The Economy of GI Simple Applications Make Money Robin Waters 5th ECGIS Workshop, Stresa 1999

The Economy of GI

Simple Applications Make Money

Robin Waters

5th ECGIS Workshop, Stresa 1999

GI Millionaires ?

Who said : ‘I want to help you become millionaires !’

Richard Branson ?

George Soros ?

Bill Gates ?

Geoffrey Robinson

Chief Executive of the Ordnance Survey

Successes for Geographic Infostructure

• Road Networks - derived from maps

• Addresses & Post Codes - geo-referenced

• Land & Property (Cadastre?) -

parcels/buildings

GI Products and Services:The Players

• Originators

• Agents & Distributors

• Licensed Publishers

• Value Added Resellers

• Data Maintenance and other contractors

• Joint venture partners

Keep it Simple

• Remember even maps are not simple to many users !

• Simple Concepts

• Simple messages (to market)

• Simple Interfaces

• All because we have Simple Users !

And this applies to governments as well !

Road Networks - SUCCESS !

• Mapping Agency sources

• Licenced Publishers or Value Added Resellers

• Original Costs - 100,000s Euros

• Price to LPs and VARs - 10,000s Euros

• Product price - 10s Euros

• What about maintenance/update??

Addresses & Post Codes - Partial SUCCESS !

• Post Office (& ? Local Gov.) sources

• Value Added Resellers

• Geo-coding

• ENORMOUS universe of users

• Imperfect but 80/20 applies

• Originator not amenable to GI market pressures.

Land & Property Information Partial SUCCESS !

• State Cadastre or Land Registry (& mapping)• Fit for purpose (but still 80/20) • Exploitation subject to legal constraints beyond

copyright.• Right to know versus Right to privacy• Basic Map available on-demand but not user

friendly ?• CD pay as you go - not up to date ?

Gazetteer - POSSIBILITY

• Buildings Gazetteer now being suggested

• Potentially independent of all agencies

• Buildings better than parcels - verifiable

• Occupancy (& multi occupancy) left to VARs

• Record would include Unique Number, Address, Post Code, Grid Co-ordinates

Infostructure Marketing

• Aim - Maximum utilisation

• Method - Differential pricing based on value

to user

• Any public funding should be input via the users NOT via providers

• Public sector USERS must collaborate to agree specifications of products/services

Constraints

• Bureaucracy altruism - benefits to the people

- maintenance of standards

‘commercial’ reasons

legal reasons (but often just an excuse)

political belief

human failing

• Secrecy of information (national/personal)

Drivers

• Social or political necessity

• Administrative need

• Commerce & competition

• Individual enthusiasm

• Entrepreneurs

Metadata (Marketing?)

• Meteorologists solved it long ago(common requirement, weather knows no borders)

• Don’t rely on providers !! It is NOT always in their immediate interest to provide

metadata - certainly not to a common standard !

• Public sector need persuasion or legislation

• Private sector will do their own but their is trading standards/liability legislation

Keep it Simple

• Simple Concepts

• Simple messages

• Simple Interfaces

Especially to governments & commissioners

and finally…...

Making

All

Governments

G I

Oriented

by Research (Recreation?)

for Europe