Spatial Data Infrastructure (referred to as SDI) is a set of technologies, measures, norms, services, human capacities and other factors that simplify the availability and access to spatial data and enable effective unification, management, maintenance and sharing of spatial data in order to meet the needs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), as well as their use outside FBiH.

Similar to the development of traffic or telecommunications infrastructure, the basic concept of developing this infrastructure is based on the establishment of a reliable environment for accessing resources and exchanging geo-information. The key elements of its development are data and metadata, networks and access mechanisms, standards, regulation, financing, human resources and institutional frameworks. These elements form technological and non-technological components that ensure and coordinate the exchange of geoinformation and together enable interoperability using the same technologies, standards and policies.

The most important component without which SDI cannot exist is spatial data. Today, spatial data is part of everyday life, often just an imperceptible background segment from the outside. However, with the development of technology, and the associated development of spatial data, today’s society can no longer survive without spatial data. Spatial data is mostly associated with mobile phones, computers, various sensors and traffic (navigation and vehicles). Spatial data describe objects, events and phenomena and contain, in addition to the spatial, a temporal component. Their importance today is unquestionable, that is, it can be considered that spatial data is necessary for the functioning of modern society.

Spatial data has been interpreted and visualized on analog maps for centuries, which until recently were our main auxiliary tool when perceiving, understanding and orienting objects and events in space. The emergence and development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) opened up new possibilities for managing spatial data and their properties. The development of new products and services leads to the development of economic and market branches and new generations of knowledge and experts with new ideas.

With the further development of information and communication technologies, the development of spatial databases, the possibilities of publication, visualization and distribution of data via the Internet, new demands on spatial data appear. Users’ requests for spatial data are increasingly not only related to conventional documents in the form of maps, plans, etc., but also to updated, geometrically accurate and easily accessible spatial data in digital form. The natural next step is the establishment of an infrastructure that will uniquely unite all these spatial data.