Victorian Spatial Information Strategy
2008–2010
Victorian Spatial Council
C/- Spatial Information Infrastructure
Department of Sustainability and Environment
570 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3000
PO Box 500, East Melbourne 3002
Tel 8636 2529, 8636 2307
Fax 8636 2813
www.land.vic.gov.au/spatial
April 2008
Photos and images courtesy of Landmark Magazine.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010 iii
Contents
Chairman’s foreword iv
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 A spatially enabled victoria – A scenario for the future 4
Chapter 2 Technology and information drivers 10
Chapter 3 Spatial information in victoria – where we are today 13
Chapter 4 Strategic challenges – what do we have to do 18
Chapter 5 Responding to the challenges – our strategic direction 20
Chapter 6 Implementation 27
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010 iv
Spatial Information is at a critical turning point in its development.
• More people are using it for a wider range of purposes, including social
networking.
• Technology is changing the way we communicate with each other.
• There are new ways of thinking about ‘location’.
• Big corporate players are entering the market, and are starting to drive
standards.
At the same time, all levels of government, business and the community
face significant challenges in producing and using products and services in
environmentally and socially sustainable ways.
Spatial information has an integral part to play in developing solutions to these
challenges.
But this cannot be achieved without a framework that harnesses everyone’s skills
and expertise.
The Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008-2010 charts some of the
changes occurring in spatial information and technology, and sets out the key
challenges they pose.
For the first time, the spatial information community as a whole, led by the
Victorian Spatial Council, has played an integral role in developing the Strategy,
and we all have a part to play in its delivery.
It presents a challenging agenda, but the Council believes that the strategic
framework set out in its pages lays the foundation for fulfilling the promises that
are held out by the developments it describes.
On behalf of the Victorian Spatial Council, I commend the Victorian Spatial
Information Strategy 2008-2010 to you, and look forward to working with all
our stakeholders to realise its goals.
Olaf Hedberg
Independent Chair
Chairman’s foreword
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010 1
We are living in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world; it has
been estimated that, at today’s rate of progress, we will experience the equivalent
of 20,000 years of progress in the next 100 years.
Significant challenges exist in continuing to deliver services in an equitable way,
so that everyone benefits, and within the capacity of the environment to support
the demands being placed on it.
Responses to these issues require multi-disciplinary approaches — drawing on
science, economics, politics, history, and technology. Spatial Information can be
a unifying medium – linking solutions to location.
This Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008-2010 is responding to two sets
of influences/drivers:
• The need for environmental, economic and social responses to create and
maintain a sustainable and safe way of life — our ‘footprint’.
• The changes in the availability and use of spatial information, information
more generally, and Information Technology that can support the delivery of
these responses.
Purpose of the Strategy
Through this Strategy, the Victorian Spatial Council paints the emerging
landscape for spatial information in Victoria and sets the broad themes for
facilitating the whole spatial information community’s1
participation in that
landscape.
These themes will be the focus for engagement in 2008-2010.
This document does not set targets. The Council expects that all sectors will
develop appropriate responses during the life of the Strategy that address
prevailing circumstances, and adapt them as required.
The VSC will therefore be looking to its stakeholders and partners to develop
fuller responses to the challenges and Strategic Directions set out in this
document.
Introduction
1
In this Strategy, the term ‘spatial information community’ is used to refer to all sectors involved in spatial information – ie the
three levels of government, the private sector, utilities, academia and the professions, while ‘spatial information industry’ refers to
the private sector members of the community.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010 2
Traditionally the spatial information community has been associated with data
collection, maintenance and GIS development. The increase in technology
development during the past decade has meant that, while there are still
opportunities to improve practice, many of the issues associated with data now
have viable solutions. As such, user demand has shifted to seeking improved
services and delivery tools.
This will be achieved by creating an environment so that we can:
• Locate people, places, services, businesses and points of interest
• Connect systems, services, businesses, partnerships and link with other
industries
• Deliver quality services, standards, frameworks and what users want.
Audience
The strategy is aimed at anyone currently using and developing spatial
information, or with an interest in it, whether in the traditional spatial
information community, or others throughout all levels of government,
the private sector, utilities, academia, the professions and the community.
Why this Strategy will be different to its predecessors
VSIS 2008-2010 is the first of Victoria’s spatial information strategies to
be developed by the Victorian Spatial Council for the industry as a whole.
Victoria’s earlier spatial information strategies focused on articulating and
putting in place the framework for spatial data.2
This Strategy uses that
framework as the foundation for Victoria’s approach to managing spatial data
and turns the attention to the drivers and impacts of changes in the way spatial
information is being delivered and used, whether as products and/or services,
and the strategic and policy requirements for addressing them.
We are in effect moving away from a focus on data to information — from
producers to users and the creation of a spatial information infrastructure.
At the same time, this Strategy considers that spatial information should be seen
as part of the wider information resource created by and available to society.
Another way of putting this is that we are seeking to promote the potential of
‘organising information spatially’.
By seeking to add ‘spatial capacity’ to ordinary information, we will have a
significant opportunity to expand its reach to non-traditional users.
What do we mean by ‘spatial information’?
In this Strategy, the terms ‘spatial data’, and ‘spatial information’ are used in
particular contexts.
‘Data’ has been used to refer to the basic symbols that represent geographic
location, whether on, above or below the surface of the earth, eg property,
address or road centreline.
2
The elements of the Framework can be read in the Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2004-2007. A new Framework
document and manual is in preparation and will be available on www.land.vic.gov.au by mid 2008.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010 3
‘Information’ is used to refer to the results of combining these units of data
to give meaning through the relationships between them – in the way that
topographic maps are comprised of multiple layers of separate units of data.
In all cases, they comprise both the terrestrial and marine environments.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 1 A Spatially Enabled Victoria 4
Our relationships with our physical world and the way we use our social
networks are changing as we deploy technology in new ways to create new ways
of interacting with each other.
Spatial information and technologies are key tools in this transformation
because we define our relationships by place.
The ‘spatial enablement’ that these tools create can reshape our lives.
