MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE

STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

DI/ICSP/4/4/5/14/05 December 2011

 Defence Spatial Data Infrastructure
FOREWORD
1. Geographic location is a vital component of the information used by Defence and must be
exploited in a timely way to inform decision-making and military effect. This requires rapid and
seamless discovery, access, exploitation and dissemination of spatial data across the land,
maritime and air domains. Network Enabled Capability (NEC), with the investment in the Defence
Information Infrastructure (DII) and other Information Systems, is delivering the basis to provide
exploitable and trusted information at the right place and time to enable the right decision to deliver
the right effect and achieve the right outcome.
2. However, analysis of the way in which Defence approaches spatial data has exposed
shortcomings that affect the coherency and consistency of information; the consequences being
reduced interoperability within the MOD and with allies, and unnecessarily increased costs. These
shortcomings include: multiple stove-pipes for the delivery of spatial data; a lack of flexibility in its
packaging and delivery to the military user; a cumbersome and error prone requisition and delivery
process; a lack of consistency between spatial data from different sources across different
domains; and an absence of a firm policy basis that enables effective dialogue and planning
between system integrators and the providers of spatial data. As a result, procurement projects
and capability development have implemented local solutions but the majority have not been
sustainable, scalable or transferable to the wider enterprise.
3. The MOD Information Strategy 2011 (MODIS 2011) provides the basis on which Defence
can achieve Information Management excellence led by the Chief Information Officer (CIO)
organisation. CIO does not exercise direct authority over information stakeholders; rather it seeks
to drive the Defence information agenda through a reinforced Defence information governance
network and a focus on the four Effects through which Defence will achieve the Defence
Information Vision; Strategic Alignment1, Information Exploitation2, Accessibility & Trust3 and Value
for Money4. An approach is required, consistent with and supporting MODIS 2011, which looks to
provide a comprehensive and sustainable solution across all Defence Lines of Development
(DLoDs) and is achieved through a resilient, coherent and enduring enterprise-wide approach. To
this end I have, on behalf of Defence, taken leadership of Defence’s Spatial Data Infrastructure
(SDI) in order to govern and coordinate the provision of spatial data and derived information across
Defence in both the fixed and deployed environments.
4. SDIs are being pursued by many other enterprises including the European Union (the
Inspire project), the United Kingdom Government (the Location Information Infrastructure) and the
United States (the National Spatial Data Infrastructure). We must ensure Defence’s SDI is
affordable, simple, coherent with other SDIs, capable of incremental implementation, tolerant of
legacy systems and adaptable to future developments in technology and organisation. The
strengthening of our SDI is the best approach to maximising effectiveness while minimising costs;
however, to do so requires the setting up and enterprise-wide adoption of rules and processes.
5. This strategy provides a vision for making spatial data an Enterprise wide resource and
outlines the work required to achieve this. It has implications for all of Defence, not least those
involved in the design, delivery, operation and maintenance of systems exploiting spatial data and,
crucially, end-users that make decisions leading to achieving the desired military effect. We look to
all concerned to support the approach outlined therein.
ACDS (IC)

1
To ensure optimum use of information and Information Technology to enable delivery of Battlespace information superiority and
Business-space efficiency.
2
Enable maximum utility of information in all aspects of Defence operations and business
3
Assure the Defence Operating Board of the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information.
4
Provide optimum return on investment on Information Systems and Information Technology across Defence.
1
December 2011
SPATIAL DATA

6. Data are the discrete facts that are assumed, known, recorded, stored and processed by
human beings or systems5. Spatial data is the distribution of discrete facts in space and time. That
distribution might be described through reference to a place name or address, or through a
measured offset from a reference location in one, two or three dimensions – most commonly
provided as measured coordinates against a specified spatial reference system. To maximise its
exploitation in today’s environment spatial data must be in a machine readable form, although its
final presentation might still be most useful as hard copy. A spatial data infrastructure underpins
four key types of spatial data:

Geospatial information
7. Facts about the Earth referenced by geographical position and arranged in a coherent
structure. It describes the physical environment and includes data from the aeronautical,
geographic, hydrographical, oceanographic and meteorological disciplines6. Most commonly
viewed as a map or chart, geospatial information (also known as GEOINF) generally comprises
very large data sets that are well defined, structured and widely re-usable. Geospatial information
normally conforms to set standards, rules and policies, such as requiring the inclusion of
appropriate metadata (data about data).

