Aproximación a una metodología de evaluación de la calidad de geoportales IDE

Abstract

In this article, we create a methodology for the verification of the quality of SDI geoportals, paying special attention to usability and interoperability in a broad sense, and we apply it of the SDI geoportals of America. This methodology is based on previous studies and the experience gained in the SDI team of CNIG (National Centre for Geographic Information) Spain. Until now a big attention and considerable efforts have been dedicated to stand- ardize the web services of a SDI, but we think that little attention has been paid to the geoportals and client applications exploiting those services. Therefore, it would be wise now to try to define objective criteria for the evaluation of the usability and interoperability of geoportals, in order to contribute to its optimization with technical criteria oriented to improve its general quality. We will try to define a general indicator of SDI geoportal quality defining a set of convenient individual indicators stablished as a result of the experience and knowledge of a group of experts in the field of SDIs. In this article, we inform about the results obtained applying this methodology to the main national and supranational SDI geoportals of the Americas in order to evaluate its usefulness, to identify improvement opportunities and to contribute to its optimization. Finally, we outline some conclusions trying to balance the effort and resources needed and the benefits of the possible corrective actions derived of the performed analysis. As a consequence, it would be possible to design an Action Plan prioritizing the activities with a bigger impact in the general quality of geoportals and a lower cost.