Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia November 2015

Review of Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

1 November 2015 Version 1.0

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

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DISCLAIMER While every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, the CRCSI does not offer any express or implied warranties or representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. The CRCSI and its employees and agents accept no liability in negligence for the information (or the use of such information) provided in this report.

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

Contents

1 Introduction ...... 2 1.1 Project Background and Objectives ...... 2 1.2 Scope & Deliverables ...... 2 1.3 Methodology ...... 2

2 Problem Definition ...... 4

3 Alternative Location Referencing Systems ...... 7 3.1 Geepers ...... 7 3.2 MapCode ...... 7 3.3 What3words ...... 7 3.4 Open Location Code (Plus+Codes) ...... 7 3.5 Address Exchange (AddEx) ...... 8 3.6 Other Systems and Comparisons ...... 8

4 User Stories and User Domains ...... 9

5 Key Features ...... 14 5.1 Key Workflow ...... 15 5.2 User Stories and Features ...... 18

6 Comparative Analysis ...... 24

7 Research & Development Opportunities ...... 27

8 Scoping a Pilot ...... 29

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

1 Introduction

1.1 Project Background and Objectives In 2014, the CRCSI study into the future of geocoded addressing in Australia (see: http://bit.do/GeocodedAddressing) concluded that systemic issues with the current jurisdictional addressing supply-chains prevent ‘authoritative’ address datasets such as PSMA’s Geocoded National Address File (G-NAF1) from meeting the longer-term user needs. The report recommended augmenting traditional methods with innovative crowd-sourced and community-based location approaches, using an iterative, experimental approach. At the same time, several such innovative approaches to location are emerging, with what3words (http://what3words.com/), MapCode (http://www.mapcode.com/), Plus+Codes (https://plus.codes/) and Geepers (http://www.geepers.com/) being among the foremost and high-profile ones, utilising a short alphanumeric code and/or a social reference system, respectively. In this project, we aim to scope a Pilot Study as a first step to explore how innovative solutions may contribute to better communication of location in Australia.

1.2 Scope & Deliverables The projects address’ key tasks:  Conduct exploratory conversations (workshops, interviews) with relevant stakeholders (CRCSI, technology providers, selected user representatives);  Identify relevant touch-points with P3 research topics (eg Supply Chains, crowd sourcing, semantic web, federation);  Define a number of real world use-cases and user-benefits;  Provide a Gap, SWOT and comparative analysis of the innovative approaches and their ability to enhance and be incorporated into the Geocoded Address Supply chain;  Scope a series of collaborative experiments; and  Develop a work program in consultation with CRCSI and other technology providers, as well as identify potential sponsors for the experiments. The deliverable will be a concise report covering the goals & scope as defined above, as well as identifying industrial opportunities that might be enhanced by applied research expertise and linkages.

1.3 Methodology The findings presented in this document have been compiled through:  A user-stories workshop in Canberra on 4 June 2015, with representatives from government, academia and addressing companies;  A series of follow-up interviews with potential users, solution providers and academic sources;  A validation workshop in Melbourne on 20 August 2015, with representatives from government, academia and addressing companies;  An R&D workshop in Perth on 26 August 2015, with representatives from the CRCSI’s Research Program 3 (P3), to determine potential research topics;  Desk-study and analysis.

A Project Steering Group consisting of Kylie Armstrong (CRCSI), Jamie Baker (Department of Communications), and Tim Neal (Department of Communications) conducted regular project reviews. A full overview of workshops and participants can be found in Appendix 1 – Workshop Participants.