But how it does that will be up to us. It can happen by design or by accident; we
can be the agents of change, or find the changes imposed on us by others.
Until only a decade ago, spatial information was focused on mapping and the
cadastre, and within a specialist community that valued standards, verification
and authenticity.
However, bandwidth, computer power, and information creation are growing
exponentially and are becoming pervasive, with little regard for such traditions.
Many of the advances in spatial products and services are coming from non
traditional players. Consequently, if the thinking about the spatial future of
Victoria and the frameworks created to facilitate it are confined to the specialist
spatial community in both the public and private sectors, it is more likely that
the our future will be defined by these non-traditional players.
Big industry players can drive the creation of global standards as they source
inputs for new spatial products. Alternatively, in the push to put their new
products on the market, they can choose to use ‘what is good enough’, and let
the resulting take up by consumers stimulate improvements to quality.
‘Spatially Enabled Victoria’ –
A scenario for the future1
Docklands 3D visualisation
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 1 A Spatially Enabled Victoria 5
On the other side of the coin, communities of interest are setting up their own
development projects using open source approaches, and are stimulating new
uses of spatial information while at the same time setting their own quality
requirements.
These shifts are so profound that it will require us to rethink our ideas about
where ‘authoritativeness’ resides. More broadly, they will drive a rethink and
reengineering of many public and private goods and services
These developments are not likely to slow down, but without the tools to
properly organise the resulting information explosion, there will be greater
information management costs — with systems that don’t talk to each other, this
growth is becoming detrimental to service delivery.
In response, an ‘information management class’ has been created, but with the
consequence that the quantity and quality of information available to those
with the responsibility for delivering these services can be controlled and even
limited.
Therefore, until appropriate integrating frameworks and technologies are put in
place, the promises of these technologies will not be realised.
As spatial enablement reshapes our lives there is an urgent need for leaders to
elevate their understanding. This will require a substantial investment in digital
literacy.
The possibilities provided by spatial enablement
The range of activities in both the public and private sectors that are creating
spatial enablement is growing. Spatial enablement can also contribute to dealing
with the challenges we face as a society. At the same time, however, it brings its
own challenges.
Expanding government services — ‘consultation & participation’
Spatial enablement has a significant role in the development of online
mechanisms for delivering services and engaging with the community, such as
e-Government.
This includes the use of location based information and unambiguous
identifiers such as Address to assess the demand for government services, as
well as the nature and delivery of such services.
On the other hand, the increased volume of remote transactions breaks the
traditional link with local knowledge, some of which can be replaced through
‘virtual local knowledge’, with technologies like ‘sticky shadows’ that can be
accessed by mobile and navigation devices.
Policy & Administration
Spatial enablement can radically reduce costs of information distribution,
oversight and compliance. Consistent use of spatial technologies could see the
cost of delivering government services decline.
But the challenges in doing so should not be underestimated: inconsistencies
in policy frameworks, within and between organisations, between levels of
government, and between public and private, are creating a divide between what
is needed and what can be possible from using spatial technologies.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 1 A Spatially Enabled Victoria 6
Public Safety
Significant advances have been made in using spatial information in responding
to emergency and security incidents, and that show that integrated approaches
to using spatial information and technologies enable more efficient emergency
services.
But these advances have been piecemeal.
Prompt and appropriate responses to emergencies, and planning and decision
making associated with the recovery afterwards, depend on spatial information,
such as:
• the geographic extent and features (residences, roads, watercourses, and
topography) of the impact zone
• the characteristics of populations affected (which can be documented in real
time with remote GPS-capable PDAs)
• the nature and use or potential use of facilities in affected areas for
emergency response
In the aftermath of the 2002-03 Victorian Bushfires, the critical nature of
spatial information for all aspects of emergency management — preparedness,
response, mitigation and prevention — was singled out in the subsequent
Inquiry by the Emergency Services Commissioner.
Utilities
Utility companies have been early adopters of spatial technologies, and have
played a major role in developing key spatial infrastructures, such as the
positioning network.
On the other hand, they don’t always work together to realise their potential.
A closer dialogue between utilities, and between utilities and all levels of
government, to design new initiatives, such as smart metering, will be essential.
Health
The use of spatial technologies to reduce administration costs and effort, and
redirect resources to delivering services such as health and education is now
possible.
As the population ages and we live longer, our health and our access to health
services is becoming critically important.
Spatial information technology is increasingly being applied to the management
of health care, with ‘location’ as a key element. It enables remote monitoring
and remote specialist intervention. It helps prevent errors in the prescription of
drugs; the tracking of patient movements within and between medical facilities;
and the location or monitoring of the movement of assets and equipment.
At a public health level, spatial information helps us to understand the
relationships between disease and location; the effect of the environment
on health; the location of health services; the take up of those services; and
investigations about the incidence of disease.
Sustainability and our environmental footprint
Environmental issues form a critical backdrop to other decisions about the
economy and society. Spatial enablement is already beginning to play a key role
in confronting climate change, water security, energy, air quality, food security
and soil resilience, excess and waste, population, and contagions.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 1 A Spatially Enabled Victoria 7
Spatial technologies and information will play a vital role in detection,
quantification, decision making support and monitoring.
The potential for these spatial technologies can be seen in new approaches being
adopted in the way we manage and value land and the impact of our activities
on that land. Such potential includes:
• Improving crop yields and reducing soil erosion and water losses through use
of GPS and wireless technologies to manage farming inputs and yields at very
precise intervals
• Applying economic methodologies in valuing the services provided by
ecosystems. For example, the Victorian Government is working with the
Australian Bureau of Statistics to develop environmental accounts that report
how much water, energy and materials are used to produce the goods and
services we consume3
• Economic approaches are also being used to better understand the
relationship between environmental resources and land use by creating
markets that give land owners incentive to invest in environmentally sound
practices. These markets are in part based on spatial information that
facilitates the modeling and visualization of the effects of land use change in
geographic regions.
