Establishing Information Communities -
A Technical or an Organisational
Challenge
by Jes Ryttersgaard
Key words: data, information, information systems,
education., infrastructure.
Abstract
1. Introduction
A number of countries are facing the same problems:
at the same time they are extending and consolidating their cadastral
and cartographic institutions and services and facing the challenges
building a market for spatial data and information.
At the same time the individual country has to:
- take responsibility for capacity building, education and
training of young people and staff, to secure continuos
development and to stand up to brain drain
- adjust their organizations to the continued changes in
technology
- update, upgrade and consolidate the cadastral and topographic
databases
- establish a spatial information infrastructure
- adapt to a commercial marked for spatial information
- adapt their organizations to regional and global developments
2. The Diversity
New technologies will give us new methods for data
capture. Remote sensing will give us cheaper data. Real time
positioning will revolutionize the traditional fieldwork, etc.
In time with the new technologies new actors will
enter the stage. They will be able to provide us with enormous amounts
of data. Physicists, mathematicians, statisticians and other
professionals will be involved in data capture traditionally done by
surveyors.
The available data will be used as well in public
and private administration as in business. Data from different sources
and data will be used in new combinations. Users without specific
knowledge will use and misuse the data they can get hold of.
To optimize and rationalize the use of data the
users, as well public as private, will demand nationwide homogeneous
data collections. Spatial data will be integrated in all kinds of
information-systems. Sometimes they will be visible. In other cases
they will be invisible, but indispensable because they are the real
prerequisite for the actual information-system.
There is a need for a general accepted Spatial
Data/Information Infrastructure.
3. Conclusions
Often development and implementation of information
systems are looked at and presented as a technical challenge. The
hypothesis in this paper is that in connection with establishing
information-systems involving one or more institutions or agencies the
organizational problems turn out to be very fundamental, whereas the
traditional technical aspects are of secondary importance.
As previously mentioned other professionals than
surveyors are and will be involved in data-capture. On the other hand
there is recognition of the need for professionals who can take the
responsibility for establishment of the necessary infrastructure –
spatial information managers.
It is an enormous challenge for universities and
technical high schools to adapt their curriculum to needs and demands
already recognised. If the educational institutions are able to
produce candidates who understand and are able to handle spatial
data/information infrastructure, harmonisation and integration of data
there are enormous possibilities for employment.
Besides the traditional production of candidates,
there is a need for upgrading of surveyors with some years of
professional experience. It is urgent to put focus on activities like
continuing professional development and distance learning and
training.
Jes Ryttersgaard
Informatics Department
National Survey and
Cadastre Denmark
Rentemestervej 8
DK-2400 Copenhagen
DENMARK
Tel. + 45 3587 5050
Fax.:+ 45 3587 5051
E-mail: jr@kms.dk
Web site: http://www.kms.dk
Establishing Information Communities - A Technical or an Organisational
Challenge
1. INTRODUCTION
The title could indicate, that this is a
presentation of a technological solution on creating information
communities or a theoretical interpretation of the understanding of
the nature of information. This is not the fact. Instead it is about
the need for competence in Spatial Information Management.
The traditional paper map is static. Each map sheet represents a
snapshot of selected objects at a given time, and "the
owner" has an exclusive right to the map and the data the map is
based on.
In contrast to this a digital map or better a collection of spatial
data is dynamic with the time parameter as a part of the individual
data collection. In fact data from one digital map or a combination of
data from different digital maps can be looked at as a virtual
multimedia.
In "the digital world" we do have different owners of
spatial data, many different users and an unknown number of
applications. Therefore there is a marked for spatial data. But it is
not traditional hierarchical marked. We will
experience a marked organised as a network with many to many
relations. Such a structure needs to be robust to ignorance and
irrelevance.
The customers and users, as well public as private,
will take it for granted that it is possible to combine data from
different sources. There will be a strong need for a general accepted
Spatial Data/Information Infrastructure and at the same time a demand
for management and sharing of knowledge
Spatial Information Management as well as Knowledge
Management is a growth field for surveyors.
Some countries have had a nation-wide cadastre and
topographic map-series in different scales for years. They have spent
the last decade with establishing digital solutions and they already
have established a market for digital spatial data and information.
Other countries are extending and consolidating
their cadastral and cartographic institutions and services. At the
same time they are facing the challenges to adapt to a market for
spatial data and information.
2. A GENERAL MODEL FOR DEVELOPMENT
A typical course from being a traditional "paper-based"
organisation to an organisation where all data and information are on
digital form can be split up into different stages such as conversion
of the analogue map to digital data, harmonizing the digital data,
integration a.s.o.
The relations between the different stages of development, the
demands on professional skills for the various tasks and the
possibilities for dissemination of data and/or information are shown
in a simple model.
