Speech by Colin MacDonald to the NZIS Conference
LINZ Chief Executive Colin MacDonald spoke at the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors (NZIS) Conference in Marlborough on 15 October.
Colin focused on LINZ's strategic direction including the cadastral surveying and conveyancing industry, the new Topo50 map series, and geospatial information.
Colin's speech is provided below. You can also download a copy of the accompanying presentation (PDF 642KB).
Colin MacDonald’s speech to the NZIS conference
15 October 2009, Marlborough, New Zealand
I’m really pleased to be here today and wish to thank the organisers for allowing me to talk to you about LINZ’s strategic direction, and where we are headed given the fact we have completed some significant projects.
Where we have been – 100% e-lodgement
The last year has seen some major achievements for LINZ. Most notably for our survey and title customers, in February this year we reached the final Landonline milestone in a 12-year journey to 100% electronic lodgement.
LINZ will continue to work closely with all those who have been involved in this project to further develop and enhance Landonline. As you are aware, we have some significant enhancements planned for e-survey in particular, such as offline plan generation scheduled for May 2010. This is the final large investment in Landonline for surveyors that should make a significant difference to your workflows - allowing you to work where you want, when you want.
Implementation of the new Rules for Cadastral Survey, also planned for May next year, should bring some positive changes for the survey profession. Many of you have attended the seminars given by the Surveyor General and his team, with over 800 people attending nationwide. More communication is planned as we move closer to the implementation of the transition and changes to Landonline.
Thanks to both the surveying and conveyancing professions, survey and title services are now in a strong position to enable the efficiencies and benefits of electronic lodgement to be reaped. Our recent research, which many of you participated in, reported that Landonline has improved the service you give your clients, has resulted in faster turn around times for dataset approvals and has allowed easier access to information.
These benefits are particularly important in the current difficult economic environment as we have all been affected dramatically by the property sector downturn. This financial year, LINZ will be reviewing fees and charges in an effort to recover our costs. While we are reluctant to increase fees, the reality of the economic situation and the previous Government’s decision to under-recover fees will mean that fee increases are likely. In order for LINZ to stay solvent over the last 12 months, the Government has provided LINZ with a line of credit, but we will have to repay those funds over time, as well as hopefully provision some funds for the future. We are all hoping that the economic decline has been arrested but are under no illusions that it will be a rapid recovery. We will be consulting with your member representatives over the reviews of the fees and charges, and outline options to you, so that we reach a fair outcome for all parties. Any new pricing arrangements will come into effect from 1 July 2010.
Leaving the current economic situation aside, Landonline is a system that we can all be proud of - it brings significant benefits to all New Zealanders, including greater accuracy, reliability and certainty in our property rights systems.
And as most of you know, Landonline has been recognised internationally - it is among the best systems in the world for managing end–to-end property transactions as published by the World Bank. And here in New Zealand we have been shortlisted for an excellence in government ICT award sponsored by Computerworld. We will find out the outcome of that competition next week.
While I do not intend to take the focus off the achievements we have made in the transactional land market, it is now time to look at how LINZ can leverage our expertise and assets for even greater economic benefit. LINZ has a number of fundamental datasets that are authoritative, Landonline holding four of them, (geodetic, cadastral, titles and electoral) and it has great potential for further leverage. It’s now about realising all the associated benefits.
Where we are going – LINZ’s strategic direction
The time is right for LINZ to review our strategic direction, with emphasis on the opportunities to add value to the New Zealand economy. One of the most important areas I wanted to review when I stepped into my role was our approach to strategic planning to ensure LINZ’s long, medium and short term outcomes were lined up and clear for staff, the Minister and the Government.
Every year, government agencies produce a Statement of Intent, which is our contract with the Government outlining what outcomes we will achieve in return for the funding they allocate us.
This is a document that is produced yearly, but as most of you with your own businesses know, without a long term plan, it is very difficult to get traction on new initiatives and direction. Strategic planning cannot be done in isolation, so this year we took a consultative and organisation-wide approach to our planning.
The outcome of this is a much more cohesive, concise SOI document, and a strategic intent that focuses on our outcomes – not just for the short term but also for the long term to ensure LINZ is able to effectively contribute to the economy, regardless of the type of government we have at any one time running the country.
