A Local-State Government Spatial Data Sharing Partnership

7.1 Introduction
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Chapter 7 – Model Development and Discussion
The analysis of the state government case studies and the local government surveys were
completed in chapters 5 and 6. The outcomes from these two chapters provide the basis
for an improved understanding of the motivations for establishing the data sharing
partnerships, the differing collaborative processes and the factors that influence the
successful outcomes of the partnerships. This chapter now integrates these findings into a
model which better reflects the data sharing partnership process within a local and state
government context.
In the first part of the chapter, the model development process is discussed, including the
integration strategy and the key findings from chapters 5 and 6. The developed model is
then presented and the individual components of the model are described. Next, the
useability and performance of the model is evaluated through the application of model to
the three case studies. The ability of the model to differentiate between the three
partnerships is assessed and compared to the results from chapters 5 and 6. A critical
appraisal of the model with respect to the various SDI components is then undertaken to
determine the contribution of partnership model to SDI development. Finally, the
application and generalisation of the model to other partnership environments is discussed.
7.2 Model Development
7.2.1 Development Process
The mixed method research approach has enabled three data sharing partnerships to be
investigated across a number of dimensions and at two jurisdictional levels. In addition to
the results from these investigations, the existing theory and knowledge base on
collaboration, data sharing and SDI development has provided a solid foundation on which
to build the model. Figure 7.1 illustrates the process that was used to develop the data
sharing partnership model.
The results of the state government case studies contributed to a clearer understanding of
the institutional issues required to establish and manage the data sharing partnerships. In
multi-jurisdictional data sharing, where a key goal is to build state-wide spatial data sets,
the need for formal, well managed and process driven mechanisms was highlighted during
the research.