After more than a decade of designing and implementing Spatial Data Infrastructures in Europe, we need to have a critical look at what has been achieved. While mainstream ICT develops at significant pace and the World Wide Web moves towards a Geospatial Web increasingly supporting the spatial and temporal aspects of information, SDI – and thus also INSPIRE – development does not gain a similar momentum. As government-driven top-down initiatives, SDIs are based on – meanwhile – quite traditional approaches and do not leverage the full potential and flexibility of today’s technology. E.g. right now sharing spatial information is perceived as an organizational rather than an individual task. A fact, which does not reflect the culture of sharing and collaboration that is omnipresent amongst digital natives, drives the success of the social web and is a pillar for Open Government. The presentation will discuss how existing SDI implementations as well as emerging trends could form a basis for connecting geospatial information more effectively across the web.