Land Information Coordination Committee

Tasmania, Australia

Background

The Land Information System Tasmania (LIST) was created out of initiatives of the Tasmanian Land Information Coordination Committee (LICC), and the Information and Land Services (ILS) Division of the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment (DPIWE).

In its 1995 Strategic Plan, the LICC set as one of its objectives, the creation and maintenance of a common and effective land information infrastructure. As a first step, the LICC initiated a project to identify those land-related data sets which could be considered as 'core' to such an infrastructure. A step in this process involved the development of a classification system and list of some 300 potential data sets. Of these, 56 were selected for initial development and subsequently 78 are currently being compiled as a part of The LIST.

Following a detailed development of the desired format for these data sets, a resource assessment was carried out to prepare for a funding submission to Treasury. Synchronised with this work, ILS prepared a case under the Capital Investment Program to initiate a web based delivery system for presentation of this data, and as a replacement for existing title and valuation data delivery applications. In the latter part of 1996 these projects were brought to the attention of the Premier of the day as he formulated a series of 'New Directions' statements. In April 1997 this policy initiative was released and The Land Information System Tasmania (LIST) was born.

The 2 year LIST Project

The original assessment of the cost and time scale for development of The LIST was 3 years and $2.9M, plus existing Information and Land Services (ILS) resources (total cost $6.5M). The approval to proceed, whilst welcome, came with the restriction that $2.44M would be made available and the tasks were to be completed within 2 years, commencing May 1997.

The project involved:

• the development and negotiation of agreements to manage the custodianship and sharing of data;
• the acquisition and development of computer systems for the compilation and management of the data sets, and the delivery of this data via the Internet;
• the establishment of working groups to refine data set specifications and principals, to meet community needs;
• the development of data compilation/maintenance procedures and teams;
• the compilation of 56 land related data sets;
• the development of applications to enable access to title and valuation information via the Internet; and
• the development of associated business rules, client management procedures and documentation.

As the number of data sets grew, so did national and international interest. Early in 1999 The Department was awarded a Gold Government Technology Productivity Award at a presentation in Parliament House, Canberra. Later that year, The LIST was selected to receive the 1999 Exemplary Systems in Government Award in the National Spatial Data Infrastructure / Data Partnership Category of the North American Urban and Regional Information Systems Association.

By June 1999 (just over 2 years since commencement), The LIST had achieved many of its initial objectives. The importance of the system is increasingly being recognised throughout the community, and demand for improvements and extensions are now driving its transformation from a project into a permanent program within the agency. This is evident from its status as one of 10 key objectives of the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment (DPIWE).

The LIST today

The LIST is a means of gaining access to land related information. It currently achieves this through a purpose-built Internet interface accessible at the URL www.thelist.tas.gov.au . In August 2000, an Enhanced Map Viewer was released for The LIST. This integrated the map images and the vector data with an extensive name searching facility. The new interface extends the display capabilities of the original map interface to include viewing through Netscape Navigator; the display of raster data (including the Tasmanian Towns Atlas); more extensive feature information; and searching based on the name of a feature.

Whilst much of the technical infrastructure is in place, the assessment of 3 years to complete the data compilation to the original standard has proved accurate. One important aspect of The LIST is that it should deliver information that is up-to-date. Working within the limits of available data, some compromises were made in this regard during the initial compilation. Whilst strategies are in place to rectify this deficiency, work is still required to achieve this objective of currency of information.

The major strategy in this regard involves the development of a series of Data Share Agreements between data custodians and potential data suppliers. These agreements have the added advantage of reducing public sector duplication and the agency has now enacted a Data Share Agreement with almost every local Council and is finalising such agreements with GBE's and other agencies. These agreements recognise the contribution which the parties can make to both the initial data set compilation and maintenance of these data sets. As a result, all public sector organisations involved in collecting land related data can combine their resources to enable the creation and maintenance of a set of authoritative data. Details as to how the data share arrangements will be implemented is encapsulated in an associated Data Exchange Specification. These are now under development.

The data sets which are currently available through The LIST are highlighted in dark grey in Attachment 1. Some of the data sets currently under development are detailed below.

Address data set:

Property address details, including location are probably the most sought after land related information. Whilst this is one of the core data sets in The LIST, it is one of the last to be created due its dependence on the compilation of the full land parcel/property data set. This data set is now being developed using a combination of rural street address information in the Valuation database, the Road data set and the Cadastral data set. Procedures are being developed to maintain this data set which should be completed early in 2001.

