Federated Geospatial Information: Current Situation & Key Issues

In the past we used maps to show where people and objects were located. Today this has evolved into a complex digital environment with sophisticated geospatial and related textual databases, satellite positioning, and communication networks like the Internet, as well as wireless applications. It is increasingly understood that geospatial data is a vital ingredient in many modern systems of infrastructure, such as transport or telecommunications. It is an important source of intelligence that underpins decision-making in many domains. Governments around the world are attempting to increase the economic and social impact of geographic information and are facing issues in two main areas.

Managing & integrating geographic information & systems in a dynamic environment

The value of geographic information is often realised when it is integrated with other data and/or services, yet the ability to integrate geographic information from multiple sources is still quite limited. Data exists in many forms, in many agencies, across different systems and to varying standards and protocols. A number of barriers (such as pricing, licensing, discoverability and constraints around data formats) restrict people’s ability to access and share the data, and can lead to duplication.

The Internet provides an effective mechanism for ensuring easy access to distributed data holdings, and many governments are responding with initiatives to help ensure their data can be easily found, accessed and shared. New Zealand is aiming to follow the lead of Canada, Australia and Europe in the development and uptake of initiatives in this area.

At the same time, traditional models of data capture, maintenance and distribution are being challenged, as large volumes of data are being generated, by more people, in new ways. For example, the convergence of greater access to broadband, the availability of global positioning systems (GPS) at affordable prices, and more participative forms of interaction on the Internet, are enabling vast numbers of individuals to create and share geographic information. Initiatives such as Wikimapia and OpenStreetMap show how ‘citizen-generated’ information is starting to challenge traditional data suppliers with good-quality products that are openly accessible to all.

Ensuring effective governance & collaborative arrangements

The ever-increasing distributed network of geospatial data spans many government departments and agencies, as well as local government and the private sector. This creates natural opportunities for collaboration and partnerships between government, industry and academia. It also challenges governments to create more effective models for governance and coordination, and to explore new frameworks that can foster co-ordination across sector and jurisdictional boundaries. As well as being important in driving innovation, better co-ordination helps to create efficiencies. For example, data can be purchased once and used many times.