There are four key outcomes that LINZ delivers on - these are:
- Certainty of property rights
- Authoritative land information
- Federated geospatial information
- Best use of Crown assets.
Certainty of property rights relates primarily to our ‘transactions management’ functions, in which we maintain and administer the regulatory framework and system for defining and transacting land. Landonline is one of the enablers that helps facilitate this outcome, but of course, is much bigger than simply the application. This is about:
- preparing ourselves for tomorrow’s land development markets- that is, the future of the cadastral industry and the conveyancing industry
- realising the benefits of mandatory e-lodgement
- future-proofing the real property rights regulatory framework
- encouraging overseas investment in New Zealand.
As the first item implies, this initiative focuses on understanding where the cadastral surveying and conveyancing industry is going, and to make sure LINZ and the industry are ready to make the most of future opportunities. It is about future-proofing the land development market and identifying what we have to do jointly to move ahead, and how LINZ can take a leadership role with other players to make the most of the information we have to facilitate economic growth.
Most of you will be aware that LINZ and the NZIS formed a joint working group last year to look at strategic issues facing the cadastral survey industry, and the future shape of the cadastre. The project – called the Survey Strategic Context – has provided a great opportunity for LINZ and the NZIS to work together on the strategic issues facing the survey industry now and into the future. Good progress has been made, and Bruce Manners will be giving you a summary of the findings and the next steps, and what we can do together to ensure we are well placed to meet the future demands of our industry.
The next review we are going to conduct will be in the context of the conveyancing market, with similar challenges and issues facing the industry that we need to overcome.
Realising the benefits of electronic lodgement is also important and this relates is primarily around the closure of three of our five processing centres, as Landonline has enabled us to save processing costs.
We have also made significant changes to the training of our processing staff, with young, bright, qualified and enthusiastic people recruited to assist in the processing team, learning technical aspects of surveying and conveyancing to assist approval of datasets and lodgements.
Realising the benefits also includes changes to the way our customers work, with decreasing manual intervention and handling of paper for conveyancers, and, as I stated before, significant productivity gains once offline plan generation is launched for you, the surveying community.
Another aspect to our operation you may not be directly aware of is our role in encouraging and facilitating overseas investment. Investment in our economy is critical to New Zealand’s ongoing growth and prosperity, and Treasury is reviewing the current regime to ensure a strategic approach is taken. This includes simplifying processes and identifying the barriers hindering foreign investment, while at the same time protecting our sensitive land, assets and resources.
Authoritative land information, our second outcome, is about giving people confidence to make decisions about land around New Zealand. LINZ looks after several nationally significant geospatial datasets, such as topographic maps and information, navigational charts and information, sea level monitoring systems and geodetic information – vital for your role as surveyors.
New Topo50 map series
On 23 September, I had pleasure in launching New Zealand’s newTopo50 map series. This has been a three-year project, involving invaluable input from emergency service providers such as the New Zealand Defence Force, Police, the Fire Service, Department of Conservation, and Civil Defence and Emergency Management.
At the time of launch, emergency services changed to the new mapping systems in their call centres. This has been a smooth transition, and we can be pleased we now have a modern, up-to-date map series available in New Zealand.
With the new Topo50 map series, LINZ has made one of the most significant changes to New Zealand’s official topographical maps since the 1930s.
This project represents a major innovation for LINZ. The Topo50 map series has been developed as a result of the change to the New Zealand Geodetic Datum 2000, thus bringing New Zealand into line with international standards and modern navigational systems such as GPS.
With innovation comes significant change. The Topo50 series project presented LINZ with the opportunity to evaluate and change our internal systems so that data maintenance and management of the database was brought in-house, saving money and time.
The data has improved too - it has been updated with input from the Department of Conservation with information about latest tracks and huts, as well as information from satellite imagery. In addition, technology has allowed almost on-demand printing of the new maps, going from several months to produce one map to just 15 minutes. And technology has allowed LINZ to deliver digital images of the maps free of charge to third parties and members of the public.
The project has been another world first - nowhere in the world has an entire nation’s printed maps been available all at once to retailers, emergency services and the defence force. Not to mention providing the geotiffs and tiff data for free.
This is a great example of how LINZ has moved into the geospatial sector. The potential economic benefit of geospatial information to the New Zealand economy is huge and I will expand on the importance of this outcome shortly.
