The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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Et godt addressesystem – til nytte for samfundet

Tryggvi Már IngvarssonMSc Geomatic Engineer, tryggvi@fmr.is

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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Content

• An address & address system

• A good address system – perspectives– business model– quality– multipurpose– costs & effectiveness

• Conclusions

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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Addresses & address systems- definition -

• “An address specifies a location by reference to a street, building or a landmark; or it specifies a point of postal delivery”

• “Address systems consist of networks of streets and points, with names, and logically ordered patterns of numbering of buildings, occupancies, and other features”

• Is this so clear-cut?

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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A good address system- perspectives -

• Database view – physical storage solutions, DBMS, effectiveness,

uniqueness of address entries– Logical numbering is not of big concern

• Maintainer’s view – Practical to update, e.g. when adding new address

into a address sequence• User’s view

– Logical - easy to orientate your self, built on history and traditions

– Thematic and alphabetic arrangement of streets and neighborhoods

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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A good address system- business model -

• The business model has to fulfill the requirements set by users – Without common consensus among its users even a good

system can proof ineffective

• Always up-to-date– An address should be in place, located and available at the

same time as the building permission is issued– Serving the demands of users

• License– New law on public information encourage re-use, added value

reproduction and resell by private companies– The new law limits pricing for governmental data (government

should e.g. not charge for copyright)

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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A good address system- business model -

• Costs– A detailed up-to-date and correct address system can however

be very expensive– Mistakes (e.g. wrong registration) can also be costly!

• Pricing– To high pricing by the government will push private companies

to develop their own separate system– How should the government justify its investments?

• How can benefits of an good address system be measured?– Hard cash revenues– Cost savings (e.g. preventing loss of lives or damaged

properties)– Tax revenue from stimulating private market

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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A good address system- quality issues -

• Correctness – attribute, time and spatial accuracy

• Completeness – full coverage• Consistency between different registries• Linage – possibility to trace back changes

• Important: There has to be a way for people to check the registration of their properties and put forward corrections!

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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A good address system- spatial issues -

• Updating – An address location should be available

before the building itself

• Geocoding addresses– Entrances– Building centroid– Post box– Gate

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A good address system- technical design/architecure -

• One central common repository– Core information only updated at one place– Prevents inconformity– Handles all declensions (“gervigreind”)– Registers also building names

• Service oriented architecture (SOA)– Employing web services– Extensibility– Each user can extend the core for own uses

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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A good address system- multipurpose -

• Residence registration– Locates people in apartments using logical code of storey and

apartment numbers (e.g. 0103 -> first floor, third door from left)

• Postal service– Identifies additional informal addresses

• Emergency service 112– Identifying all entrances (sub-addresses) of large buildings– Identifying public places, playgrounds, landmarks etc. – Querying different data source (who lives or who owns)

• Complex queries– Statistical researches, e.g. on health, democratic issues etc.– Rural properties without proper internet connection (ADSL)Is it actually possible to have all this function in one system???

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The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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Aluminum factory

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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Aluminum factory

The Land Registry of Iceland-GeoInformation Department

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Conclusion

• We have to find the intermediate way between costs, effectiveness and details

• A good address system in Iceland can maybe be a bad one in an other country

• A good address system is in my opinion one that fully serves the need of its users in the most optimal way given the budget available!