1 http://www.psma.com.au/?product=g-naf

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

1.4 Glossary Term Explanation API Application Programming Interface The cadastre of a country is its register of property titles and is usually managed by Cadastral government agencies – in Australia these are often called Land Titles Offices. The parcel information recorded includes an accurate description of the location of a parcel of land and who owns it. CRCSI Collaborative Research Centre for Spatial Information The authoritative manager of data set, service or component. Responsible for the Custodian declaration of the policies regarding use and accounting for the resource. G-NAF Geocoded National Address File. http://www.psma.com.au/?product=g-naf GIS Geographic Information System The ability of different information technology systems and software applications to Interoperability communicate, exchange data, and use the information that has been exchanged Open Data is data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone - subject Open Data only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike. Computer software with its source code made available including the rights to study, Open Source change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose A listing of the specific, individual services, components, datasets or other entities related Registry to the GIS/relevant to its users. Describes a work process with a focus of the IT components involved, actors, activities Use-Case and outcomes Application logic accessible across a network using standard Internet protocols. Web Sers combine the best aspects of component-based development and the Web. Like components, Web Services represent functionality that can be easily reused without Web Service knowing how the service is implemented. Unlike current component technologies that are accessed via proprietary protocols, Web Services are accessed via ubiquitous Web protocols (e.g. http) using universally accepted data formats (e.g. XML).

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

2 Problem Definition The 2014 CRCSI study into the future of geocoded addressing in Australia (see: http://bit.do/GeocodedAddressing) concluded that the current supply chain for geocoded address data in Australia, leads to a national dataset that:  Is cost-inefficient;  Has significant duplication of effort, inconsistencies, and ambiguities;  Is based on a supply chain that is structurally unable to provide currency levels that many users expect;  Doesn’t allow to identify non property-based locations, or locations that don’t have a (complete) street address.  Makes it impossible or cumbersome for citizens to report errors or updates.  Is not designed to support emerging requirements and use-cases.

As an illustration, see an example below for a block of residential and commercial units in Surry Hills, NSW.

Figure 1 One property, many location descriptors The cadastral parcel is known as 99-15 Flinders Street, Strata Plan 48654. It is composed of 24 Strata lots, and 26 ‘units’, as lot 24 has 3 separate tenants or ‘shops’. G-NAF lists both the parcel (99-115 Flinders Street), and 21(!) units at the same address, all with the same geocode of the parcel centroid.

In reality, to satisfy the myriad of use-cases of residents, tenants and visitors of the building (as illustrated in some of the user stories above), a future system will need to be more fine-grained than parcels or properties. It will need to identify, label, and geocode for instance:

 Postal addresses  Visitor addresses, including pedestrian (‘frontage’) vs. car park access  Goods delivery address – which may be different from postal addresses  Informal (e.g. Facebook) identifiers  Access points that don’t have a full address (e.g. Hutchinson Place)  Multiple descriptions for the same access point (eg unit 24/99-115 Flinders St, 1/18 Hutchinson St, or even https://www.facebook.com/suzieqcoffee).

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

All these are essential for most use-cases in urban areas where street addresses exist. They require labelling and geocoding of locations at a finer resolution than can be derived from property-based addressing. However, only 11% of Australia’s landmass in properly addressed. There is a wide range of use-cases for the 89% of area where no addresses exist, e.g. in indigenous communities, greenfield developments, mine sites, or marine environments. Until recently, the only way to reference locations in these situations would be to use elaborate natural language descriptions, or X,Y coordinates.

2.1 What do users want? Initial user requirement analysis2 established that users want geocoded location referencing data that is:  Timely (Current)  Accurate  Robust  Comprehensive  Accessible  Secure  Extensible  Machine readable  Shareable  Cost-effective

Furthermore, in our discussions with stakeholders regarding the future vision, it emerged that users also need geocoded location information that:  Is trusted (which doesn’t necessarily mean ‘authoritative’), is trustworthy or provides a level of known confidence;  Enables point-to-point navigation, both indoor and outdoor, in 3D and in time (and is ‘BIM ready’);  Has a greater resolution than is available through ‘traditional’ notion of address;  Allows greater ease of communication of location (e.g. not just 29 Jardine Street, Kingston ACT, but also Belgian Pub in Kingston, or even 4sq.com/53qr6I); and  Supports fitness for purpose geocodes, access points, and tags.

