The original goal of the SID pioneers, the Spatial Information Committee (SICOM), was to develop an effective spatial information communication strategy extending across state and local government, industry, academia, and the wider spatial community.

There was no regular forum in South Australia for exchanging information between members of the spatial community. The idea of a regular seminar (dubbed SICOM Spatial Information Seminar) was born.

Various industry bodies have contributed to SID over the years, including SICOM, AURISA, SSI, SSSI, SIBA and BuildSA. A key to the ongoing success of SID is that the conference aims to be inclusive of all industry bodies.