1 The narrative anchor as the decisive element of geoinformation infrastructures

Efforts to build a geoinformation infrastructure using technological innovations have not always been succesful, at times they even can be problematic. In this paper three Spatial Data Infrastructure- (SDI-) initiatives are being compared, trying to explain succes and failure by giving an ethnography of everyday practice regarding creation, development and fate. Using the method of narrative analysis, these cases are analysed. It turns out that the way technology is linked to the goals of an SDI is an indication for success. This research reveals that where technology is directly linked up to an infrastructure it is eventually bound to fail. However, where technology and infrastructure share a narrative achor as a mediating non-tangible element, an SDI can be successful and sustainable