Opportunities are likely to emerge for these techniques to be applied in the
development of water rights, and carbon and emissions markets
• The emergence of sensor networks such as those of the CSIRO’s ‘Farming
2020’, which aims to create wireless networks capable of monitoring land
quality and the tracking of livestock.
Our place
People identify with a ‘place’ — where they were born, where they live and
work, and the community they share with others.
Spatial information is a key resource in describing the characteristics of ‘place’,
or defining ‘service catchment areas’. It can be used to support the planning and
delivery of services by providing a clear picture of where changes are occurring.
Spatial enablement can also reinforce technology’s contribution in shifting
power from the provider to the user at a time and place of their choice. People
have greater choice in determining how goods and services are delivered to
them and how to access many of the specialist services they require.
Land Administration
Land administration is the longest established use of spatial information, with
the fundamental tools being property registration, land surveying, and cadastral
mapping. It is integral to the smooth operation of the economy through the
guarantees it can provide to security of tenure and exchange of land via the
property market.
Land information is evolving from the traditional concept of owner/parcel/
property to dealing with highly active variables such as time, interest, value,
price, purpose, use, taxation, and rights and restrictions on land, to the
development of new registers such as those managing water rights.
3
Action 4: ‘healthy and productive land’, Our Environment Our Future Sustainability Action Statement, 2006
Spatial data as a tool for analysis
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 1 A Spatially Enabled Victoria 8
The economics of production
The use of robotics, RFIDs, GPS and the like facilitate a level of tracking of
people and goods at previously unthinkable levels of precision. It could enable
‘whole of life management’ in ways that were never possible before, but will also
bring challenges in dealing with the privacy and security of individuals.
As more information is incorporated into ‘dumb things’, the standards that
enable them to network and be verified become increasingly important.
Consumption and choice
More and more people are buying houses, finding jobs, and making
investments, as well as buying day to day items, through the use of information
devices (computers, PDAs, mobile phones).
Spatial enablement will enable them to go further, by allowing them to
understand where they are, where they want to be and who they want to be with
— creating virtual communities.
Possible futures
The examples described above are an illustration of the many possibilities of
spatial enablement.
They will be realisable if the public and private sectors understand the critical
nature of their involvement and take the actions required to achieve them.
To be able to harness the amount of information being created and use it
innovatively, we need a systems or network based approach that allows us to
make the connections necessary to capitalise on the skills and ideas of the whole
spatial community.
The critical questions will be:
• Who will invest in creating these frameworks and integrating services?
• Whose world view will be the ‘town plan’ for our future Victoria?
• Who will take a leadership role — government or the private sector?
What might spatial enablement in 2010 look like?
Four scenarios of the effects of different levels of private and public sector
engagement, based on our response to these three questions, are sketched below.
High public sector–low private sector engagement
In 2010, the public sector is dominant and engages the private sector only in
limited ways. Government focuses on a narrow range of concerns — security,
environment, land management — creating a patchwork of activity, and
entering into partnerships with only a few private sector companies.
There is no uniformity of approach.
The private sector goes its own way and creates its own standards; enablers such
as bandwidth and wireless access stay proprietorial.
Government fails to create the legal and regulatory environment that will enable
the private sector to become involved; as a result, development of new products
and services will be difficult.
The overall cost of State and local government services remains high.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 1 A Spatially Enabled Victoria 9
Low public sector–low private sector engagement
By 2010, there has been no investment in the frameworks and integrating
services necessary to manage the creation and availability of information. The
continually expanding volumes of information drown established systems and
administrative costs keep on growing as we try to manage them.
The information needed to reduce the environmental footprint cannot be
harnessed in a timely manner.
Development of information resources and systems to manage them remains
fragmented (agencies only trust what they have created themselves) and
government isn’t able to provide a useful authenticity and verification role.
Competitiveness and productivity decline — affecting quality of life.
We are not a knowledge community.
Low public sector–high private sector engagement
Under this scenario, in 2010 the government’s investment in spatial technologies
has not advanced. It fails to understand and resists the deployment of new
technologies (which challenge current interests). It has lost its leadership in
developing spatial products and services because the private sector can move at
a greater scale and speed to deliver new offerings.
The private sector cherry picks what is most profitable and can deliver services
at a lower cost than the public sector — most of which they keep as profits.
As the larger corporations play a greater role, they create the landscape for the
rest of the spatial community — which, over time, will become increasingly
homogenous.
High public sector–high private sector
In 2010, the public and private sectors are working together to implement
frameworks, standards and methods of verification; and they have created
clusters to build the critical integrating technologies.
Policies, legal and regulatory frameworks have been brought into the 21st
century.
State and Local Government are putting programs in place to use the
technologies and facilitate a shift in cost from administration to delivery.
Innovation is based on ‘systems’ or ‘network’ based designs.
This should be our target scenario.
So what future will we create, and how much influence will we have in shaping it?
This Strategy sets out the approach required to achieve the target of all sectors
being highly engaged and working together.
If we do not create such an environment, and there is no plan and no standards,
the risks are that the value and benefits of spatial information will continue
to be visible to and taken up by only a few; there will continue to be rapid
development and deployment of new services and products but they will not be
capable of being integrated, with the result that information and administrative
costs will continue to grow; and our capacity to create a spatially enabled society
will be reduced.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 2 Techology and information drivers 10
Technology and information drivers
2
The way in which spatial information is being delivered and presented is rapidly
developing and is changing people’s perceptions and expectations about what it
can do.
Achieving our chosen scenario will therefore also be influenced by the
developments in technology and application of spatial information.
Three technology ‘convergences’ are creating new uses and markets for spatial data:
1. Creation of new products and services based on personal information
appliance connectivity (eg mobile phones, GPS units), digital knowledge
management and electronic commerce through the associations between
content, telecommunications, information technology, and consumer
electronics
2. The synergistic combination of nanoscience and nanotechnology;
biotechnology and biomedicine; information technology; and cognitive science
3. The convergence of GIS, GPS, remote sensing technologies, mapping, and
other capabilities to create ‘location-based services’.
