SDI AND DIGITAL ASIA AS INFORMATION COMMONS FOR WEALTH CREATION

In order to deal with environmental issues from global scale to regional and local levels, a correct grasp of the history and the current status of the earth are essential, and we must share a common recognition of the issues. The first step to build a sustainable society is to monitor, identify, store the data of phenomena on the earth, then process and interpret the raw data, turn them into understandable information to display, publish and distribute. Therefore we need “the Digital Earth (DE)” that is a virtual representation of our planet on the internet that enables a person to explore and interact with the vast amounts of natural and cultural information gathered about the earth. Much of this information refers to some specific location on the earth, therefore it is referred to as geospatial information which is mainly provide by RS and GIS. In the last decade, Japan has developed NSDIs (National Spatial Data Infrastructures) to promote economic development, good governance, and livable and sustainable development. NSDIs that facilitate the more effective use of national geographic information resources are core contents in an information-based society in both national and local level.

Specific DE activities in our interest are intended to move sub-DE project that is Digital Asia. The concept of Digital Asia is an initiative to provide people and community with easy access to geo-spatial information over the internet by establishing a scheme to integrate and share the GIS and RS data among all the countries of Asia by using Web-based GIS. Since 2004, Keio University initiated Digital Asia data sharing project with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. This project targets to develop an infrastructure for data sharing via Internet in the region with the collaboration of potential agencies who will participate on voluntary basis.  It was expected that there will be more than 10 nodes in the network before the end of 2009 supporting the system as data and information providers through web map servers and browser. In parallel to this, the media browser being developed providing easy and fast access to news and information that related to social and community activities in the region. Finally, the project develop a process to identify most appropriate system in solving problems associated with any society with most appropriate way using enormous data coming from various agencies and individuals in the region for the sustainable future and wealth creation.

These infrastructures are using for the emergency management and disaster recovery as Sentinel Asia Project of the disaster management support system in the Asia-Pacific region. The future evolution of SDI and Digital Asia application are also discussed, such as   real time monitoring for Imja Glacial Lake in Himalaya for a Global Warming Front Monitoring System and the implementation of Sentinel Asia with integrated GIS in local government.