Positioned information
8. Large amounts of information hold a defined reference to a position, but lie outside of the
scope of geospatial information, for example the tracks of aircraft or weather observations. This
information might be viewed in a tabular or textual form, but generally needs to be depicted against
a geospatial backdrop in order to be most usefully exploited. It must conform to some basic
guidance so that it can be accessed by a large number of users.

Spatially referenced information

9. Other information might make reference to a location, but isn’t specifically positioned
(although its context or discovery might be aided by reference to geospatial information or
positioned information). For example, a reference article concerning a country or city. This
information tends not to conform to specific standards or guidance, residing in report documents,
books or other reference material. However, its exploitation can be enhanced if it can be provided
as positioned information.

Geospatial intelligence
10. Geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is the spatially and temporally referenced intelligence
derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery intelligence and geospatial information to
establish patterns or to aggregate and extract additional intelligence7. This may be complemented
by other sources where they provide additional intelligence value. For example the delivery of
meteorological or oceanographic forecasts. It is a special case of either positioned information or
spatially reference information. In order to be exploited effectively it must conform to set standards,
rules and policy.

5
Information is data that has meaning in context. In this document the terms data and information will be used interchangeable, often to
preserve their conventional use. However, the distinction is largely academic – information cannot exist without data.
6
JDP 2-00 3rd Edition.
7
JDP 2-00 3rd Edition.
2
December 2011
PART 1 – CONTEXT
11. Everything happens somewhere. Location is fundamental to the conduct of Defence
activity: ships cannot sail, aircraft fly or troops operate effectively without spatial data. Information
typically referred to as situational awareness, command and control or military mark-up are
dependent on location in time and space requiring them to follow specific rules if they are to be
shared and used effectively and safely.
12. The 2010 National Security Strategy8 and the accompanying Strategic Defence and
Security Review9, published at a time of increasing pressure on public finances and on-going
operational commitments, call for Defence to reduce its disjointed legacy capabilities and ensure
future capabilities have the flexibility and agility to adjust to changing requirements. Increasing
mutual dependence between key Allies and Partners will require capabilities to be increasingly
deployed on an alliance or coalition basis. Renewed emphasis on the links between political,
military and security action also implies an increased requirement for effective information sharing
nationally across government, defence and law enforcement. Information Superiority supports
these priorities but its success relies on the effective management, sharing and assurance of
underpinning information.
13. Defence’s current approach to spatial data is largely based on off-line media generated by
specialist providers, often using proprietary formats, or the ad-hoc use of spreadsheets and reports
by analysts or other personnel. This data is often reprocessed, restructured and reformatted in a
fragmented manner across numerous defence systems. This leads to sub-optimal performance
due to, amongst other issues, the burden of maintaining updates or ensuring version control.
Nevertheless, the increasing availability, reliability and robustness of network infrastructure opens
up major opportunities for improvements.
14. Indeed, some improvements have already been realised through the deployment of
geospatial servers connecting to the Afghanistan Mission Network and the Defence Information
Infrastructure. This has been accompanied by much research and the development of concept
capability demonstrators in the land, meteorological and maritime domains. However, challenges
remain and the improvements must be coordinated across the Defence enterprise. Many defence
systems rely on the pre-deployment loading of large volumes of pre-prepared spatial data, while
other systems only work with proprietary databases or services which cannot be easily reused, if at
all. Assuring service delivery within a Service Orientated Architecture (SOA) also remains
challenging. To achieve a lasting improvement we must adopt new approaches to spatial data, and
provide the sustaining infrastructure required to cost-effectively support operational, acquisition
and business activities.
15. Integrated and flexible information management is key. Indeed MODIS 2011, reflecting the
ubiquitous nature of spatial data, recognises explicitly the need for a consistent and coherent
approach to its use. This places responsibilities on those whose primary role is to provide spatial
data, and those who handle and wish to share spatial data in their everyday activities. Whoever
owns the data, must focus on the use of open standards and on accessibility over the network, in
order to provide direct benefit to a commander on the ground.
16. This strategy outlines the approach MOD will take in order to achieve a consistent and
coherent approach to Spatial Data. This will result in authoritative data being available through
common approaches, minimising burdens of capability integration, and supporting MOD’s aims for
Information Superiority. It will allow policy makers, those defining and delivering new capability,
and those who rely on spatial data to understand the implications on them.

8
A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The National Security Strategy Cm. 7953.
9
Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The Strategic Defence and Security Review Cm. 7948.