Geocodes may include more than point features (e.g. building footprints). Future applications may well require geocoding object’s locations that change over time (e.g. people, food trucks or mobile libraries) Private initiatives such as Geepers (see section 3.1) already allow user-defined, moving locations (enabled by their ‘.Now’ mobile app).

2 CRCSI (2015) “The Future of Geocoded Addressing in Australia”

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

A simplified, abstract representation of the relationship between objects, labels and geocodes, and how these enable users and usage, is depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Simplified,Conceptual Model for Geocoded Locations The user requirements and use-cases are enabled by a combination of the attributes of the location feature (is it a postal delivery point, or an insured building?), its descriptive labels (e.g. one or more address strings, a building name), and the geocode(s) that geo-reference the location feature. For instance, a dwelling can have multiple labels to enable different use-cases (a building name, a street address for visitors, and a second street address for parcel delivery), as well as multiple geocodes enabling different use-cases (a rooftop centroid for insurance purposes, mailbox coordinates for postal delivery, or the water meter geocode for the meter man).

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

3 Alternative Location Referencing Systems In recent times, a plethora of alternative location referencing systems have emerged. For the purpose of this study, we explore several in more detail; those that are getting most international traction and/or have a strong local (Australian) element, such as AddEx and Geepers.

3.1 Geepers Geepers (http://geepers.com) labels and locates people, places and things in an online register that can be searched in a similar way to a Twitter hashtag. Geepers lets users create a unique digital alphanumeric user profile or username, and then add multiple locations using latitude and longitude coordinates. These can refer to where they wish to be found, such as home, work, or current on-the-move locations, which is updated via their smartphone or internet-enabled device. In effect, Geepers is a private registry and resolver of unique, universal location tags, or ‘persistent location identifiers’. It is unique in that it allows users to register as many sub-tags as they like, including a time-dependent ‘Now’ tag that resolves to the user’s current location.

3.2 Mapcode Mapcodes (http://www.mapcode.com/) are a free, open way to make every house or location on Earth addressable by a short code. With nothing else except your mapcode, for instance, a navigation system will bring someone to within meters of your front door. Mapcodes are similar to postcodes, but with (potentially) much greater precision. Mapcodes are is integrated into GPS systems (TomTom and Garmin), is used in Here Maps, and Web search apps such as Google and Bing. It has been (unsuccessfully) proposed as an ISO standard for addressing. Mapcodes are open source and free to use.

3.3 What3words What3words (http://what3words.com/) is a unique combination of just 3 words that identifies a 3mx3m square, anywhere on the planet. It’s far more accurate than a postal address and it’s much easier to remember, use and share than a set of coordinates. The three-word addresses are algorithmically converted to coordinated and back, so that you don’t need to be online to use the system. What3words is gaining popularity in a range of application domains, and is integrated into leading GIS software tools such as ArcGIS and FME, and several app partners such as NAVMII and GoCarShare. Because it uses words, it is less sensitive to communication errors than coordinates or alphanumeric codes.

3.4 Open Location Code (Plus+Codes) Open Location Code (http://openlocationcode.com/) is a way of encoding location into a form that is easier to use than latitude and longitude. They are designed to be used like street addresses, especially in places where buildings aren't numbered or streets aren't named. Open Location Code is a concept that works similar to MapCode and what3words, and aims to solve the same use cases. It was developed by Google, and made available as Open Source.

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

Google has co-branded Open Location Code as ‘Plus-Codes’, and a demonstration site is available at http://plus.codes. Plus Codes can be used in Google Maps.

3.5 Address Exchange (AddEx) AddEx (http://addex.info/) is a cloud-based data exchange for address data. AddEx provides everyone with an opportunity to contribute their data or use existing AddEx data to validate, refine and extend world knowledge about address information. It aims to provide a linkage and brokerage service that brings together traditional and alternative addressing and location systems. AddEx is unique in that it aims to combine and link location referencing systems, rather than present a single, stand-alone solution.

