Vermelding onderdeel organisatie 1 The impact of access policies on the development of a national GDI the continuing battle between Europe and the United States Münsteraner GI- Tage 26 June 2003 Bastiaan van Loenen Department of Civil Engineering and Geo-sciences, section Geo- information and Land Development

2 Overview Access policies The United States How to research access policies? Conclusions

3 Spatial data are special Linking data to the surface of the earth is extremely useful Many use spatial data but few are aware of its value Different levels of government need different spatial data: the lower the level the larger the scale But:

4 Spatial data are special, but expensive to create: high expertise and advanced equipment needed data does not ‘come’ to the gatherer

5 Who pays for data creation: Access Policies Open Access Minimum of use restrictions Maximum marginal costs of distribution charged Restricted Access Use restrictions imposed No limit on price Activities outside the scope of the public or legislated task: competition with private sector

6 Open Access: Funding Theory Government agency Users End-usersTreasury End-users Government users Data Product Public funds VAT Income/Company tax Price

7 Restricted Access: Funding Theory Government agency Users End-users Treasury End-users Government users Data Product Public funds VAT Income/Company tax Price

8 Access Models in one Legal System In one legal system both access models can exist: Different model for each user group Different model for different type of data Different model for each dataset A combination of the above This fragmentation within a legal system is limiting the use of data

9 Characteristics of Access Models Open access: Widespread use of spatial data tends to increase its value Promotes the development of an GDI Restrictive policy: Guaranteed high quality data Promotes the development of an GDI

10 Open Access: the United States? In principle yes for federal government Not necessarily true for states or local governments

11 Open Access: United States? Source: Van Loenen, 2002

12 Why not compare federal US with Europe? US is one uniform legal system with equivalent market size Agencies of the federal US create data at small scale level Federal agencies may have a mandate to uniformly create data for whole US

13 How to research access policies Step 1 research method: If comparative research compare like with like For Access Policies: Population density Level of economic development Systems of government Other, …

14 How to research access policies Compare like with like: One state in the US Three legal systems in Europe

15 How to compare? For four framework datasets Characteristics of data: Technical (Scale, Quality) Non-technical: Legal access Financial access Physical Intellectual Extra’s

16 How to compare? Assessing the use value of spatial data: Number of uses (‘useful’ uses) Variety of products using framework data Satisfaction of users

17 Non technical characteristics Framework data Use User satisfaction Use value Technical characteristics value VALUE Alternative Datasets?

18 Overview Access policies The United States How to research access policies? Conclusions

19 Conclusions Access policies should be compared through technical, non-technical characteristics combined with a use value assessment If no sufficient level of awareness available, the open access model is likely to block the development of GDIs Idea of EC to harmonise current access policies recognises the different contexts of the European legal systems

Vermelding onderdeel organisatie 20 Thank you for your attention Münsteraner GI- Tage 26 June 2003 Bastiaan van Loenen Department of Civil Engineering and Geo-sciences, section Geo- information and Land Development More information on this subject: