Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications

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    Bridging SDI design gaps
    MOHAMMADI, HOSSEIN ; RAJABIFARD, ABBAS ; BINNS, ANDREW ; Williamson, Ian P. (Centre of Geo-Information Technologies (cGIT), 2006)
    The environment we inhabit is integrated and to properly manage the environment it is necessary to look at all environmental components and making multi-criteria decision about environment mostly needs an integrated view of built and natural environmental components to better interpret it.Despite the integrated nature of environment and requirements of users to integrate different components of environment, information about different elements of environment is being collected and managed by fragmented agencies under different and mostly inconsistent policies and standards to satisfy their own needs –for a single discipline- with little attention to the broad range of users – a multi-disciplinary approach. This fragmentation results in heterogeneity of technical and non-technical issues surrounding integration of datasets.An SDI is an initiative to facilitate the cooperation among all stakeholders and the interaction with standards and technological components and one of its objectives is to facilitate the integration of multi-source spatial data sets.This paper aims to address different issues connected to the integration of multi-source data sets in order to better serve different communities through their SDI initiatives and also a better management and sharing of their spatial data. The paper aims to discuss both technical and non-technical issues related to the integration of multi-source data sets in alignment with an ongoing research project devoted to developing models, guidelines and associated tools to facilitate the integration of multi-source datasets within an SDI.
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    The role of sub-national government and the private sector in future Spatial Data Infrastructures
    Rajabifard, A. ; Binns, A. ; Masser, I. ; Williamson, I. P. ( 2006-08)
    A Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) facilitates and coordinates the exchange and sharing of spatial data between stakeholders in the spatial data community. With this objective in mind, countries throughout the world are developing SDIs to manage and utilise their spatial data assets more effectively. These countries are developing SDIs to assist in various kinds of decision-making at different levels of government jurisdictions that have an important impact within their national boundaries. However, current research shows that SDI is understood and described differently by stakeholders from different disciplines and different jurisdictional levels. Therefore, in many cases SDI initiatives remain very much an innovation even among practitioners. There are still uncertainties regarding the benefits and identities of SDIs, particularly in connection with how they evolve over time to meet user needs.This paper reviews and assesses the development of SDIs throughout the world over the past fifteen years and the leadership role of national governments in SDI creation. This assessment is based on the SDI activities of various jurisdictions including Asia-Pacific, Australia, North America and Europe and research into the worldwide effects of spatial information clearinghouses. This assessment includes a discussion on emerging trends in SDI development, with particular reference to the increasingly important role played by sub-national governments and the private sector within the framework of SDI development. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for future SDI development, including the delivery of a virtual world that has a particular focus on facilitating decision making at a community level within a national context.
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    Assessing the worldwide comparison of cadastral systems
    RAJABIFARD, ABBAS ; Williamson, Ian P. ; STEUDLER, DANIEL ; BINNS, ANDREW ; King, Mathew (Elsevier, 2006)
    There is growing interest internationally in land administration and cadastral systems and especially in their role as part of a national Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). The important role the cadastre plays in supporting sustainable development is also well recognised. Both developed and developing countries accept the need to evaluate cadastral systems to help identify areas of improvement and whether their systems are capable of addressing future needs. Countries are continually re-engineering and implementing various aspects of the cadastre, comparing systems and trying to identify best practice within nations of the same socio-economic standing.In order to address this need, members of a team from the Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration at the Department of Geomatics, the University of Melbourne, with the support of the United Nations Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) and the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), have developed a cadastral template. The template aims to assist the evaluation and benchmarking of cadastral systems and the role they play in spatial data infrastructures.This paper aims to outline the concept and theory behind the cadastral template as well as analysing the results from 34 completed country templates. Several indicators have been used to analyse and benchmark countries cadastral systems, results of which will contribute to an improved understanding of the complex relationship between cadastral, land administration system and National SDI initiatives. This will also enable a worldwide comparison of cadastral systems, forming the basis for best practice and a tool to improve national cadastral systems.
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    Discuss: a soft computing approach tospatial disaggregation in economicevaluation of public policies
    Paez, D. ; Williamson, I. P. ; Bishop, I. D. (Blackwell, 2006)
    For more than three decades cost-benefit analysis (CBA) has been used in manycountries as an important tool for evaluating public policies. More recently, participationof stakeholders in CBA processes has become an important issue for governments.However, CBA by itself does not provide a good environment for stakeholderparticipation. A major reason for this is the lack of spatial disaggregation intraditional CBA. In order to allow greater public participation, a GIS-based approachis proposed. This approach uses a Geocomputational system, which incorporates softcomputing theory with expert systems in a geographic information systems (GIS)environment. It is designed to generate representations of environmental, economicand social policy outcomes according to the perceptions of the stakeholders and afterthe CBA results have been obtained. The methodology proposed for modellingimpacts in cases where uncertainty exists uses the soft computing theory of fuzzy logicto generate a raster map based on spatial inputs provided by the stakeholders involvedin the decision process. This computer-based system, called DISCUSS (DecisionInformation System for Community Understanding of Spatial Scenarios), is intendedfor situations where the government chooses to evaluate a policy using CBA anddesires to encourage public participation in evaluating the results identified by theeconomic methodology. DISCUSS and the maps that it produces are being testedin a public participation case study with long-term impacts over a large area ofsouth-eastern Australia.