The horizontal axis in the model represents the time. In the first
stage the main focus is on servicing the organization itself. The next
step is servicing the society in general and the goal will be to give
special service to the individual citizen.
The boxes represent the activities to a given time, or if you like
it in that way the different stages of development the individual
organization will run through. The different activities can partly go
on in parallel, but shortcuts are not possibly.
Firstly we establish a technical solution and convert our data from
analogue to digital form. Then we will harmonize our data, introduce
standards, common datamodels, etc. After that we will integrate data
and in this way create information, and soon we will create
interaction with the individual citizen.
The vertical axis represents the necessary primary professional
competence for the different stages of development.
The difference on being responsible for digitalization and
harmonizing, modelling and visualisation is big. Seen from the point
of organizational development each of the phases are very interesting.
As it will be shown afterwards the order of the different phases may
change from organisation to organisation and/or from country to
country.
The fact is that we at the same time are going through a migration
phase and are adjusting ourselves to be marked oriented. It is
interesting to observe that similar changes pass off as well in
developed countries, as in developing countries and countries in
transition.
"Best practice studies" of actual developments concerning
spatial information in public organizations and/or agencies would
show:
- dependence between the way we organize our business and time for
implementation,
- dependence between the way we organize ourselves and costs,
- transparency inside the organization discourage sub-optimizing.
The different organizations do not have to go through all the
phases. Many starts with letting one or more technicians purchase
equipment for digitalisation and conversion of data. In those cases
there is great risk that the technicians afterwards will sub-optimize
in order to protect their own position of power.
The organizations would develop faster if they changed the focus
from production to utilization. The best would be to start with
developing a strategy for the future use of data and information.
Presumably it would be more profitable to outsource establishment and
conversion.
3. REALIZED DEVELOPMENTS
With another simple model I will illustrate some realized and some
foreseeable courses of events and/or developments. Developments that
support my assertion on need for changes in and introduction of new
competence.
The model is so general and robust that it can be used as well on
one organization with several departments as on a number of
institutions independent of the stage of development.
The horizontal axis illustrates the migration where focus change
from data to information. The goal is to become a member of the
Information Community, the situation represented with the top-right
box. For many it is surprisingly hard to become an ordinary member of
the elite, the information community. Some try to take a short cut.
Unfortunately they must accept that short cuts often results in extra
work.
It is quite normal to move horizontal from left to right in the
boxes at the bottom of the model.
As soon as the organization has finished the creation of digital
data, or even before, they wish to create information and at the same
time make the information available, at least in house.
Often the skilled technicians, who have been responsible for the
establishment or conversion-phase, want to crown the achievement a
web-solution. At the first glance the results are elegant, but in
reality they are only useful in-house. Because the background is a
data island they have create a new island, an information island.
After a short while users outside the organization would like to
use your information together with data from others. But it is not
that easy to follow a vertical track from information-islands to
information-communities. Quite normally it is difficult and often
impossible to combine information from different sources.
The most efficient action is to step back to the data-island and
start to negotiate with the organizations you would like to co-operate
with. We need to create harmony between the different data-sources. We
must create an infrastructure for spatial data.
This is not a job for inveterate technicians or GIS nerds. Instead
we need people in the arena with political and organizational flair.
People with knowledge on human nature
and handling of information will create the vertical left track
from data-islands to data-communities. They will establish the
background for creating the data communities.
With the data-communities as the necessary back-bone it is possible
to create information that fulfils the needs of the different users.
We can follow the horizontal track from the left to the right in the
upper row.
4. SPATIAL DATA/INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE
There is no unified or accepted definition of Spatial Data
Infrastructure. The content of a Spatial Data Infrastructure is
dependent on and shall reflect the stage of development and education
in the individual country.
I will illustrate the concept of an infrastructure with a model, I
developed some years ago.
The starting point for a common spatial data infrastructure is the
smallest intersection of data and a set of "Highway
Codes" for the vertical "Information Highway". The
highway codes will comprise standards, data models, exchange formats,
meta-databases, agreements on common object definitions etc.
The actors will be organizations, agencies, public and private
business and citizens who have a need for creating information
crossing the established boundaries and structures.
If you would like to read more about National Spatial
Infrastructure I can warmly refer to the research of Professor Ian
Masser from the ITC in Holland.
5. DEVELOPMENT OF AND CHANGE IN COMPETENCE
The individual organization should be prepared for requirements or
needs on new competence, just as it will be appropriate/necessary to
review and re-estimate the organization as such from time to time.
This process requires involvement from the top-management.
To illustrate the dependencies between the different stages of
development and competence I’ll show you what has happened to the
National Survey and Cadastre Denmark (KMS) over the last ten years.
The period where we converted our maps to digital form and entered the
marked for digital data and information.
The developments are represented in the boxes. The box with
"transactions" represents what will happen late 2000 when
the private licensed surveyors begin to use the new Cadastral
Information and Updating system (MIA).
