A common practice in developed countries has been the establishment of data standards, fixed scales and data accuracy definition for national digital map bases. This task has normally been done by the National Mapping Agency (NMP). Lack of such organizations in most developing countries cause many problems in developing appropriate urban spatial information infrastructures. The BLIS is a good example of a stratData availability
The successful development of spatial information infrastructures in developed countries has partly been due to much of the data being available in digital form or there being a political will and financial backing to build the required datasets. However, in developing countries the situation is very different. Data are generally not available in digital form and base maps are often outdated. Even where spatial data is in digital form few results have been derived. In order to have an efficient GIS operational in developing countries it is important to start with basic data collection. This requires time which few managers either have available or are willing to commit as the benefits derived are not immediate.
egy to develop appropriate standards in a developing country