3.6 Other Systems and Comparisons As mentioned before, the systems listed above are the one gathering most traction and/or are Australian products. Several others exist, including, but not limited to:  GeoHash (http://geohash.org)  Open Postcode (http://openpostcode.org)  Natural Area Code (http://nacgeo,com)  Maidenhead Locator System (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Locator_System)  Zippr (http://www.zip.pr)  ThisPlace (http://thisplace.herokuapp.com/help.html) And there are undoubtedly more. There are some online resources that attempt to make comparisons between these systems, for instance:  http://fulcrumapp.com/blog/comparing-address-and-coordinate-systems/  https://github.com/google/open-location-code/blob/master/docs/comparison.adoc#nac-site The latter being written by the Open Location Code team.

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

4 User Stories and User Domains Based on the initial workshop, desk-study and follow-up interviews, a number of high-level user stories have been identified, as listed in the table below. These are selected user-stories, and the user domains are constrained by the representatives that we could engage with. There is no doubt that more user stories exist for other domains, such as insurance, logistics, crisis management, mining, border protection, or greenfield developments (developers, utilities). Table 1 User Stories

Source # Narrative Actor Domain Feature(s) Benefit(s) Priority As an ESTA Operator I want to identify Identify locations with More accurately direct EMS a locations when access direction Emergency WS1 US-1 ESTA Operator greater resolution than personnel, reduce casualty High makes a big difference (e.g. top or Management addresses, incl. 3D levels bottom of a cliff) As a citizen who has lost their house Government (which is on a defence base) in a - Service Identify locations with Citizen, Speedier and more accurate WS1 US-2 cyclone, I want to share the location of Delivery greater resolution than High Centrelink claim management the house with Centrelink to apply for addresses compensation (Insurance)

As a Citizen, I want to share my More convenient and location with the MyGov ‘Tell-Us-Once’ Citizen Government accurate location Communicate Location WS1 US-3 service in any accepted way that suits interacting with - Service identification. Increased Low in a multitude of ways me if ‘address’ is not available or ‘Tell-us-once’ Delivery MyGov user take-up. Better & accurate enough more efficient service delivery As the government, I want to identify Government Identify locations without WS1 US-4 an enquiring citizen’s location when Government - Service Better service delivery High an address they don’t have an address. Delivery As an ABS statistician, I want to locate and link indigenous dwellings, households in a community or location, Government Identify locations without Cost savings (reduced WS1 US-5 Government/ABS High community services and Points of - Statistics an address duplication of data & effort) Interest, so that I can link data geographically

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

Source # Narrative Actor Domain Feature(s) Benefit(s) Priority As data manager, I want to recognise Link locations with other multiple geographies for a location, location identification Increased location reliability both iterative & hierarchical, so that I systems and and ability to cross-reference WS1 US-6 can easily understand what area a Data Manager Generic High geographies (such as multiple datasets & named location is in, and cross admin boundaries), geographies reference data with other location allowing ‘cross-walks’ reference systems I want to locate or find individuals in an Communication of More accurately direct EMS area of emergency or support Emergency location where the WS1 US-7 EMS personnel personnel, reduce casualty High emergency services for community Management environment is unknown levels safety to user, receiver or both ID 'relative' addresses, As an ambulance driver I want to know More accurately direct EMS Emergency and store/re-use these LINZ US-8 who to get to an incident location, even EMS personnel personnel, reduce casualty High Management (in front of, down the though there is no address given levels road from, etc). Communication of As a festival-goer, I want to agree a location where the Easier, more efficient meeting LINZ US-9 meeting place at the grounds, so I can Festival goer Recreation Low environment is unknown arrangements catch-up with my friends to user, receiver or both As a 000-operator, I want to reliably Communication of More accurately direct EMS US- resolve, non-authoritative feature Emergency location where the ESTA 000-operator personnel, reduce casualty High 10 names, so that I can faster, and more Management environment is unknown levels reliably, establish a caller's location to user, receiver or both As a citizen, I want to be able to send More accurately direct EMS US- my location via SMS, so that I can call Emergency Communication of ESTA Citizen personnel, reduce casualty Medium 11 for help, even in low-signal coverage Management location in plain text levels areas that don't allow for voice