They are being driven by five forces:
• The digitising and instant availability of content
• The demand for, and emerging establishment of, dominant global interfaces
providing the ability to build interconnection and interoperation between
information industry products and systems
• The race between commercial corporations to dominate standards
Mobile technology in use
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 2 Techology and information drivers 11
• Delivery of dramatically increased functionality into ever smaller devices
• The driving down of price arising from new communications technology
and rapid deregulation of the global telecommunications industry and the
consequent growth of digital bandwidth.
Spatial Information is being applied in an increasingly diverse range of
activities, and new challenges to increase the range of spatial information
available via the internet are emerging from the entry of major companies into
the market.
At the same time, it can increasingly be incorporated into the business
environment by utilising web services to link to authoritative sources of data
and make it available to anyone who has access to a PC and the internet.
Radio Frequency IDs, sensor networks, commoditisation, the novel uses of
spatial information, the ‘participatory web’, and the Semantic web are just some
of the developments occurring that will impact on the development of Victoria’s
spatial information community in the next three years.
Eight examples, out of many potential possibilities, are provided below.
The advent of Radio Frequency IDs, sensor networks, intelligent objects and
WiFi is changing the way in which we think about ‘location’.
RFIDs, sensors and other ‘intelligent’ devices, and WiFi provide the capacity
to manage by location by identifying who or what the object is, where it is
(location), when it is (time) and what its circumstances are (condition). It will
eventually be possible to uniquely identify every non-trivial asset or object
in the environment and have them create, disseminate, receive and act upon
information; as well as being able to map them in real-time.
As the spatial information industry matures we can expect to see greater
commoditisation and standardisation.
Commoditisation and standardisation of the key spatial information inputs
mean that opportunities for innovation will come from differentiation and
developing new services.
There is also a rapidly growing interest in using open standards to break
the dependence on vendors’ product development cycles and licensing
arrangements.
Open source approaches to product development are widening the
opportunities for innovation through collaboration.
Open source approaches are giving effect to notions of collaboration,
cooperation, sharing, and increasing the diversity of ideas and perspectives
available to developing innovations or solving problems.
However, they will be most effective if some form of management function
is incorporated in them (perhaps provided by the participants themselves) to
undertake the role of verifying contributions and providing quality control.
Spatial information is being used in many different, and sometimes novel, ways.
The advent of internet sites such as Google Earth, Google Maps, Microsoft
Virtual Earth, GeoCommons, and social networking sites, are popularising
spatial information and extending the uses to which it is being put. Such open
and participatory approaches illustrate the potential for dramatically altering
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 2 Techology and information drivers 12
the way traditional providers acquire, manage, maintain and disseminate spatial
data and information.
The advent of the ‘participatory web’ means that all levels of government,
utilities, the community and the private sector can become co-producers of
spatial information.
As the demand for quality drives the cost of delivering spatial information, there
will be challenges for providers to keep pace with users’ requirements as reliance
on spatial data grows as its use becomes more widespread. Web 2.0, ‘collective
intelligence’ and ‘neogeography’ may provide new opportunities to bridge the
resourcing gap.
The Semantic Web will facilitate the discovery and use of vast amounts of data.
The Semantic Web is the development of rules and systems that enable
computers to search for data from a range of disparate sources and defined in
different languages, read it, query it, classify it and extract it for use.
Technological developments are providing the capacity to deliver greater
volumes of data and facilitate greater processing capacity. This is putting it
closer to users, wherever they are.
With advances in technical power and information management practices that
provide the potential for storing, integrating, analysing and delivering larger
amounts of data, a greater range of users are now finding spatial information
within their reach. As a result, we can expect the demand for immediately
available and accurate spatial information to continue to increase.
There are greater demands being placed on data content — its availability, its
accuracy, its quality — as more people are able to access it.
Because people are increasingly acquiring the technology that can deliver data
directly to them, the pressure is on custodians to maintain quality and supply
the content for new applications. The gap between the existing quality of spatial
data and that required by users has the potential to widen as reliance on it
grows, and as it becomes increasingly applied in automated systems (such as
emergency response).
Techonolgy is enabling the use
and capture of spatial information
on location
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 3 Spatial information in Victoria — where we are today 13
Spatial information in Victoria –
where we are today3
Victoria’s Spatial Information Management Framework
Spatial Information Strategies have been developed in Victoria since 1993. In
the 15 years since then, an information management framework has evolved
based on a key set of principles to ensure spatial data is available, accessible and
useable.
Today that framework has matured to the extent that it is now possible to define
a set of core principles for spatial information management.
1993
Core spatial information identified.
Government-wide planning methodology introduced.
1997–2000
Core data improved.
Spatial management framework put in place – policy,
infrastructure, awareness, distribution, business systems.
Core principles for managing spatial information introduced
– metadata, quality management, privacy, liability, licensing,
pricing, custodianship.
Coordinating and cooperative arrangements between key
stakeholders established.
2000–2003
Spatial information management principles further codified.
Introduction of the concepts of ‘framework’ and ‘business’
information.
Role of custodians defined.
Framework datasets identified and custodians assigned.
2004–2007
Best practice principles for spatial information management
extended to custodians of all spatial datasets.
Custodianship formally identified as the basis for spatial
information management.
Holistic spatial information management framework defined.
Victorian Spatial Council established.
Evolution of Victoria’s spatial information management framework
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 3 Spatial information in Victoria — where we are today 14
The framework is critical to the successful application of spatial information in
mainstream business activities – all such development should be underpinned
by a sound management approach that guarantees that spatial information is
available and can be used.
Victoria’s Spatial Information Management Framework provides an enduring
set of requirements for establishing and retaining a consistent approach to
managing spatial information across the entire spatial information community.
They represent a ‘best practice’ approach for Victoria.
Components of the Framework
The Framework provides a holistic approach to managing spatial information in
Victoria, encompassing the:
1. institutional arrangements for developing spatial information;
2. requirements for creating and maintaining spatial information;
3. mechanisms for making spatial information accessible and available; and
4. strategic development of technology and applications.
It allows for the management of these elements in an integrated way to provide
an environment for the effective use of spatial information.
