Geospatial web service applications and development in Nigeria

Geospatial web services (GWS) help users find, access, and sometimes manipulate data of interest on the web dynamically from a distributed network. GWS are designed to collect data once and update or edit it in real time. Geospatial information system (GIS) software has enabled users to view spatial data in its proper format. As a result, the interpretation of spatial data has become easy and increasingly simple to understand. Unfortunately, everyone does not have access to GIS, nor would he be able to spend the time necessary to use it efficiently. WebGIS becomes a cheap and easy way of disseminating geospatial data and processing tools. Many organizations interested to distribute maps and processing tools without time and location restriction to users. Internet technology has made its way to many government organizations as well as numerous households. The ability to get information through the internet made spatial data providers to explore the internet resources for disseminating spatial information. This paper discusses the applications and development of geospatial web services in Nigeria. The paper also reviews the history, types, general concepts and an overview of enterprise geospatial web service design and development.