What is an SDI
A Spatial Data Infrastructure refers to the set of technologies, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to collect, process, distribute, use, maintain and preserve spatial data.
So, in effect, an SDI is an IT system consisting of a suite of web resources (catalogues, servers, software, data, applications, web pages) used to manage geographical information (maps, orthophotos, satellite images, place names). These resources comply with interoperability conditions (standards, specifications, protocols, interfaces) that allow users to utilise and combine them according to their needs through a simple browser.
To achieve this, the SDI provides viewers and visualisation services (WMS/WMTS), discovery services based on metadata (CSW) and applications and services for downloading maps (Atom Feeds).
