From the Assessment of Spatial Data Infrastructure to the Assessment of Community of Practice : Advocating an Approach by Uses.

International audienceThe abilities of territorial communities to understand and control their development in a sustainable and equitable way, depend on spatial data sharing. In this context, the paper intends to understand and analyse the issues of spatial data infrastructure. It provides understanding and operation elements so that spatial data infrastructure can progressively evolve into geomatics learning networks, also termed "communities of practice". This communities of practice offer, in our view, one of the most important component of SDI assessment