Stakeholder analysis of the governance framework of a national SDI dataset–whose needs are met in the buildings and address register of the Netherlands?

National spatial data infrastructures are key to achieving the Digital Earth vision. In many cases, national datasets are integrated from local datasets created and maintained by municipalities. Examples are address, building and topographic information. Integration of local datasets may result in a dataset satisfying the needs of users of national datasets, but is it productive for those who create and maintain the data? This article presents a stakeholder analysis of the Basisregistratie Adressen en Gebouwen (BAG), a collection of base information about addresses and buildings in the Netherlands. The information is captured and maintained by municipalities and integrated into a national base register by Kadaster, the Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency of the Netherlands. The stakeholder analysis identifies organisations involved in the BAG governance framework, describes their interests, rights, ownerships and responsibilities in the BAG, and maps the relationships between them. Analysis results indicate that Kadaster and the municipalities have the highest relative importance in the governance framework of the BAG. The study reveals challenges of setting up a governance framework that maintains the delicate balance between the interests of all stakeholders. The results provide guidance for SDI role players setting up governance frameworks for national or global datasets.