The Framework is based on 11 core elements:
• governance
• custodianship
• framework information
• business information
• data quality
• metadata
• awareness
• access
• pricing and licensing
• privacy
• strategic development of technology
and applications
The focus for implementation of the Framework is the custodian of spatial
information — a distributed network of custodians who retain full control
of their respective datasets and commit to managing them and making them
available according to the principles set out in the Framework.
A Spatial Data Infrastructure for Victoria
Together, the elements of the Framework create a Spatial Data Infrastructure for
Victoria.
SDI elements (as defined by VSIS 2004-07) Victoria’s Framework components
Institutional arrangements for developing
spatial information
Governance,
Custodianship
Requirements for creating and maintaining
spatial information
Framework and Business Information,
Data Quality
Mechanisms for making spatial information accessible
and available
Metadata, Awareness, Access,
Pricing and Licensing, Privacy
Strategic development of technology and applications Technology and applications
Victoria’s Spatial Data Infrastructure
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 3 Spatial information in Victoria — where we are today 15
Collaborative arrangements
Since 2004, strategic and policy development for Victoria’s spatial information
community has been based on a truly collaborative approach between all three
levels of government, utilities, the private sector, academia and professional
bodies.
This collaboration takes a number of forms:
• a governance model that embodies cooperation and collaboration between
all sectors
• each sector having a particular role to play in contributing to the
development of spatial information
• commitment to a consistent information management approach by data
custodians in all sectors.
These efforts are led by the Victorian Spatial Council, which facilitates
opportunities for a greater strategic focus on spatial information development
through partnership building, collaboration, cooperation and education.
The Victorian Spatial Information Industry
Victoria’s private sector spatial information industry has the following
characteristics:
Total number of SI businesses 223
Total Revenue $410 million
Total Full Time Equivalent Staff 5,570
Total value of work outside Victoria $143 million
Types of services provided • data collection and measurement
including surveying and remote
sensing
• data management including data
storage, curation and distribution
• sale and supply of specialised
hardware and software
• systems development and
application including information
analysis
• sales of specialist data and
information
• consulting services including
planning, specialist analysis, project
management, specialist recruitment
and technical services
• data information and presentation
development of maps both
hardcopy, digital and online
Victoria’s Spatial Information Industry – 20054
4
Victorian Spatial Information Industry Census, October 2005, www.asiba.com.au. These figures do not include Government.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 3 Spatial information in Victoria — where we are today 16
Businesses vary in size from single person operations, to companies with
over 200 employees. Companies whose sole activity is spatial information are
generally those classified as Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs); the larger
businesses incorporate other activities into their overall operations, with spatial
information being just one part.
Government — both State and Local, the utilities (eg power, gas, water) and
academia are also major players in the wider Victorian spatial information
community. State and Local Government and utilities in particular have spent
many millions of dollars in the last 20 years creating spatial data and systems
and investing in hardware and software; and they continue to do so.
Government is also a key player in the setting of standards, frameworks and
policies for spatial information, while academia is a driver for research.
Victoria’s ICT industry
Victoria is a major player in the Australian Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) industry. In 2005, it made up one-third of the national
industry, had revenue in excess of $20 billion and annual exports worth
$1 billion, and employed 71,000 people.
Development of IT and spatial information
Victoria’s spatial information industry is being stimulated by developments in
ICT more generally.
The diagram on page 17 illustrates some of the key milestones in the past two
decades that are bringing spatial information and ICT ever closer together.
The national spatial information environment
Many of the challenges and opportunities outlined in this Strategy have
no borders — they are equally faced by our counterparts in the States and
Territories and nationally.
Through the forums provided by national bodies such as ANZLIC, NSIM,
ASIBA, PSMA Australia, ICSM, the SSI, the CRC-SI and others, we have the
opportunity to develop national solutions to the challenges we face, and create
national initiatives that serve the entire population and nurture a national
spatial information community.
One of the objectives of this Strategy therefore must be to work within the
framework provided by these national activities.
Real-time capture of spatial
information
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 3 Spatial information in Victoria — where we are today 17
Spatial
GIS becomes
commercially viable
Little compatability
between products
High competition
between major
vendors
Mapping the domain
of surveyors,
predominantly land
users
Widespread use of
CAD systems
Begin automation
of surveying
techniques
GPS becomes a tool
for common use
Mapping starts to
be used for policy
and business
decision making
GPS used for
survey accurate
measurements
Increased
demand by
consumers
for mapping
information and
location based
services via the
internet
Navigation
Software and
public GPS usage
OCG
Google Earth, Microsoft
Virtual Earth
Push for nonproprietary
software
High demand by
consumers for mapping
information and
location based services
via the Internet
Distributed
custodianship models
???
???
Web 2.0
June 2007 — 1.133
billion people use the
internet
Peering
Facebook
3G
Mash-ups
Web 1.0
Wikipedia (2001)
Google Search
Uptake of online
shopping,
communication,
entertainment,
banking etc
Rise of Open
Source and Open
Standards
Remote Access
Peering
Streaming Media
Broadband
Wireless
Blogging
Metadata,
Awareness, Access,
Pricing and
Licensing, Privacy
Technology and
applications
Information
Technology
Strategic
development of
technology and
applications
Evolution of Information Technology and Spatial Information
1980s
1990s
2000
2005
2010–
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 4 Strategic challenges — what do we have to do? 18
Strategic challenges – what do we
have to do?4
In the next three years, the Victorian Spatial Council and its partners and
stakeholders will need to meet six key challenges.
1. Continue to strive to get the foundations right
Maintaining and developing the underpinning land administration system
(land registry, cadastre, surveying), while integrating other fundamental data
to support land management and decisions about land use for sustainable
development (economic, social, environmental, governance).
Managing address information to support service delivery — because this
is where people are. Digital systems rely on unambiguous identifiers such as
address.
Raising awareness about and understanding of the role of spatial information as
an enabler.
Maintaining a consistent approach to the management of spatial information to
support its use and exchange.