Self-government is about the situation where the individual citizen
is able to serve himself through an Internet and/or WAP or digital TV
solution.
The change has been driven through a number of developments and
changes of the entire organization, upgrading and change of
competence, recruitment of new employees, etc. In 1992 the process
started seriously with a 20% staff reduction. The derived savings
financed outsourcing of the digitalization process. You can look at
this as a process of developing the private sector.
Since 1992 the staff profile has changed markedly. A change from
craftsmanship to handling functions such as preparation of invitations
to tender, contract negotiations, quality control, product
development, establishing of partnership, consultancy and sale, etc.
6. THE EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE.
As shown in the previous there is an increasing need for persons
with knowledge on infrastructure elements, analysis, modelling,
visualization, negotiation, management etc. Persons who are less
skilled in the technical disciplines than the traditional surveyors.
The demands on "management" skills depend on the stage of
development for the organization. As soon as you start to co-operate
with none professional users you need a staff who are able to handle
information and knowledge.
A study of the ongoing development results in some general
observation:
|
Observation 1:
-
New actors in data collection
-
Demand on new qualifications
-
Problems with generational change
|
The traditional employee with a medium or high level education in
geo-related issues do has a comprehensive knowledge on IT and
informatics, cartography, photogrammetry and surveying.
New technologies will give us new methods for data
capture. Remote sensing will give us cheaper data. Real time
positioning will revolutionize the traditional fieldwork, etc.
In time with the new technologies new actors will
enter the stage. Physicists, mathematicians, statisticians and other
professionals will be involved in data capture traditionally done by
surveyors.
On the other hand there is a need for employees with new
qualifications such as management, standards, data models, meta data,
access to data, infrastructure architecture, intellectual property
right, copyright, prizing of data and organizational developments. At
the same time there is a need for knowledge on analysis, modelling,
visualization, visual communication a.s.o.
The problem is that it is difficult to find an appropriate
education. Normally there is a discrepancy between actual needs and
the possible curricula.
A number of the developing countries and some countries in
transition are facing problems such as capacity building and the lack
of a developed private surveying community. They experience an
intensive brain-drain. Often when people are educated to a certain
level they leave the country for a country with a higher living
standard.
In this way the individual country becomes very dependent on
international consultancies and contractors, and it becomes nearly
impossible for surveyors to establish the basis for sustainable
business.
Education is a real bottleneck. It is very urgent to establish
sufficient possibilities for education and training on all
professional levels. Especial the developing countries should be very
much aware of the distance learning activities in some of the former
eastern European countries.
|
Observation 2:
-
need for lifelong learning
-
need for "distance learning"
-
need for middle-range training
-
need for dynamic curriculum
-
need for partnership between universities and industry
|
7. CONCLUSIONS
Often development and implementation of information
systems is looked at and presented as a technical challenge. The
hypothesis in this paper is that in connection with establishing
information-systems involving one or more institutions or agencies the
organizational problems turn out to be very fundamental, whereas the
traditional technical aspects are of secondary importance.
As previously mentioned other professionals than
surveyors are and will be involved in data-capture. On the other hand
there is recognition of the need for professionals who can take the
responsibility for establishment of the necessary infrastructure –
spatial information managers.
It is an enormous challenge for universities and
technical high schools to adapt their curriculum to needs and demands
already recognised. If the educational institutions are able to
produce candidates who understand and are able to handle spatial data
and information infrastructure, harmonisation and integration of data
there are enormous possibilities for employment.
Besides the traditional production of candidates,
there is a need for upgrading of surveyors with some years of
professional experience. It is urgent to put focus on activities like
continuing professional development and distance learning and
training.
It is extremely essential to secure that the curriculums reflect
what is coming to morrow, instead of what happened yesterday.
8. EPILOGUE
There are a lot of examples on data-islands. Some
information-islands and a few information communities are realities.
In line with establishing of formal or informal national
infrastructures for spatial data and information we will see many real
information-communities.
What happens then? Some will be disappointed because the
none-professional user does not understand what we offer him. He or
she lacks the knowledge we as professional intuitive use when we
interpret the information we have created. We must offer our knowledge
and our experiences. We must create knowledge-based systems.
The American vice-president Al Gore speaks about: "Information
at your fingertips" and about virtual travelling in space and
time.
This is only practicable to live up to if we are able to manage the
challenge to offer our knowledge in a systematic and understandable
way and if we can manage to make all historical data available in
digital form. Without the historical aspects our collections of
information will be like torsos.
Jes Ryttersgaard
Informatics Department
National Survey and
Cadastre Denmark
Rentemestervej 8
DK-2400 Copenhagen
DENMARK
Tel. + 45 3587 5050
Fax.:+ 45 3587 5051
E-mail: jr@kms.dk
Web site: http://www.kms.dk
25 April 2000
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