3
December 2011
PART 2 – VISION
17. By 2015 Defence will treat spatial data as an enterprise resource contributing to Information
Superiority and enhancing the delivery of military effect. End-users and systems will be able to
store, discover, view, exploit and share spatial data in a way that is common and consistent across
all operational environments and functions. A consistent approach to spatial data will support the
incremental development of exploiting systems, allowing them to be adaptable to future
technologies and organisational change.
18. The collection, management, exploitation and dissemination of spatial data requires an
underpinning Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) comprising policy, governance, data,
standardisation and services.

Figure 1 – A Spatial Data Infrastructure for Defence

19. The success of this infrastructure depends on the sum of the individual components. A fully
functioning SDI is a prerequisite to achieving:
a. The widest possible access to spatial data consistent with the necessary access
controls.
b. Spatial data that can be exploited in conjunction with all other forms of defence
information, and information across government and from alliance/coalition partners.
c. Consistency and coherence such that disparate users have access to the same
spatial data and subsequent analysis.
d. A quality control process that provides reliable data and highlights the quality of the
data to users.
e. Intuitive access to spatial data to reduce information management and training
overheads.
f. Standardised, application independent access to spatial data that is easy for
application and system developers to implement.
g. The means for defence capabilities to exploit spatial data in a cost effective manner
with reduced Through Life Capability Management (TLCM) costs.
20. MOD has adopted a SDI framework10, as a key enabler of the Defence Enterprise, to
support the generation, discovery, access and exploitation of spatial data. The SDI is that physical
and business infrastructure which allows a user to find spatial data, ask questions, plan courses of
action and then share these actions in a coherent and widely accessible manner. An effective SDI
allows spatial data to be managed as a strategic resource.

10
DI ICSP 4/4/1/02, Adoption of a Defence Spatial Infrastructure, dated 12 Oct 10.
4
December 2011
21. The future architecture for the delivery of spatial data (shown generically in Figure 2) will
reflect five key SDI principles:
a. Enterprise governance rather than local solutions.
b. An on-line data-centric rather than an off-line product-centric11 approach.
c. Robust spatial data management across the business- and battle-space supporting
a reduced data/information management burden.
d. Networked service delivery rather than bulk transfer.
e. Agility and scalability through coherence of capability.

Figure 2 – An outline technical architecture for the SDI

22. MOD’s SDI can only be realised through a governed collection of specialist spatial and core
Defence capabilities. By operating these capabilities in accordance with this governance the use of
existing capability will be maximised and new capability optimised. This governance will be an
integral part of MOD information governance and unless a case can be made to the contrary,
defence capabilities will be required to exploit spatial data in accordance with this governance.
23. The SDI will include support for disconnected or stand-alone systems and ensure the
continued provision of paper maps and products. It will also support the dissemination of the
results of data exploitation rather than the data itself so as to relieve many users of the burden of
maintaining spatial data locally or hosting expensive, complex and often underutilised analysis
software.
24. Providers of spatial data will have greater clarity of data requirements in terms of coverage,
resolution, latency and data publication. They will expose their assured data to Defence networks,
acting as data warehouses. A connected set of repositories, whose locations will reflect proximity
to users, limitations on bandwidth, security, and requirements for reliability and resilience, will
make this spatial data available on an enterprise basis through standard web services (typically
those developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium). All data and services managed by the
repositories will be discoverable via defined metadata and appropriate tools. Over time a move to
standard network services will see a reduction in bespoke digital dissemination and functionality,

