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