Spatial information and the industry associated with it is something I have been passionate about for a long time. And even today that makes me a little unusual. When I was first elected to Parliament, very few of my colleagues had any real understanding of what spatial information was, let alone any notion that it had the potential to grow into the $12.6 billion dollar industry it is today.
To the majority of parliamentarians and senior government officials a map was something you either had in your atlas at home or in the glove box of the car.
And that is where the spatial information industry was stuck for a while, at least amongst the decision makers in parliament.
The way we tackled this low profile in Australia was firstly to establish a Spatial Information Industry Action Agenda created with the vision to make Australia a "global leader in the innovative provision and use of spatial information".
The idea was to unite private business, academic and government sectors to work together towards developing a joint policy framework, deal with data access and pricing issues, increase the level of research and development, review skills and education in the sector and finally to develop domestic and global markets.
So we set about improving the linkages between business and government and research agencies, sought out ways to improve data access, looked at encouraging the teaching of spatial information concepts in schools, and began to remove some of the barriers to the sharing and provision of spatial data.
Some of the more immediate outcomes of the Action Agenda included: the establishment of the Spatial Sciences Institute of Australia (SSI), the establishment of the Australian Spatial Information Business Association (ASIBA), the establishment of the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRC-SI); and the introduction of the Spatial Data Access and Pricing Policy.
All of these outcomes of the Action Agenda have contributed to the growth and diversification of the industry since 2001. Thanks to this growth traditional surveying and mapping firms are now doing things differently and pursuing whole new opportunities. New firms are being established either as green fields companies or as the result of mergers and buyouts. Related disciplines are expanding into this space.
In fact we are well on the way in Australia to the creation of an environment where spatial data is valued, shared and available to contribute to economic growth. A recent, published study commissioned by the CRC-SI, in collaboration with ASIBA and the Spatial Council found that Spatial Information contributed between $6.4 billion and $12.6 billion to the Australian economy in 2007.
Unlike other industries where it could be argued that the role of Government is that of a regulator, when it comes to the development of spatial information systems and technology, the role of government is crucial, as in most cases government holds the primary data upon which the industry will ultimately grow.
And in Australia's case there is still more work to be done, especially in the area of freeing up information data which already exits in databases across state governments, and federal agencies.
However, if we continue to work together through the channels that are now established, and continue to free up and digitize existing data sources, there is no reason why the industry shouldn't continue to grow apace, creating jobs and opportunities across the economy.
After a 25 year career as a Surveyor, including 13 years in his own surveying and mapping business, the Hon. Gary Nairn served as the Member for Eden-Monaro in the Australian Parliament from 1996 till 2007 including as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and as Special Minister of State. He now operates his own consultancy business.
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Unlocking government information isn't as easy as it should be
Hi Gary,
I agree strongly with your views on spatial data, it's value to Australia and the approach that we need to take to continue to build the value within it.
However from my own experiences within the public sector machine there are still a number of hurdles yet to be tackled in order to unlock access and thereby value in Australian government information.
One of these is the IT systems themselves - the ones I have encountered are designed for operational purposes and are not structured or managed in ways which would allow rapid and simple access to spatial information - particularly not across firewalls.
Another is the legal status of government information. The Australian government is very protective of much of its information and reluctant to allow 'outsiders' to access and manipulate it for fear of awkward discoveries or due to misunderstandings around security and privacy.
The greatest barrier I have encountered, however, are the people responsible for managing and disseminating the information in government. My experience has been that there is limited understanding of the connected, collaborative world and public servants by nature are conservative and risk adverse, therefore are less inclined to take a risk on content being used in ways tha would not be of benefit to the government.
How to overcome these barriers - education, leadership and a strong centre.
We need to build a greater understanding of the value of spatial information at senior political and public service levels, enabling the incumbents to make good decisions and provide clear and unambiguous leadership.
A strong central organisation, built on or replacing AGIMO, with significant expertise in data and its manipulation, as well as the teeth to enforce agencies coming together to agree on data standards and policies and able to release funding to support agencies in implementing these standards in order to free the information.
It is very achievable in a 3 year timeframe with the right level of political leadership.
So the only question that remains is who will deliver that leadership and the funds to support it.
Craig Thomler http://egovau.blogspot.com