I understand an example of the new Topo50 maps has been included in your conference pack - hopefully you will take time to look at it, and if you are venturing into the great outdoors this summer, make sure you buy a new map (or download one for free!!) to assist you in your travels!
Another example of the work we are doing in authoritative land information is in the geodetic area with the CORS network.
LINZ recently commissioned an economic analysis of the national benefits of upgrading our GPS Continuously Operating Reference System – or CORS - network, PositioNZ, to provide real time data to centimetre accuracy.
The analysis showed a strong economic benefit to New Zealand from undertaking this upgrade, and I’m pleased to announce that LINZ, in conjunction with GNS Science, has made a start on this upgrade.
We are committed to working in partnership with the Earthquake Commission and GNS Science on the development of a joint CORS network in New Zealand for datum monitoring and hazard mitigation. I’m also pleased to say that we’re committed to working with the private sector to develop a joint national CORS network across New Zealand that benefits the wider geospatial community.
This is another good example of how the private and public sectors can work collaboratively in New Zealand.
You will hear more about this initiative tomorrow in a session run by Graeme Blick.
We aim to ensure that the provision of core geospatial information supports the development and management of property transactions, and the provision of essential services such as emergency responses, defence and security, as well as safe land and sea navigation.
Over the last year, LINZ has also launched a range of Electronic Navigational Charts for mariners, and large vessels carrying passengers - the SOLAS or Safety of Life at Sea class of vessel. ENCs are highly regulated and controlled by the International Hydrographic Office and most countries are offering electronic charts as well as paper ones to navigate vessels into ports and harbours around the world. It is expected that in five years, all major SOLAS ships will have ‘paperless bridges’. LINZ has had an extensive programme in producing ENCs, with the data sourced from the Navy as well as privately contestable hydrographic surveying vessels. We are producing all ENCs in-house, again cutting the costs of data maintenance and warehousing, with all ENCs due to be completed by the end of the next financial year.
I mentioned before that the Topo50 map series data is an example of how LINZ is moving into the geospatial area. I now want to talk to you about our third outcome in more detail…
Federated geospatial information relates to LINZ’s leadership role in coordinating and gathering information, and making it available, accessible and able to be shared with government, the private sector and the public.
This is about effective leadership and coordination of national spatial data.
Geospatial information is increasingly relied on and pervasive in our daily lives. There is a growing awareness of the benefits of geospatial information to modern economies, as well as developing ones. These benefits are economic and social, and across the public and private sectors. There is also a growing expectation and belief that government has a role in geospatial information.
Given LINZ’s functions and information, and the fact this is one of the Government’s priorities, we are taking a leadership role in this area, coordinating across government, with a view to establishing a federated geospatial information infrastructure for New Zealand.
Economic benefits
In late August, LINZ launched the report Spatial Information in the New Zealand Economy – realising productivity gains. This report was commissioned jointly by LINZ, Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Economic Development to uncover the contribution spatial information makes to the economy, as well as identify opportunities for this contribution to grow.
The report contains numerous case studies that show how spatial systems and information are used in almost every area of the economy – from government services to trade, construction, agriculture, transport and tourism.
Crucially, location information helps many people around the country make better decisions about how we use our land, our water and other resources.
The main finding of the report is that the innovative use and re-use of spatial information is estimated to have added $1.2 billion in productivity related benefits to the New Zealand economy last year.
This value is the result of increasing adoption of modern spatial information technologies, and is equivalent to slightly more than 0.6 per cent of GDP in 2008.
This is a conservative estimate, and doesn’t include non-productivity benefits that are likely to be worth a multiple of this. For example, spatial information is vital for emergency services. The value of getting to the victim of a cardiac arrest on time is a matter of life or death. Evaluating non-productivity benefits was beyond the scope of this report, but we shouldn’t overlook this additional value to the community.
Removing barriers
The report states there is tremendous potential for further benefits to be realised, and we should start by removing the barriers to this information being used more widely. The most notable barriers identified in the report are to do with accessing government-held data and inconsistency in data standards.
By removing these barriers, the report estimates that New Zealand could have benefited from an additional $481 million in productivity-related benefits in 2008, generating at least $100 million in government revenue.