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

Source # Narrative Actor Domain Feature(s) Benefit(s) Priority Identify locations without an address As a Centrelink customer advisor, I would like to be able to relate and Communicate Location validate multiple different types in a multitude of ways Centrelink Government US- (dwellings and other locations) and RMIT Customer - Service Better service delivery TBC 12 forms (authoritative, innovative Facilitate easy and Advisor Delivery location, natural language) of robust inter-conversion addresses, so that citizens can more between innovative as easily access Centrelink services. well as authoritative locations (inter-address transformations). Identify locations without an address

Community registration of named locations Better, more efficient operational planning: visiting Able to ID objects & communities, ability to plan As an ABS interviewer, I need to know features where no contacts. (indigenous areas is exactly which dwelling to approach to addresses exist (people, a marginal case, but most of survey, so that I can avoid re-surveying dwellings, businesses & the effort goes into marginal US- Government ABS a dwelling within 3-5 years ABS interviewer services); e.g. nurses cases) High 13 - Statistics (The dwelling might not have an quarters, hospitals, address; it might be a shed or retirement homes de-duplication of 'special 'temporary' fixture.) (parent-child addresses locations' databases (eg. ID-ed for ABS purposes nurses quarters), big savings only, ID-ed by filed if these can be shared across addresses). government.

Sharing asset/places data between agencies (maintained)

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

Source # Narrative Actor Domain Feature(s) Benefit(s) Priority

Able to ID objects & features where no addresses exist

Link locations with other location identification systems and geographies (such as admin boundaries), allowing ‘cross-walks’

maintain privacy of customer records when As a Centrelink officer, I want to linking data between accurately allocate a customer's home Better, more accurate service agencies location to an LGA suburb or Centrelink Government delivery US- DHS electorate, even when they live on a Customer - Service TBC 14 - eg Dept of social private road or in a caravan park, so Advisor Delivery Cost savings (reduced services (DSS) have DB that I can identify what service or duplication of data & effort) of aged care facilities. payment they are entitled to. One-on-one relationship to re-use. Conversely ATO, GA, NBN, ABS are interested in DHS themed DBs (happy to share).

- automatically linking DHS customer DBs with DSS facility data to ID which nursing homes are still open (DSS more complete & reliable DBs) - interoperability.

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

Source # Narrative Actor Domain Feature(s) Benefit(s) Priority self registration of locations and sub- locations Better, more accurate service As a courier, I want to know exactly delivery Desk US- where to drop off a delivery at what Courier company Delivery may change in time TBC Study 15 day & time, so that I deliver better (weekday vs. weekend Cost savings (reduce lost service as efficiently as possible delivery) time)

user updateable

While these user stories have a strong government focus, it is easy to see how similar user stories will exist in other domains, both in formal (eg. delivery) and informal (recreational) settings. Three key themes clearly emerge: 1. The need for identifying and communicating geo-referenced locations with greater precision, or where no (accurate or up to date) addresses exist;

2. A need for the user community to register or update location definitions such as addresses, placenames, or delivery points; and

3. The ability to better share and link location referencing data would increase efficiency and reduce cost due to less duplication and redundancy.

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

5 Key Features A number of key features for location reference systems were identified that would be needed to satisfy the identified user stories. Table 2 Key Features

No Feature Description

F1 non-ambiguous A location reference resolves unambiguously to a single location

Allows for referencing of a location at different levels of accuracy or F2 hierarchic in granularity resolution

higher resolution than property- Many applications and use-cases require better resolution than F3 based property-based addressing, eg. dwelling, delivery point, etc.

Reflect types of spatial constructs/relationships that are required for F4 preserving neighbourhood navigation or natural language processing, e.g. "within", "adjacent to"

Consistent, consecutive numbering. Eg. street that goes through F5 preserving order multiple suburbs doesn't re-start its numbering.