11
Although capable of legacy support.
5
December 2011
helping to standardise business process and reduce initial development costs and the future cost
of ownership.
25. Thick client and web based applications will consume these web services. These may be
provided through acquisition activities outside of the spatial domain, but all acquisition activities will
be provided with clearly defined rules and guidance that define the way in which these enterprise
services can be exploited and service level agreements will make it clear the level of service that
can be expected. However, projects may have to directly or indirectly provide resources to develop
and maintain the SDI depending upon the demands they place upon it. Projects will not be able to
transfer, to service providers, the responsibility or cost of providing a service used by only a single
capability.
26. Non-specialist users will be able to tag their information so that it can be more easily
exploited and shared in a spatial context. Where end-users are disconnected from the main
network they will be able to easily acquire packaged data from a SDI repository, limiting the need
for costly and time consuming data/information management by specialist analysts. Connected
end-users will have access to a wide range of tools and services, including the ability to share their
own spatial data layers through services that allow it to be published back to the wider enterprise
and then itself served from the repositories.
27. Challenges exist: these benefits must be achieved in the face of current operational
commitments; our approach to procurement must be able to take advantage of networked
services; and we must be able to rapidly pull through research to battlespace capability so that
Defence systems can maintain pace with the evolving expectations of users. This will require us to
focus our resources on activities that deliver optimum benefit for the investment made.
28. Improvements will not come about from a single capability programme, but from clear
leadership across a number of activities. Much of the required resource is already in place and the
improved coherence through this leadership will increase its effectiveness. The SDI will then
underpin Information Superiority and improve the effectiveness of Defence and Security through:
a. Better decisions - Wider availability of analyses of timely, coherent and consistent
spatial data integrated with other user data, information and analysis outputs will
enhance SSA and result in better decision aids.
b. Better shared understanding - The SDI will allow Defence to maximise user
access to coherent and consistent spatial data at the right place and right time in a
standardised form suitable for immediate user exploitation.
c. Better information sharing - Use of open, internationally agreed standards means
spatial data will be more easily shared and integrated for end user exploitation on a
single or collaborative basis.

6
December 2011
PART 3 – STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
29. MOD’s Spatial Data Infrastructure cannot be sufficiently strengthened through a single
capability development nor acquisition programme. This would be neither financially or technically
prudent. Rather it must be developed in a controlled process, making best use of existing resource,
capability and effort, so that it continues to be coherent with parallel defence capability
developments and consistent with Information Superiority and MODIS transition.
30. In order to achieve the vision described in this document we have identified three strategic
objectives that must be addressed by 2015:
 Provide governance that optimises the benefits of MOD’s investment.
 Deploy the enterprise services that allow Defence users to publish, discover, evaluate
and access spatial data effectively.
 Support the use of spatial data capability across the MOD acquisition community.
31. Achieving each of these objectives will ensure we have a strengthened and effective SDI
that supports future defence and security capability. However, we must also ensure the success is
sustainable into the future. Thus, our fourth strategic objective is to:
 Develop an enduring foundation for the ongoing success of MOD’s Spatial Data
Infrastructure.

“Spatial data as an enterprise resource contributing to NEC and

enhancing the delivery of military effect.”

1. Provide 2. Provide an 3. Support

governance enterprise service interoperability

4. Develop an enduring foundation

Figure 1 Our Strategic Objectives

7
December 2011
Objective 1 - Provide governance that optimises the benefits of MOD’s investment
32. Defence will have a visible approach to the governance of spatial data that provides
leadership, guidance and enforcement across the MOD enterprise.
 Implement a SDI technical authority and ensure an effective line of authority is put in
place to 2* level.
 Develop and implement a detailed plan that outlines how existing and future capabilities
will contribute.
 As part of a wider communication plan, update JSP 465 to reflect the SDI and
communicate the aims, benefits and impacts of the SDI widely.
 Broaden MOD’s requirements management process to include requirements for
services and functionality, as well as spatial data.
 Establish approaches to assure the delivery of services at an enterprise level.
33. The cross cutting nature of spatial data means the strengthening of the SDI is complex.
Defence requires an appropriate level of governance, particularly within acquisition, that sets a
clear direction, supports the provision of an enabling infrastructure and encourages cost effective,
rapid and reusable development and operation.
34. This governance must be allowed to make and enforce decisions on the evolution of the
SDI, while being answerable to top level governance. Thus, the CIO Forum (Direction and
Coherence) will provide an enterprise view that confirms spatial data as a strategic asset. The CIO
will be responsible for resolving issues between stakeholders and provide the top level governance
of the SDI.
35. The Defence Geospatial Management Board will oversee the responsibilities for the
provision of foundation geospatial information services, relying on a SDI Technical Authority to
provide day to day technical oversight and leadership. This technical authority will be formed from
a cross section of staff across the defence community. DI ICSP - JGI and Dstl will jointly chair this
authority and lead it in implementing and updating the strategy described here. In time, the
intention is for a cross Defence management board to manage all aspects of the SDI TA. A
complementary SDI implementation plan will be made available to underpin this strategy.
36. As with any change activity, communication at many levels will be vital. Relevant policy
such as the Geospatial Information Policy, JSP465 will reflect the adoption of a SDI and be part of
the wider consultation and communication activities. Regular updates of progress will be provided.
37. Previously requirements management focused on the needs for data. We must now extend
this to be able to cover the requirements for core and bespoke services and functionality. This
process must be responsive and agile.
38. As new services are delivered on an enterprise level the connection between supplier and
consumer will change. Where required, service level agreements will need to reflect this and
include the reliance on the supporting infrastructure.

