Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemSimulation, Calibration and Validation of Recreational Agents in an Urban Park Environment(University of Arizona Press, 2008)
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ItemA Spatial Data Infrastructure for a spatially enabled government and society(Published jointly by Space for Geo-Information (RGI), Wageningen University and Centre for SDIs and Land Administration, Department of Geomatics, The University of Melbourne, 2008)Meeting sustainable development objectives is a complex and temporal process that involves multiple stakeholders. The creation of economic wealth, social stability and environmental protection can be achieved through developing products and services that are based on spatial information collected by all levels of government. These objectives can be facilitated by developing a spatially enabled government and society where spatial information is regarded as common goods made available to citizens and businesses to encourage creativity and product development. To do so requires data to be accessible and accurate, well-maintained and sufficiently reliable for use by the majority of society who are not spatially aware. With this in mind Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) are being developed by many countries as an enabling platform to improve access, sharing and to integrate spatial data and services. However there are still many challenges to overcome in order to have a fully functioning SDI and to guarantee the investment in its development. Furthermore, in order to deliver this SDI, there needs to be a mechanism of assessment that uses a set of agreed indicators to measure the progress of its development and delivery of its services. In this regard, the assessment of SDIs is an important component in any SDI design and development and needs to be part of an SDI support strategy. This assessment can help to better understand the issues, to find best practice for certain tasks and to also improve the system as a whole. This chapter aims to introduce and discuss various challenges and issues associated in re-engineering current SDI design to support the new vision of a spatially enabled government and society. It also discusses the central role that an SDI plays as the enabling platform. In order to support this, the chapter also discusses the importance of having an SDI assessment mechanism or strategy as part of the SDI to measure the success and delivery of SDI services aligned with the objectives of SDI development. The chapter then highlights a range of activities and processes to be created across all jurisdictional levels to facilitate SDI design and assessment, including aspects of its design, creation and the processes involved in its development, particularly governance of an SDI platform and the overall relations between different challenges and the SDI assessment process.
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ItemEvaluation and performance indicators to assess Spatial Data Infrastructure initiatives(Published jointly by Space for Geo-Information (RGI), Wageningen University and Centre for SDIs and Land Administration, Department of Geomatics, The University of Melbourne, 2008)Many countries are developing Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) to improve access, sharing and the integration of spatial data and services. However the challenge of designing, building and managing an SDI draws on many different disciplines and requires the examination of a large number of factors and issues. In this regard, the comparison and evaluation of SDIs can help to better understand the issues, to find best practice for certain tasks and to improve the system as a whole. Evaluating and comparing public and private administration systems can be significant in terms of improving processes and institutional structures. The application of these principles to the development of SDIs will therefore come to play a crucial role in the management of our spatial data and that pertaining to the administration of our societies. This chapter therefore aims to introduce the role and value of evaluation and performance indicators for assessing and comparing SDIs by using experiences in the field of land administration systems. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products and organisations to improve their effectiveness. The evaluation is about finding answers to questions such as 'are we doing the right thing' and 'are we doing things right'. These are prominent questions for SDIs, the development of which has been very dynamic over the last decade and has involved significant learning from other national or local initiatives. The commonalities between SDIs and the objectives of efficient and effective land administration systems provide strong grounds for deriving evaluation and performance indicators for SDIs from land administration principles. Key issues include sustaining a culture of sharing, establishing a common language and maintaining reliable financial support. To achieve this, the chapter first presents and discusses major classes of factors which influence, or contribute to, the development of an SDI initiative followed by a reviewing key components of land administration systems and SDIs. It is then proposed that a general evaluation framework which can be applied to SDI and its different components be developed before drawing some conclusions.
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ItemSeamless SDI model: bridging the gap between land and marine environments(Netherlands Geodetic Commission, 2009)With climate change, rising sea levels pressing harder year on year and the need to manage our resources more carefully in this dynamic environment, the inability to integrate land and marine base information is an increasing problem in many countries. The absence of a seamless spatial data framework prevents the execution of standard practice of locating and referencing spatial data across the land-marine interface where so much pressure and development is taking place. There is a growing and urgent need to create a seamless SDI model that bridges the gap between the terrestrial and marine environments, creating a spatially enabled land-sea interface to more effectively meet sustainable development objectives. This article discusses drivers for integrating land and marine environments and proposes a seamless SDI model as an abstract level SDI and its associated components. This is followed by issues and challenges that must be overcome in developing an overarching architecture for a seamless SDI that allows access to and interoperability of data from marine, coastal and terrestrial environments.
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ItemLocal government and SDI: understanding their capacity to share data(Netherlands Geodetic Commission, 2009)Local government has been recognised as an early leader in the development, deployment and innovation in spatial information systems. The introduction of corporate wide spatial data portals within local government was as significant as the release of Google Earth to the wider public. Although these information systems continue to expand and mature, the potential for these local spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) to contribute to higher level SDI initiatives remain largely unrealised. This article explores local government SDI within Australia to assess its capacity to contribute to higher level SDI initiatives. A comprehensive survey of over 100 local government authorities was undertaken to assess their SDI capacity and collaborative initiatives. The results were analysed to identify factors that contribute to their successful local SDI development and, more widely, to the development of higher level SDI initiatives through data sharing partnerships. The findings from the analysis indicate that suitable policy frameworks, an understanding of business needs, organisational support and ability to access data through equitable sharing arrangements are critical drivers in building and developing SDI from the local level.