sector officials) to solicit their involvement and support for the Zimbabwe Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative. The paper aims to provide a greater understanding of the need for Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) and how they can be used to support sustainable development in the country. As such, the paper shall not dwell much on the technical aspects of SDI, but will focus on making SDI relevant and pertinent to the current political and socio-economic climate prevailing in the country so that decision-makers can see the need to invest in a legal spatial data infrastructure framework. This paper will try to justify that a sound spatial data infrastructure is the basis for sustainable socio-economic development for the country