8
December 2011
Objective 2 - Provide enterprise services that ensure MOD users can publish, discover,
evaluate and access spatial data effectively and securely
39. Defence will reduce the burden associated with the management of spatial data by building
on existing capability to provide an enterprise wide spatial data capability, maximising its efficient
and effective dissemination and exploitation.
 Provide a clear technical approach by publishing a technical architecture to guide
development.
 Consider the needs for physical, electronic and data security and design it into
architectures from the start.
 Deliver a spatial data registry that supports assured service publication and discovery,
drawing on the progress of successful activities to date.
 Support the future adoption of a logical data model by providing common data
dictionaries.
 Support data providers (specialist providers, front line commands and other users) in
establishing assured service delivery.
40. An endorsed technical architecture will provide a common pattern by which spatial
capability can be deployed. This must cover the fixed and deployed user and support the provision
of paper maps. This will move the SDI from a position where successful approaches are simply
being repeated to a position where defined approaches are in place that will support a future
managed system.
41. A move towards a data centric approach will require the improvement of storage facilities
across the enterprise and the provision of a single approach to the centralised management and
discovery of data and services. Spatial data across different security domains will be managed to
ensure consistency, initially through set business processes. The eventual system will be modular,
allowing for future scalability by adding additional repositories using agreed specifications at
different locations. To achieve this, the success of the existing operational and demonstration
systems will be expanded coherently.
42. As Defence moves towards a data centric approach it will need to adopt a single approach
to the way in which spatial data is stored, described and visualised to produce products. We will
work towards a future situation where a single logical data model is provided, initially by providing
the facility for the sharing and maintenance of common data dictionaries.
43. We must achieve this while Defence continues to evaluate the way in which it operates,
including its organisational structures, location of key capability and levels of resourcing.
Defence’s Specialist Geospatial Centres, for example, will not be immune to this and must,
therefore, be supported so that they are able to publish their data and services in the most effective
way possible so as to make best possible use of available resource.

9
December 2011
Objective 3 - Support interoperability across MOD acquisition and capability development
activities
44. Current and future capability will be interoperable with the enterprise services offered.
 Coordinate collaboration with key DE&S programmes and Front Line Commands,
encouraging the reuse of core spatial data services.
 Publish a clear plan for the development of standards, including the use of expert
teams to provide dedicated practical support to delivery teams.
 Foster the changes required to the acquisition process, supporting standardised
acquisition in line with a system of systems approach.
 Provide enduring test beds that support development, test, evaluation, certification and
integration.
45. As standard approaches become adopted those seeking to implement those approaches
as part of larger capability acquisition should be allowed to benefit from experience elsewhere. As
progress is made with key programmes it will be easier to replicate such success.
46. The use of common technical standards is a key stepping stone for interoperability.
Standards for spatial data and services are maturing and advances will continue to be
communicated by publishing, through JSP 465 and guidance notes, clear direction of which
standards should be used and when. Following best practice from success in the US, we will
support the use of expert teams to offer support to delivery teams using standard approaches to
assessing, demonstrating and implementing spatial data standards.
47. As the focus of acquisition moves towards a systems of systems approach, and recognising
that spatial data is a joint enabler we will ensure appropriate guidance is made available through
the SOSA rulebook, complimenting this where necessary with wider communication. The
implementation of such guidance will only be possible if programmes and capability development
are able to collaborate, demonstrate, test and accept against reference systems. Therefore, the
SDI Technical Authority will support the need for a persistent test bed, federated in nature and
building on the success of activities to date.
48. We will foster close relationships with the Defence network capability, technical and
operating authorities as success will be heavily dependent on the network. Technical approaches
will be tested to ensure that they are supportable by the network. Support arrangements will be
integrated with the Defence Single Point of Contact.