2. Continue to ensure accessible and maintained data
Having a robust information management framework, ensuring data is fit
for purpose (including quality and accuracy), discoverable, accessible, and
available; that people are aware of it; and that it can be integrated from various
sources (whether within and between organisations, states and nations).
Meeting and keeping pace with users’ requirements for quality in spatial data.
‘Victoria 2010’ faces many Spatial
challenges
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 4 Strategic challenges — what do we have to do? 19
Participatory models such as those offered by Web 2.0 technology are being
considered as a way to address such issues and to encourage greater engagement
with data users.
3. Being adaptable in the face of rapid change and able to respond
to new developments
The range of uses to which spatial information is being put and the ways in
which it is accessible are increasing. Are we in a position to respond to and take
advantage of such developments?
Meeting the challenges posed by competition from large corporations by
maximising our strengths and encouraging strategic collaboration.
4. Building a culture of sharing
The ongoing search for ways to encourage data managers to release their data to
wider audiences.
Creating an environment that encourages opportunities for partnerships
between all levels of government, utilities, business, academia, the professions
and community groups.
Having an open source infrastructure that can form the basis for developing
new products and services.
Being able to deal with copyright and liability issues in a way that encourages
the release of data for use.
5. Addressing the skills shortage
Who is going to be the next generation of the spatial industry?
What skills will they need to have? Do we need people who are multidisciplinary
and to be able to think strategically, and develop appropriate
solutions?
How specialised will spatial information be in the future?
Can we harness the potential of partnerships, both inside and outside
traditional spatial information organisations, to widen the pool of skills
available?
6. Retaining relevant institutional arrangements
What is the appropriate governance model for spatial information in Victoria?
How will cooperation and collaboration take place?
Establishing the right ‘frameworks’ for a flourishing spatial community – with
members who have an incentive to participate, supported by enabling principles
and operational rules that underpin the spatial information, facilitate sharing it,
and support innovative developments based on that information.
Using spatial information in
collaboration and planning
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 5 Responding to the challenges — our strategic direction 20
Responding to the challenges —
our strategic direction5
In responding to the drivers and challenges described in the preceding
chapters, this Strategy establishes four strategic directions that need to be
pursued to establish a ‘spatially enabled Victoria’:
1. Creating a framework in which the use of spatial information can flourish
2. Adopting an inclusive approach to the management of spatial information
3. Developing the spatial information community through collaboration
and partnerships
4. Maintaining the foundations for Spatial Information Management.
The first focuses on the accessibility of spatial information, the development of
applications and services based on it, and its use.
The second encourages new approaches to maintaining the quality and currency
of spatial information by harnessing the skills and expertise of users and
communities of interest to share in the updating and maintenance cycle.
The third recognises that growth in the spatial information community will
come through the combination of individual strengths through collaboration
and partnerships.
The fourth ensures that the key input, ie spatial data, is being managed and
made available in a way that facilitates and encourages use.
Each of these four strategic directions is integrated with all of the others.
The success of the Strategy as a whole is based on the delivery of each of these
directions, together and separately.
As a result, participation of all sectors of the spatial information community,
through partnerships and other relationships, will be critical.
Creating a framework in which the development and use of spatial
information can flourish
Victoria has a valuable resource in its spatial data and infrastructures. This value
lies in users’ ability to access it, and as a key input into value added products and
services. The key principles for access are that it should be simple and effective.
Access is underpinned by ‘discoverability’ (being able to find it), standards, and
availability of data.
It will be guaranteed by a framework (a set of rules, principles and structures)
that supports the participation of all members of the spatial information
community, promulgates appropriate standards for data and technology, and
establishes mechanisms for delivering and sharing spatial data.
Collecting spatial information
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 5 Responding to the challenges — our strategic direction 21
Through such a framework, this Strategy will create an environment in which
all participants in the spatial information community (as well as users of
spatial data) will be able to benefit from the opportunities provided by spatial
information.
Victoria’s framework will incorporate:
• Standards
• A clear articulation of the roles of all sectors
• A Whole of Victorian Government approach to data management, delivery,
sharing and access
• Legislation that will stipulate requirements and establish best practice for
delivering spatial data
Standards
Standards exist in two contexts. They give certainty to users and to custodians
who are releasing their data by reinforcing quality in data and technology. (This
will be supported by Strategic Direction 4 — Maintaining the foundations for
Spatial Information Management.)
And they provide the means for developing interoperability between data
repositories, access services, integrative services (such as web mapping) and
user interfaces or presentation layers (eg browsers). A range of standards now
exist that support such connections — XML, SOAP, GML, WMS, etc.
Standards are also drivers for innovation.
Under this Strategy the use and development of standards should support users
by being
• based on open sources and independent of technology vendors
• consistent with those developed nationally and internationally
• developed in consultation with users (as part of the responsibilities of
custodians)
Government is the appropriate sector to lead development of standards. In
the short term, it should identify and endorse or ratify appropriate existing
standards for application in Victoria.
Where standards do not exist, or there are gaps in existing standards, the State
Government should engage with the rest of the spatial information community
and lead the development or improvement of standards or lobby the appropriate
standards bodies to have them developed.
Sectoral roles
Under the participatory model established for the spatial information
community in Victoria, each sector has a role to play.
• Government’s primary role is to establish policies, standards, the
management framework and principles, manage and provide fundamental
data, and support development of new products by the private sector
• The Private Sector develops value added products and services, develops
markets, promotes new products, undertakes R&D, and manages its data
according to the spatial information management framework
• Academia’s key role is to provide education, and undertake R&D.
Under this Strategy Government (including State and Local, where appropriate),
the private sector (including utilities) and academia will have the following roles.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 5 Responding to the challenges — our strategic direction 22
Government Private sector Academia
Research and
Development
Direct R&D with the objective of
increasing benefits to end users;
encourage private sector and client
R&D, particularly in partnership
with research being undertaken by
academia; engage academia for
research, and seek advice from the
private sector and academia to guide
R&D directions.
Undertake R&D.
Develop new products and services based
on R&D.
Provide fundamental and
applied research.