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    The role [of] cadastral data modelling in e-land administration
    Kalantari, M. ; Rajabifard, A. ; Wallace, J. ; Williamson, I. P. (Centre of Geo-Information Technologies (cGIT), 2005)
    Enablement of land administration with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is heading toward e-Land Administration (e-LA): the transformation of land administration through the use of ICT. Existing initiatives include providing land information on line, electronic conveyancing, digital lodgement of survey plans, and online access to survey plan information. Thus far, implementation of these initiatives is isolated in their specific subsystems without reference to the broader land administration system or its core policy function of supporting sustainable development. One solution to isolation is to develop effective communication among the different land administration subsystems by harmonising data and functionalities, so they are capable of being used by all subsystems. The key to harmonisation is data modelling which both recognizes and reengineers existing business processes. Modelling allows every single process in land administration to influence the cadastral data model and vice versa. This paper describes the importance of cadastral data modelling in data management as well as coordination among subsystems in an e-LA.
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    Building land markets
    WALLACE, JUDE ; Williamson, Ian P. (Elsevier, 2006)
    A primary driver in land titling and administration improvement is facilitation of a land market. Land markets are difficult to establish and to manage. Titling on its own will not create a land market, nor will a land administration system unless it is connected with the way participants think about and organise their land. Indeed, the difficulty is compounded because very little is available to explain how a land market works, particularly to identify non-technical components essential for market success. This framework article explains land markets in terms of five evolutionary stages. The ingredients of a complex and developed land market, especially social processes and cognitive capacities, are identified.
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    Developing a platform to facilitate sharing spatial data
    RAJABIFARD, ABBAS ; BINNS, ANDREW ; WILLIAMSON, IAN (Centre of Geo-Information Technologies (cGIT)., 2005)
    Users of positioning and spatial information services and tools require precise spatial information in real-time and real-world objects. Simply an accurate positioning of a future subdivision is no longer accepted by users, they require it to be visualized as well, in order to take into account outside influences. The capacity to meet such user needs and deliver services and tools within the spatial information market has gone well beyond the ability of single organisations (Rajabifard, et al, 2005a). There is now a wide range of products and services available for a wide range of information technology applications, and hence the development of an enabling platform can facilitate access to data and sharing resources and tools among different practitioners. The creation of an enabling platform for the delivery of these tools and positioning applications will allow users from diverse backgrounds to work together with current technologies to meet the dynamic market place. Up until now, individual jurisdictions within Australia for example have started utilizing different platforms in attempting to create mechanisms for accessing and delivering spatial data and associated applications and tools in a coordinated fashion. This has been done through the use of hierarchies of information, where jurisdictions utilize information both by those within a jurisdictional level as well as those at a higher or lower jurisdictional level. The benefits of this sharing of information have been documented, however they do not necessarily break down the barriers between jurisdictions. Just because different information can be gained about Victorian state for example from different jurisdictional levels, does not mean that the information will necessarily be compatible (it may not be of the same accuracy or have the same specifications, utilize the same symbology, etc) (Rajabifard, et al, 2005b). There is now a need to create a common rail gauge within Australia to aid in implementing initiatives which solve cross jurisdictional and national issues. In order to meet this need, there is a requirement for an enabling platform.
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    Long term management of a corporate GIS
    Chan, Tai O. ; Williamson, Ian P. (Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2000)
    The GIS literature abounds with strategies to guide the development of a corporate GIS as a single project but lacks discussion on the long term management of the GIS. This paper documents a recent study into GIS development in a state department over an 18-year period. It applies the productional perspective of GIS to model long term GIS development diagrammatically and identifies five patterns of GIS development. The outcomes reveal some long term characteristics of a corporate GIS, based on which a three-stage approach is developed to guide the long term development of an ideal corporate GIS.
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    A new course producing professional surveyors and engineers for the land development industry
    HUNTER, GARY ; WILLIAMSON, IAN ; ROBINSON, JON ( 2000)
    In 2000 a new combined course commenced at The University of Melbourne known as the Bachelor of Geomatics Engineering/Bachelor of Planning and Design (Property and Construction). The course, to be offered jointly between the Department of Geomatics in the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, has been designed specifically to provide a comprehensive and integrated educational program that delivers professional engineers and surveyors to meet the future needs of the land development industry. In addition to taking geomatics subjects in the areas of measurement science, geographic information science and land administration, students enrolled in the BGeomE/BPD course will also take subjects in property development (including shopping and retailing), construction technology, construction management, construction law, accounting and development management.
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    Incremental update and upgrade of Spatial Data
    Scheu, Martin ; Effenberg, Wolfgang ; Williamson, Ian P. ( 2000)
    This paper examines issues relating to the update and upgrade of the digital cadastral map. Of central interest is the transfer of incremental update and upgrade data from the custodian to the user and possible solutions for the associativity problem. The paper clearly differentiates between spatial update and upgrade and categorises three different methods for the transfer of incremental upgrade information. The impact on both the users and the custodian of the cadastral map are discussed in view of providing the most efficient and timely incremental upgrade information. A strategy that provides the maximum information to the users about the shift in the digital cadastral map and additional serves as input information for any adjustment procedures the user utilise to minimise the associativity problem. While this paper draws on the authors’ experience of maintenance of cadastral maps in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales and the German state of Berlin, the efficient delivery of updates and especially upgrades of the spatial cadastral data to users is of interest to users of spatial data.