10
December 2011
Objective 4 - Develop an enduring foundation for the ongoing success of the Defence
Spatial Data Infrastructure
49. The SDI, once strengthened, will continue to be effective and able to adapt to new
challenges and opportunities.
 Establish the key roles required to support Defence’s SDI, conduct a training needs
assessment to identify gaps and develop a plan for addressing these.
 Support broader education on spatial data matters across Defence support a wider
culture change in the way spatial data is considered.
 Ensure, where necessary, the redistribution of resources for a core team that supports
the SDI Technical Authority with enhanced technical expertise, taking this expertise
from industry and academia where required.
 Ensure innovation and research can be exploited effectively alongside operational
experience.
50. SDI data and services provision will require a mix of specialist expertise. Some of this
expertise is already available but the distribution of this expertise across Defence will need to
change. The roles required to support the SDI must be identified and training and recruitment
needs must be addressed, including strategies for making the best use of industry while retaining
the ability to react quickly. A joint Training Needs Analysis will be conducted to identify the detail
skills and experience required. The output will help manage the transition over time of current
military and civilian staff expertise and skills to those needed for mature SDI data and services
provision.
51. This effort cannot be limited to training. Education will be part of the wider communication
plan, but with a long term view. Relevant teaching and study will be revised to reflect the technical
concepts and benefits of the enterprise approach described here. This will support a longer term
shift in culture required for sustained success.
52. The orchestration of data and services provision across the enterprise will require providers
and consumers to have a level of knowledge on policies, concepts, strategy, and standards as well
as the training and technical knowledge to best exploit data and services. Thus, technical expertise
must be available at the right time and in the right place to support the SDI Technical Authority. It is
not sustainable to achieve this through the ad-hoc provision of staff with other responsibilities. We
therefore seek to ensure that a core technical team is available to support the SDI Technical
Authority. This may require the redistribution of resources from existing functions.
53. Amongst other roles this core team will support and encourage innovation through
experimentation and research and development. The application independent nature of SDI data
and services, together with the flexibility due to ‘loose coupling’ of applications and services, will
encourage substantial re-use of SDI data and services. This will result in conditions that will enable
all users, including low-end users, to innovate. At the same time operational pull through from
experiences gained in the field, particularly in the Battle-space, will be encouraged through close
monitoring and liaison between the SDI community and end-users. Provision should also be made
for innovation by small and large industry partners.

11
December 2011
PART 4 – MONITORING SUCCESS
54. Strategy without the means to chart progress cannot be guided effectively. Defence must
have the means to monitor the performance of its Spatial Data Infrastructure and of assessing and
communicating the benefits of this strategy. However, not all of these benefits will be financial.
55. The impact of the strategy will be monitored in a number of ways which will develop over
the period of the strategy. Where required, benchmark statistics will be collected for 2011. An
annual SDI forum, with senior representation, will assess progress, identify challenges and report
on the benefits.

Operational benefit
56. The deployment of spatial data capability in support of operations will be closely monitored
to establish qualitative operational benefits. Those benefits will inevitably be subjective given the
difficulty in assessing what the outcomes based on old processes would have been. As the SDI
matures greater operational benefits can be expected. An annual satisfaction survey will be
conducted amongst users at the SDI forum.

Resource Savings
57. Where there are immediate resource savings, for example by rationalising the supply of OS
data to CIO and the remainder of Defence, they will be recorded.

Service utilisation
58. The monthly utilisation of services via network logs will be monitored and published
annually. While not a direct indicator of success, this provides a key management indicator.
Similarly the demand for paper map products, bespoke digital data, DVDs and hard drives by
Defence users will be monitored as the number, availability and robustness of spatial data services
increases. The number of requests for the provision of new services and functionality will also be
monitored.

Acquisition conformance
59. The number of acquisition projects requiring spatial data services will be monitored and the
level of engagement with each project and the SDI Technical Authority will be surveyed every six
months. The success of any engagement will be recorded. The key indicator will be the number of
acquisition programmes considered, by the Technical Authority, to be compliant. Also the amount
of passive support accessed will be reported, for example the number of guidance notes
downloaded.

SDI maturity
60. The overall maturity of the SDI will be assessed against a formal maturity model. An initial
assessment of Defence’s current SDI places it at level 2 “Repeatable”. By 2015 the target maturity
is level 4 “Managed”.

12
December 2011
WAY FORWARD
61. Spatial data underpins Defence activity. By adopting a consistent approach to the way in
which we manage spatial data across Defence we can improve information coherence in the
operational and business space, make best use of resources and maximise the agility of the future
capability which rely on spatial data.
62. This approach must encompass a number of capabilities across Defence, thus this strategy
has outlined Defence priorities for providing governance and for providing Defence users with the
enabling means to find and share spatial data easily. By recognising this as an issue of
interoperability it has also focused on supporting acquisition in making best use of spatial data. It
has also described how we must ensure sufficient training and experience is developed, even at a
time of limited resources. Capability, acquisition teams and users will need to recognise their role
in achieving these objectives.

13
December 2011