Policy
development
Lead policy development. Input directly to government policy. Input to government policy.
Capacity
building
Play important roles in training
and building capacity of spatial
information professionals and users.
Play important roles in training and
building capacity of spatial information
professionals and users.
Play the central role in
education, research,
training and building
the capacity of spatial
information professionals.
Data
capture and
maintenance
Develop, maintain and be custodians
of framework information and
business information.
Seek data capture and maintenance
opportunities from government where
appropriate.
Develop, maintain and be custodians of
business information.
Contribute to setting the
direction for data capture
and maintenance through
fundamental and applied
research.
Access Provide access to spatial information
and services, subject to privacy,
confidentiality, licensing and pricing
policies.
Access government spatial information
and services, subject to its privacy,
confidentiality, licensing and pricing
policies.
Provide access to spatial information,
subject to privacy, confidentiality, licensing
and pricing policies
Access government spatial
information, subject to its
privacy, confidentiality,
licensing and pricing
policies.
Pricing Set policy for the pricing of its spatial
information and services.
Price spatial information products and
services it produces.
Contribute to the setting of
price through fundamental
and applied research, and
through education.
Distribution Perform the role of ‘wholesale’
distributor to private sector, only
undertaking other types of distribution
where the private sector is unable
or unwilling to distribute. Seed new
distribution content or models, prior to
take-up by the private sector.
Associated with distribution provide
base level discovery capability via the
VSDD5
; maintain competitive neutrality
and discourage monopolies; and
implement privacy and intellectual
property policy.
Act as DSPs by linking government
‘wholesale’ outlets with a range of other
sources, assembling comprehensive
clearinghouses, and providing data
provision services. DSP clearinghouses
may be accessed from the VSDD.
Act as VARs, complementing the DSP
network by providing additional new and
derived products (VARs may only distribute
their own products, not government data).
VARs may use DSP clearinghouses to
maximise product visibility.
Academia is not
considered a distributor of
spatial information.
Value adding Provide opportunities for value-adding
to the private sector.
As DSPs, add value to government
framework and business information
through data provision services for
licensed end users, actively seek new
licensed users, brand products and
processes (Government IP rights to
the base data are unchanged by DSP
processes) and act for VARs.
As VARs, add value to government
framework and business information by
enhancing, integrating, and developing
new/derived products and services.
Contribute to setting the
direction for value adding
and product and service
development through
research.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 5 Responding to the challenges — our strategic direction 23
Whole of Victorian Government approach to data sharing and access
Government is a critical player in achieving this Strategy’s directions as it is a
key source for spatial data. However, its agencies tend to operate autonomously
and develop significant datasets and solutions independently of their
counterparts in other agencies, often resulting in duplication and the potential
for incompatibility.
VSIS 2004-07 was based on commitment to a series of information management
and custodianship principles; development of programs within the framework;
and integration of spatial information into business systems.
This Strategy will take that commitment a step further by seeking to enshrine
the notion of Government acting as a single entity and establishing standardised
approaches and principles that encourage the availability and release of its data,
while at the same time supporting agencies’ own needs for spatial information.
The new technologies for disseminating data via the internet should make such
an approach more feasible.
This approach should incorporate:
• distributed custodianship of data
• adoption of core standards
• a standard architecture
• interoperability
• arrangements for making data accessible, including a standard approach to
licensing, while recognizing appropriate restrictions on availability
• cooperation
• a coordinating mechanism to drive the strategic direction and support
participants
• pooling resources where possible to maximise development potential
These activities should be undertaken in conjunction with the implementation
of Strategic Direction 4 — Maintaining the foundations for Spatial Information
Management.
Legislation
Requirements for creating, notifying and managing information are set out
in a range of separate pieces of legislation. Many of these requirements were
established long before the introduction of computers and the widespread use of
digital technology.
There is now a need to address the coordination and integration of the whole
spatial information environment, to simplify and streamline the provision and
management of spatial information and ensure it is accessible and useable.
This can be achieved by consolidating the relevant clauses in legislation into a
single Act.
Under this Strategy, an Information Management Act should be developed to
modernise the management regime for information, including assigning roles
and responsibilities for the creation and notification of data, data exchange
and supply.
5
(From page 22) VSDD – Victorian Spatial Data Directory; DSP – Data Service Provider; VAR – Value Added Reseller. There
are two categories of Data Service Providers. ‘Resellers’: DSPs who are licensed to on-sell Vicmap and other available government
spatial data in its raw or basically unchanged state. ‘Value Added Resellers’: DSPs with specialist applications that have Vicmap and
other government spatial data integrated within products and services.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 5 Responding to the challenges — our strategic direction 24
Adopting an inclusive approach to the management of spatial
information
The management of Victoria’s core spatial information already relies on a range
of partnerships and relationships between agencies across all three levels of
government, the private sector and utilities. For example, local government and
Land Victoria are critical to property/cadastral data; purchase partners support
the development of imagery; there are multiple custodians of the various layers
of the topographic products.
At the same time, the technology that is making it easier to deliver data is also
enabling contributions to the updating and maintaining of that data to be
extended to ‘volunteers’ – interested parties in the community such as walking
and driving clubs, and CFA volunteers.
Opening the data maintenance cycle could provide a means for filling the gaps
left by government — the demands on data content providers mean that they
are not always in a position to keep up with users’ expectations or have the up to
date ‘on the ground knowledge’ of changes occurring at the local level.
Such data delivery methods are already being investigated. During 2006, the
Victorian Government, in partnership with the private sector, piloted an
online notification environment to test the potential for managing changes to
Vicmap data in a real time environment, and to trial enabling technologies and
custodian roles and responsibilities.
Under this Strategy, such efforts should be expanded to consider standard
editing environments, online tools for metadata creation and management, and
tools for notifying spatial or attribute changes.
A number of preconditions will need to be met to make such a model viable:
• Mechanisms for managing and verifying the contributions made by
volunteers for quality, accuracy and appropriateness
• Standards against which such contributions can be measured
• Roles must be clearly defined, including what will be expected of data
custodians — it will therefore also need the willingness of custodians to
participate.
