Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemBridging SDI design gaps(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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ItemThe role of sub-national government and the private sector in future Spatial Data Infrastructures( 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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ItemAssessing the worldwide comparison of cadastral systems(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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ItemDeveloping a platform to facilitate sharing spatial data(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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ItemChallenges and issues for SDI development( 2006)This paper aims to introduce and discuss six challenges and issues facing the development of SDIs which will be able to meet the sustainable development objectives of society. These issues and challenges include: - SDI to facilitate spatially enabled government - Role of government, private and academic sectors - Development of SDI vision, mission and road map – where are we heading? - SDI to facilitate integration of natural and built environment datasets - SDI to support marine administration - Seamless SDI model - Capacity building Current research within the Centre for SDIs and Land Administration in the Department of Geomatics, University of Melbourne in the context of these meeting these challenges and issues is also discussed.
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ItemVirtual Australia: developing an enabling platform to improve opportunities in the spatial information industry( 2006)The role that the development of Spatial Data Infrastructure initiatives is playing within the modern world is changing. Initially SDIs were implemented as a mechanism to facilitate access and sharing of spatial data hosted in distributed GISs. Users however now require precise spatial information in real time about real world objects and the ability to develop and implement cross-jurisdictional and inter-agency solutions to priorities such as emergency management, natural resource management, water rights and animal, pest and disease control. In order to achieve this, the concept of an SDI is moving to a new business paradigm, where SDI is emerging as a ‘virtual jurisdiction’ or ‘virtual enterprise’ to promote the partnership of spatial information organisations (public/private) to provide access to a wider scope of data and services, of size and complexity that is beyond their individual capacity. The development of such an SDI requires an enabling platform to support the chaining of services across participating organisations. This paper outlines the outcomes of research on the development of such an enabling platform within the context of a Virtual Australia.
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ItemSupporting decision making and management in the marine environment( 2005-08)The world’s oceans cover almost two thirds of the surface of the earth, regulating weather patterns and sustaining a huge variety of plant and animal life (UN, 2003). Given the diversity of this area, there is an economic, social and environmental need to effectively manage it. This management is difficult, due to the complex web of national and international government legislation, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). There are also overlapping and competing rights and responsibilities of a myriad of activities within the marine environment, often governed by separate agencies. In order to manage these rights and activities in the marine environment effectively, clear spatial certainty in relation to marine boundaries is needed (Collier et al. 2003). This can be achieved through the use of spatial information and decision support tools such as marine GIS. Historically, the marine environment has been managed secondary to the terrestrial environment through sectoral planning, with government fisheries agencies managing fisheries and historical shipwrecks managed by a separate government agency. Jurisdictional limits and marine boundaries are multiple and often unclear, there is generally no single agency managing offshore rights, and the mapping of legal boundaries is difficult due to the three-dimensional aspect and lack of physical reference. Added to this, information needed to effectively manage the marine environment is stored within silos, with no interconnection between relevant information streams. The management of the terrestrial environment evolved in a similar fashion to the marine environment, with spatial information in particular built up in silos. However the three global driver of sustainable development has created the need for greater access to environmental, economic, and social information. The introduction of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a tool to aid in decision making has also seen the need to break down the barriers between agencies and silos. For effective analysis within a GIS, there must be access to a wide range of interoperable spatial datasets. In order to effectively and efficiently access and disseminate such spatial data, there has been the need to develop Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI), which aid in breaking down barriers between users and producers of spatial data. GIS is now being used to aid decision making in the Marine Environment, with interactive mapping applications, marine and coastal data download tools and associated metadata becoming readily available through various GIS systems. This paper aims to discuss the use of a SDI and marine cadastre in helping marine GIS users gain access to critical information relating to maritime boundaries and other important information used in marine management. Gaining access to such information will aid decision makers in utilising the wide range of tools offered through GIS packages in the marine environment, enabling the worlds oceans to be managed in line with current sustainable development drivers
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ItemAdministering the marine environment: the spatial dimension(Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia (MSIA), 2005)Administering the spatial dimension of the marine environment is very important as decision-makers in both land and marine related areas of the coastal zone need to access marine related datasets in order to effectively achieve their economic, social and environmental objectives. There is also the challenge of managing the complex interactions between, and competing rights of, stakeholders within the marine environment. This paper aims to discuss both the current and future direction of marine administration, including the development of a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) as a tool to achieve efficient management, concentrating on Asia and the Pacific region. This includes the socio-economic, policy and technical challenges and issues faced by countries within this jurisdiction, as well as an overview of the objectives, principle tasks and results of the International Workshop on Administering the Marine Environment – the Spatial Dimensions, held in Malaysia 2004. Although focusing on Asia and the Pacific region, the results and conclusions drawn from this paper can also be applicable to other marine jurisdictions.