F6 easy to memorize Easy for humans to remember F7 easy to communicate Easy to communicate verbally or in written text

Can accommodate new addresses (e.g. as city is expanding) and old F8 expandable address range addresses at the same time. Allowing for e.g. 13a & b; non- consecutive numbering

Different user views, subject to user group. E.g. utilities will see the F9 multiple views utility entry point of 5 Flinders St, whereas the postman will see the post box point.

80% of time is spent indoors. 3D element is crucial. Needs functional F10 allows referencing in 3D reference (i.e. 3rd floor, rather than +15m)

Allow for location referencing in time, e.g. for moving objects (trucks) F11 enable time dependency or people; decoupling the Feature Of Interest from a fixed location in space & time.

Ability to augment, and link to traditional addressing, mixing F12 augment traditional addressing authoritative and non-authoritative sources

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

No Feature Description

Convertible to, and interoperable with, other location referencing systems F13 convertible and interoperable Facilitate easy and robust inter-conversion between innovative as well as authoritative locations (inter-address transformations).

F14 offline resolvable Convert to geocoded location without online access

F15 human resolvable Human can identify location without technology support

Ability for users to self register location references (e.g. private F16 self-registration addresses, delivery points)

Include, and validate, crowdsourced data (e.g. named places of interest, street aliases, landmarks); F17 crowd-sourced data

Ability to provide feed-back & updates to improve quality

The set of location reference systems is set to continue to expand, F18 future proofing and any solutions should not be too closely tied to specific technologies.

A sufficient proportion of the public is aware of, and has access to the F19 public awareness reference system

5.1 Key Workflow The diagram below presents a conceptual model of the key workflows, assets and features that support location referencing (and addressing) use-cases identified in this study.

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

Figure 3 Key Workflows and Features

 Location Reference Is the starting point for most use-cases: a location reference, be it coordinates, address, natural language string, or other code is presented to be interpreted (resolved) to support an action.  Resolve/Geocode For the reference to be actionable, the reference will need to be resolved. This may be a combination of natural language parsing, geocoding, or linkage with/conversion to another reference system.  Validate When resolved, the result may be validated with the user for confirmation or to get further information to refine the result. (if at this stage the user wants to notify the provider of an error, they would proceed to the ‘Update’ action described below)  Linkage The ability to link, convert and crosswalk between multiple reference systems and objects of interest. For instance linking an address, the cadastral property, parcel centroid coordinates and MapCode for the front door.  Objects of Interest The real-world items we observe, want to share information about, action and/or locate; e.g. cafes, assets, parcels, or customers.  Location Reference Systems The tools we use to code and reference locations. There are two distinct subgroups: navigable reference systems (usually street-addressing based that have hierarchies, neighbourhood relationships, and linear referencing), and location based systems that focus on coding and/or describing individual locations in space (and time).

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

 Action What the user(s) can do with the resolved reference. Location references will be resolved and subsequently converted to a reference that is relevant to the context of the user, and the action required. The action context may define the resolution type. For dispatching a street address may be most appropriate (when available), for property transactions it would be a title, and for drone delivery a coordinate pair (or triplet for 3D geocoding).  Update A special action type is the update, where a new or corrected reference is submitted to the respective location reference system. This encompasses crowd-sourcing as well as controlled updates from e.g. property developers.

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

5.2 User Stories and Features The table below indicates which features are relevant for each user-story

sourced data sourced

ambiguous

registratio

non hierarchic granularity in than property higher resolution based preserving neighbourhood preserving order easymemorize to easycommunicate to range address expandable multiple views 3Dallows in referencing dependency enable time augment addressing traditional convertibleinteroperable and offline resolvable human resolvable self crowd futureproofing public awareness

# User Story F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13 F14 F15 F16 F17 F18 F19

As an ESTA Operator I want to identify a US-1 locations when access direction makes a                   big difference (eg. top or bottom of a cliff)

As a citizen who has lost their house (which is on a defence base) in a US-2 cyclone, I want to share the location of                   the house with Centrelink to apply for compensation