These activities should be undertaken in conjunction with the implementation
of Strategic Direction 1 — Creating a Framework and Strategic Direction 4 —
Maintaining the Foundations for Spatial Information Management.
Developing the spatial information community through collaboration
and partnerships
Victoria’s spatial information community is at a critical point in its
development.
The entry of large corporations such as Google and Microsoft and their growing
dominance; the trend towards acquisition of specialist information providers
and developers by large corporations; the challenge to attract and retain
skilled employees; and the rapid expansion of technology requiring ever larger
investments, provide challenges for Victoria’s industry to define its position in
this expanding and global market.
Individual companies should seek to widen their scope through alliances and
joint ventures within and between sectors, and outside the traditional spatial
industry, for example the games industry. The next three years should be a time
of greater collaboration, capitalising on strengths and sharing expertise.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 5 Responding to the challenges — our strategic direction 25
The Combined Advantage study released by the Victorian Government in 2004
confirmed the positive impact of collaborative partnerships on the development
of industry-specific skills, overcoming market barriers and maximising the
outcomes of research and development.
More formal types of collaboration such as clusters can also stimulate
innovation, exports, investment, high-quality jobs and new business
opportunities.
Open source approaches to collaboration should also be considered. They can
provide opportunities for widening the pool of resources that can be applied to
new developments.
Government should support industry by providing access to its spatial data to
enable it to develop new services delivering that data.
To facilitate commercialisation of new products and services, Government
should also make a clear statement about the distribution of Intellectual
Property for developments based on Government-held spatial data.
Achievement of this Strategic Direction will incorporate:
• Increased focus on partnerships based approaches
• Clear definition of the roles of industry sectors — as set out in Strategic
Direction 1 — Creating a Framework
• Creating clusters and networks to provide capacity, building on individual
strengths, knowledge sharing, and sharing of technologies.
• Building on the base infrastructure/platform developed by Government for
the supply and delivery of spatial data to enable the industry to develop new
services.
• Entering into alliances outside the traditional spatial information industry
to bring in new skills and expand opportunities for spatial information to be
used in new ways.
Maintaining the foundations for Spatial Information Management
None of the developments described elsewhere in this Strategy will be possible
without the fundamental ingredient — ie the spatial data.
All of the challenges and strategic directions for spatial information that we
have identified must be underpinned by a robust approach to the management
of that data, whether it be the popular and high profile imagery and vector data,
Sharing spatial information
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 5 Responding to the challenges — our strategic direction 26
GNSS CORS data, or the emerging ‘grid cell data’, which is the preferred type of
data for modelling in environmental and natural resource management.
That data needs to be available and accessible, but also clearly understood by
users.
The fundamental requirements are:
• Ensuring data is fit for purpose
• Licensing models that facilitate access and opportunities for new
development
• Development of technical solutions that encourage accessibility
• Raising awareness — among existing, new and potential users, and
traditional and non-traditional users
• Discoverability of the data — through catalogues and other means
• Determining priorities for data acquisition
• Availability of the data
• Ensuring that privacy considerations are taken into account
These requirements will be supported by the Spatial Information Management
Framework developed under Victoria’s earlier strategies. This Framework now
needs to be promoted and data managers educated in its application.
The policies of the Framework are endorsed as best practice in Victoria for
ensuring a coordinated approach to delivery of spatial information, namely:
data being managed by custodians, standards-compliant metadata being
published and maintained, a commitment to making spatial data accessible
(while acknowledging appropriate variants to this standard), and adoption of
pricing and licensing strategies that encourage the use of spatial information.
Under this Strategy, maintaining the foundations for spatial information
management will incorporate the following principles:
• Custodianship — all spatial information managed by an identifiable
‘custodian’.
• Consistency — a consistent approach to managing spatial information by all
custodians.
• Relationships — networks that support custodians in the creation and
management of their spatial data and its provision to users.
• A Whole of Victorian Government approach for access to and sharing of data
— as set out in Strategic Direction 1 — Creating a Framework
The following actions should be undertaken:
• Adopt the recommendations of the Custodianship Program to create a
sustainable approach to custodianship of spatial data.
• Promote the Spatial Information Management Framework and educate and
train data managers in its application.
• Bring the Positioning and Location Policy to fruition.
• Develop mechanisms that encourage custodians to release their spatial
data for wider use. In particular, investigate the potential for digital rights
management as a way to deal with liability issues and new licensing
approaches to encourage development of new services and products by the
private sector.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 6 Implementation 27
Implementation6
Priorities
To achieve our preferred scenario, the following areas of action are of priority:
• Ensuring there is both attention and understanding about spatial issues and
their potential at senior government and private sector levels
• Developing a vision and an underpinning architecture for what a spatially
enabled Victoria might look like. For practical reasons this should be
initiated by Government
• Creating new governance arrangements that reflect the importance of a
spatially enabled Victoria to better understand and facilitate the introduction
of spatial and location based technologies and the products and services they
might enable
• Developing standards and authorising frameworks that will enable the
market under a spatially enabled Victoria
• Establishing programs and processes that ensure the promise of what is
possible through these new technologies
• Driving for consistency in key public and private sector agencies, such as
common standards and expected performance levels.
Victorian Spatial Information Strategy 2008–2010
Chapter 6 Implementation 28
Roles
Implementation of this Strategy will be the role of all members of the spatial
information community.
It provides the key signposts, but will need everyone’s participation to make it
successful.
Each sector has its role to play.
Each sector will be required to report back to the VSC by 30 June 2008 with
their response to this document and how they will implement it’s Strategic
Direction and the role they want the Council to play.
The VSC will undertake the following roles
• Communication and education
• ‘Visualisation’ — scenarios, supporting or sponsoring demonstrator
initiatives that show off the potential for spatial enablement
• Advocacy — targeting the right ‘influencers’ — in all three levels of
government, the private sector, utilities, academia, regulators
• Facilitation
It will begin by preparing a plan for communicating this Strategy and set out the
activities it will undertake by 30 June 2008.