Trinidad and Tobago today is poised on the brink of a Spatial Data Sharing
revolution. The data resources, technology, analytical and technical skills
required for successful data sharing are available in the Twin Islands. However,
views on this issue are segregated as data producers are not yet convinced as to
how sharing data would benefit themselves, their organizations, and the country
as a whole. Therefore data production continues to be done in isolation with a
great potential for data duplication and repetition of errors. Some of the major
challenges faced by the spatial community in Trinidad and Tobago today are as
follows: limited, incomplete and/or dated spatial data; lack of spatial data
availability; lack of data standards; ownership, law and policy issues; and the
reluctance to share data. The authors address these issues by extensively
reviewing NSDI literature, by looking at the NSDI implementation experiences of
other countries regionally, by attempting to assess the current status and
development direction of the TTNSDI and by determining what is preventing the
TTNSDI from moving forward.