The report recommends that government agencies release the existing spatial data they hold in forms that maximise re-use.
This reinforces the view that spatial data and systems are raw material for innovation – something our innovative and creative citizens and companies can use to create value.
LINZ is committed to seeing this value created. I’d like to briefly share with you some things we have done, and are doing, to demonstrate that commitment.
We are making our data more accessible. In addition to the topographical data files being free individually online, in July, Cabinet approved significant fee reductions for LINZ bulk topographic data as well as for bulk survey and titles data. Both these datasets are now available for less than $100 each.
Making spatial data available for re-use is an important first step towards a broader initiative to develop an effective national Spatial Data Infrastructure – or SDI. We have shaped our strategic direction over the next three years to play a leadership role in developing an SDI for New Zealand. We will be working on our own datasets to ensure they comply with any new standard, as well as working with the public and private sectors to ensure compatibility and coherence in this area.
Australasian approach
In June this year, we committed to join the new Co-operative Research Centre for Spatial Information in Australia (known as CRC-SI2). This initiative brings together over 100 organisations from government, the private sector and universities in an eight-year joint venture with a total budget of 180 million Australian dollars – including cash and in-kind contributions.
LINZ’s membership aims to foster greater cooperation between New Zealand and Australian organisations involved in leading-edge spatial information tools and technologies. It’s an example of New Zealand and Australia working together for mutually beneficial outcomes.
Federation – New Zealand
In July, we established a national helpdesk to support holders of spatial information in creating metadata, and we’ll be working with other agencies over the coming months on a proposal to establish a geospatial standards coordination function in LINZ.
For New Zealand to realise the value of spatial information more fully, a range of pragmatic and ongoing actions are needed by many participants. It’s pleasing to see the important work underway across a range of government agencies that will help realise this value.
A number of initiatives have been developed for easier and better re-use of government non-personal data and information, including spatial data. Initiatives include the Cabinet-approved New Zealand Geospatial Strategy, promotion of already available government data, and a common information licensing framework.
SIBA
We’re also working closely with the recently established Spatial Industries Business Association (SIBA), headed by Steve Critchlow. LINZ is looking forward to an ongoing partnership with SIBA to develop joint plans to unlock the potential that spatial information holds for New Zealand.
If you would like a copy of the Spatial Information in the New Zealand Economy report, and more information about the practical uses of spatial information, visit the Geospatial Strategy website.
I cannot stress enough the importance of this work to LINZ and the economy. It is a great example of how we as an organisation can leverage the work you as surveyors and other professionals in the land information area do to enable New Zealand’s prosperity to grow.
Our last outcome refers to the best use of Crown assets.
As surveyors, you may not have a lot of visibility around this area of LINZ’s responsibility, except when stories make the press, or when you are trying to survey non-SDC areas in the South Island. LINZ manages fairly large areas of Crown land, especially here in the South. The focus is on pastoral land management and a biosecurity programme for Crown land.
Our role is to ensure Crown land is being put to the best use for New Zealand.
The Crown’s South Island high country is economically important and features a landscape that makes New Zealand a renowned tourism destination. To ensure the current and future viability of this important part of our country, LINZ is reviewing the policy settings for pastoral leases in the high country to ensure these are economically and ecologically sustainable into the future. While doing this, we recognise that high country leaseholders are effective stewards of the land.
The new Government has significantly changed policy in this area, and we are responding to the challenges that this change in direction presents.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, the challenges facing LINZ over the next few years are significant. We’ll be working to deliver our outcomes, encouraging economic growth and prosperity, while recognising the fast-changing economic environment surrounding us and adapting to it.
I am thoroughly enjoying the challenges my role is providing me, and as many of you are aware, I have recently recruited a new senior leadership team due to a number of retirements and career opportunities from the senior staff. I hope many of you will get the chance to meet the new General Manager of Customer Services, Jan Pierce, over the next few months as she has taken the helm from Sharon Cottrell.
Key to LINZ’s success in the past has been the commitment from us to our stakeholders and customers – working in true collaboration with you all to meet the challenges we face. I see this collaboration and commitment only increasing as we forge ahead in all areas of the organisation to ensure the outcomes for New Zealand are positive, the economy is robust, and our customers’ needs are met - both now and in the future.
