About the LINZ Data Service

The LINZ Data Service provides free, online access to nationally significant location-based land and seabed data.

Location-based information supports a huge range of activities and is crucial to decision-making. From identifying flooding hazards to finding the shortest route between two cities – the application of geospatial data is changing the way we work, live and play.

LINZ manages a large number of geospatial datasets related to New Zealand’s land and seabed. The LINZ Data Service uses a Creative Commons open licensing to provide open, public access to these geospatial datasets for use, reuse and sharing. By providing business, government and the community with direct access to our most up to date data, the LINZ Data Service is opening the door to innovation and enterprise.

You can access our data via our easy to use website, which allows you to:

• search and browse for data
• add layers to your map cart
• visualise data in your map
• crop datasets to your area of interest
• download data in various formats
• integrate the web services into your own applications.

The LINZ Data Service is built on an open source platform and employs open standards for data description and access. The application uses technology developed by Koordinates Ltd.

The origins of LDS

LINZ is the lead agency of the New Zealand Geospatial Strategy, and is leading by example in establishing the LINZ Data Service – the very first open government data portal in New Zealand to follow the standards set by the New Zealand Geospatial Office.

A report on spatial information in the New Zealand economy indicated barriers to the use and reuse of New Zealand’s geospatial data, preventing an estimated $1.2 billion in economic growth. Research showed that for every dollar invested in overcoming these barriers there would also be an estimated return of at least five to one. Because LINZ holds nationally significant geospatial data and is playing a key role in the implementation of the strategy, LINZ is committed to improving the discoverability and access of its own data.

Future development plans

The LINZ Data Service will evolve and improve over time, particularly in response to feedback from users. Currently, LINZ is investigating new features to improve access, new datasets, and improvements to supporting information for the data.

Enhancements released in 2012 include:

• ESRI Geodatabase download support
• Plain Text (WKT) download support
• Courier services for datasets over 3GB.

Further developments for 2012 include:

• Release of full BDE spatial and non-spatial data
• Daily updates of survey and title data
• Changeset data downloads