Cadastral and Land Classification Themes:

The complexity of the cadastral and land classification components has presented the greatest challenge in terms of data compilation. The mapping of Crown and statutory authority land holdings has been particularly complex. Changes introduced through initiatives such as the Public Land Use Classification review and the Regional Forrest Agreement are only now being accurately recorded. ILS is working with other GBE's and agencies to finalise these themes. It is hoped to complete these themes by the middle of 2001.

Administrative Area Theme:

The lack of officially defined suburb and locality areas has been a long-standing impediment to the standardising of addresses. ILS is receiving assistance from a number of interested parties such as Australia Post, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Telstra and local government to create the first official definition of suburbs and localities in Tasmania. The process involves a period of public consultation followed by referral to the Nomenclature Board for final ratification. The definition of Postcode areas is an adjunct to this program. Despite the sensitivity of the public to this issue, the process is progressing well and should be complete by early 2001.

Digital Elevation Model:

This is a representation of the terrain which can be readily processed by computers to generate derived views such as contours, slope and aspect. This work is being carried out under contract due to the computing resource required. This data set should be available by the end of 2000.

Heritage:

Discussions as to how to include heritage data into The LIST have been protracted. There are two primary sources for such data, the first being the Tasmanian Heritage Council (THC) and the second being the Cultural Heritage Branch of Resource Management and Conservation (RMC) .

THC data is linked to a property and can therefore be viewed in relation to a data set which already exist in LIST. This data is on a public register and apart from some management aspects, will be available to the public. The data is currently managed on a stand-alone system.

Historic heritage data managed by RMC overlaps the THC data to some extent, however where it doesn't, it is generally considered that access to it should be restricted. Once again this data is managed on a small in-house system. RMC also manages Aboriginal data in conjunction with the Aboriginal community. Access to this data is definitely restricted, even to the extent that this community is withholding permission for it to be managed through the LIST computer systems.

The current strategy for these data sets is to establish a heritage system on the LIST computer architecture and only release the THC data and limited RMC data through LIST. A functional requirements specification to convert the existing systems is complete and this development is now underway.

Planning Theme:

Work is well advanced on conversion of the various planning schemes created by local government into a LIST compatible form. In the absence of a common set of specifications, the display of these schemes is complex. As a result, the various schemes are being grouped into regions and presented through separate map views.

Built Environment:

This data set provides an overview of the more urbanised areas of the State and is being completed as resources permit.

Vegetation:

Through the Resource Management and Conservation (RMC) Division of DPIWE, a complete vegetation data set is being produced. This is approximately 40% complete and will progressively be included on The LIST.

Threatened Species:

Once again this data set is being made available by RMC and will feature zones in which a summary of the threatened species is available.

The LIST of the future

The LIST is now recognised as a major infrastructure initiative which spans State agencies, all levels of government and the broader community. The introduction of LIST has brought about a revolution in the way ILS sees its business. The map centric focus of old has transformed to a data management and dissemination focus, with mapping in the traditional sense as only one output. Whilst The LIST is not 'owned' by ILS, the LICC has recognised that ILS is the appropriate organisation to manage the system on the their behalf. A LIST Management Advisory Group has now been established to oversee the systems development. This group is made up of representatives of both the LICC and the operational areas of ILS which are involved in implementing LIST.

Whilst The LIST will increasingly be an important component of the business processes of those using the system (data custodians and users), it will be fundamental to most ILS activities. Included amongst the data for which ILS is custodian, are the majority of the data sets in LIST today. Whilst other data custodians will be responsible for many of the additional data sets which are now being included in The LIST, ILS will always have a role to support the presentation of these new data sets whilst continuing its own data management functions.

Data presentation and dissemination:

Presentation and dissemination of data through LIST is currently restricted to a single interface. Whilst this is helping to generate significant income (over $3M of sales to date), this has been developed with a fairly limited customer focus and will need to be supplemented by other methods of access in the near future. Users require a capacity to view data they have compiled in conjunction with data available through LIST. This can be achieved in one of 3 ways:

• The third party data can be stored and managed by ILS and made available through the current interface, provided significant enhancements are made;
• Copies of data available through LIST can be transferred to a client's computer system and maintained through regular updates; or
• New generation interfaces can be employed which enable a client to access data currently available through LIST on an as-needs basis, and use it in conjunction with data they are managing.

Series mapping:

Standard series mapping has been the bread and butter of a large component of ILS and its predecessors for many years. Whilst the popular 1:25,000 series is almost complete, many of the current editions are many years out of date. The LIST has dominated ILS resources for the past 3 years and therefore very little map production or revision has taken place over this time. Prior to LIST, ILS was successfully developing semi-automated methods for map production, however the restriction to putting these processes into production was a lack of comprehensive digital data as a source.

