A Local-State Government Spatial Data Sharing Partnership

A Local-State Spatial Data Sharing Partnership Model to Facilitate SDI Development
matured, they soon realised that building some of their fundamental data sets relied heavily
on the contributions from jurisdictions such as local government.
In Australia, the delivery of emergency services, such as police, fire fighting and
ambulance is a state government responsibility. Accurate and relevant information such as
address, vehicular access, location of services, property ownership, climate and
topography is critical for emergency response teams. However, rarely do all of these data
sets reside within the one organisation or jurisdiction. Hence, co-operation and data
sharing amongst these organisations is critical. Although there is a history of good co-
operation between jurisdictions during emergencies, at other times the sharing of data
between jurisdictions has been problematic.
With local government being a custodian of a number of strategic spatial data sets, it has a
crucial role to play in the development of the state and national SDIs. In recent years, a
number of co-operative partnerships between local and state government have begun to
emerge. These partnerships are relatively new arrangements that have been established to
facilitate the improved sharing of spatial data and to realise the full potential of the SDI.
To maximise the benefits from these partnerships it is important to understand the factors
that contribute to their successful operation and sustainability. Therefore, the focus of this
research is to understand these collaborative arrangements so that future data sharing
initiatives can be improved and sustained.
The Internet and the release of on-line tools such as Google Earth has transformed the
“Digital Earth” concept, described by former US vice-president Al Gore in 1998, into a
reality (Butler 2006). However, the limitations on information portals such as Google
Earth are unlikely to be of a technological nature. Instead, it is far more likely that these
information portals will be limited by people and organisational issues.
1.2 Research Formulation
1.2.1 Statement of Research Problem
Accurate and reliable spatial information, particularly property related information,
supports many operational and strategic decisions both within government and the
business community. The completeness and accuracy of many state spatial databases rely
on the exchange of information between jurisdictions, especially local government.
However, for a variety of technical, institutional, political and economic reasons, the
exchange of this fundamental spatial information between local and state jurisdictions has
proven to be problematic. The limited sharing of spatial information between jurisdictions
4