LIST data will be able to meet this need, although cartographic productions place their own constraints on data, which will need to managed. ILS will now be able to review its mapping program in light of LIST. It will also be in a position to extend its mapping program to satisfy the need for customised products and build on its reputation as one of Australia's premier mapping organisations.

Aerial photography and imagery:

Utilising its aerial photo resource and knowledge, ILS has produced a range of image based products including its popular 1:5,000 Orthophoto series. It is recognised that users of land information prefer to use views of the world to which they can relate. Aerial photography, or high resolution space imagery, can satisfy this need. When used in conjunction with the data compiled for LIST, the users can both immediately relate to what they see (imagery), and extract the information they require (vector data). Technology is now presenting new opportunities to make this high volume data available over the Internet. This, coupled with the capacity for regular updates due to the low level of post processing, provides some very exciting and efficient solutions for the user, and government as a provider.

Data:

It was recognised when the initial proposals for funding were developed, that compromises would need to be made if a project such as The LIST was to be commenced by government. These compromises were twofold. The number of data sets initially compiled, and the spatial accuracy to which they were compiled.

In the first instance, only 56 of the potential 300 data sets were compiled. This ensured that resource requirements could be kept within acceptable limits and that data sets which were the foundation of others, were developed first. This matter is now being addressed by the LICC as it seeks to prioritise development of the remaining data sets. DPIWE is custodian of many of these data sets by virtue of its focus on land and activities which take place on land. Data sets relating to vegetation, threatened species, water and land slip are all being requested on an increasing basis. It is appropriate that those parts of the agency which are the current custodians should maintain this role, however ILS can offer The LIST as a means for disseminating these to the community.

It was also necessary that a balance was struck between the accuracy of the initial data and the time required to establish the data sets. For this reason, there was a heavy reliance on data which was readily available through the Division's existing mapping programs (scales of 1:25,000 and 1:5,000). Whilst the data sets which have been built from this base data are meeting the current needs of many users, others, mainly those operating at a more detailed local level, are now seeking more accurate data to meet needs such as asset management. The increasing pressure to develop these more spatially accurate versions of certain data sets was highlighted in the recent partnership agreement signed between the State Government and the Launceston City Council. In this agreement the government committed to a review of the spatial information presently available through LIST and to identify options for improving and maintaining this. This is being repeated in other partnership agreements.

Data maintenance:

Any program which establishes a resource as significant as The LIST, must ensure that its value is not diminished over time due to lack of maintenance. As noted earlier, ILS has put in place sophisticated strategies to assist in this regard, however, ultimately these will only succeed when supported by a data maintenance resource within ILS.

Geocentric Datum of Australia:

Tasmania, along with every other jurisdiction represented on the Intergovernmental Committee on Survey and Mapping (ICSM) is committed to transforming all its land information to the new datum for Australia. This change is to take place during 2000 and as the lead agency for such a change, ILS is again at the forefront. A strategy needs to be built for this change and ILS have already prepared the way through a number of technical initiatives.

A data directory:

Another national initiative, this time of the Australian and New Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC), is to establish the Australian Spatial Data Directory (ASDD). This directory relies on a series of nodes which are managed at a jurisdictional level. Tasmania has recently established its node which is referred to as the Tasmanian Spatial Data Directory. This is supported by an Internet based metadata entry tool which was developed as a part of LIST. Now that this infrastructure is in place, there is a need to promote the compilation of metadata across all organisations managing land related data.

Full integration of ILS systems:

In developing LIST, ILS made some strategic decisions in relation to dependent systems. Two of these systems, Vistas (the valuation database) and Tasfol (the land title database) were vital to the success of LIST but were also operational systems in their own right which could not be changed within the budget and timetable of LIST. As a result, ILS is now supporting systems which apart from the replication processes put in place as a stop gap measure, are incompatible with other LIST components. These systems and others are due for replacement and in doing so, efficiencies can be gained by aligning them with LIST technology.

Conclusion

It can be seen from this review that The LIST is not only fundamental to ILS, but to the whole community when dealing with land related information. As users become aware of The LIST, the suggestions as to how it can be extended and improved increase. The LICC has recently taken steps to put in place a more responsive management structure following a major review of The LIST. This coupled with an Executive Officer for the LICC, will ensure that stakeholder input is channelled into further improvements, keeping The LIST at the forefront of land information delivery.