As a Citizen, I want to share my location with the MyGov ‘Tell-Us-Once’ service in US-3 any accepted way that suits me if                   ‘address’ is not available or accurate enough

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

sourced data sourced

ambiguous

registratio

# User Story F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13 F14 F15 F16 F17 F18 F19

As the government, I want to identify an US-4 enquiring citizen’s location when they                   don’t have an address. As an ABS statistician, I want to locate and link indigenous dwellings, households in a community or location, US-5                    community services and Points of Interest, so that I can link data geographically As data manager, I want to recognise multiple geographies for a location, both iterative & hierarchical, so that I can US-6                    easily understand what area anamed location is in, and cross reference data with other location reference systems

I want to locate or find individuals in an area of emergency or support US-7                    emergency services for community safety

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

sourced data sourced

ambiguous

registratio

# User Story F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13 F14 F15 F16 F17 F18 F19

As an ambulance driver I want to know US-8 who to get to an incident location, even                    though there is no address given

As a festival-goer, I want to agree a US-9 meeting place at the grounds, so I can                    catch-up with my friends

As a 000-operator, I want to reliably US- resolve, non-authoritative feature names,                    10 so that I can faster, and more reliably, establish a caller's location

As a citizen, I want to be able to send my US- location via SMS, so that I can call for ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 11 help, even in low-signal coverage areas that don't allow for voice

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

sourced data sourced

ambiguous

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# User Story F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13 F14 F15 F16 F17 F18 F19 As a Centrelink customer advisor, I would like to be able to relate and validate multiple different types US- (dwellings and other locations) and forms                    12 (authoritative, innovative location, natural language) of addresses, so that citizens can more easily access Centrelink services.

As an ABS interviewer, I need to know exactly which dwelling to approach to US- survey, so that I can avoid re-surveying a                    13 dwelling within 3-5 years (The dwelling might not have an address; it might be a shed or 'temporary' fixture.)

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

sourced data sourced

ambiguous

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# User Story F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13 F14 F15 F16 F17 F18 F19

As a Centrelink officer, I want to accurately allocate a customer's home location to an LGA suburb or electorate, US- even when they live on a private road or                    14 in a caravan park, so that I can identify what service or payment they are entitled to.

As a courier, I want to know exactly US- where to drop of a delivery at what day &                    15 time, so that I delivery better service as efficiently as possible # of US satisfied 15 8 9 2 2 10 6 0 3 4 8 11 9 3 5 6 6 9 4

Across the user-stories identified in this study, the most important features an innovative location referencing system would need to support are the ones that satisfy the majority of the stories. The top features are:  Non-ambiguous  Hierarchic in granularity  Enabling a higher resolution than property-based

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 Easy to memorise  Enabling time dependency  Augment traditional addressing  Convertible and interoperable  Future proofing

A note of caution: The user stories identified in this study are constrained by the workshop and interview audience. While it may be reasonably assumed that similar user- stories, requiring similar features, would exist in other domains, the list of ‘top features’ identified here are representative of this sample of user stories only, and should be treated as indicative. Other features will likely also be of critical importance in specific domains. This also suggests that further study is required within other specific domains to test the validity of other use cases against the findings here.

Innovative Locations and Addressing in Australia

6 Comparative Analysis As part of the desk-study, the respective location referencing systems were assessed in relation to their ability to meet the identified requirements, and subsequently verified with the solution providers (with the exception of Plus+Codes). For completeness and reference, traditional addressing and straightforward coordinate systems are also included. Table 3 Evaluation of Location Referencing Systems against Features (Yes, No, Maybe)

No Feature Description

Postal/Street Coordinates what3words MapCode Geepers Addex OLC/Plus+Codes

A location reference resolves unambiguously to a single F1 non-ambiguous n y y y y y y location

Allows for referencing of a location at different levels of F2 hierarchic in granularity m n n y y y y accuracy or resolution

Many applications and use-cases require better higher resolution than F3 resolution than property-based addressing, eg. dwelling, n y y y y y y property-based delivery point, etc.

Reflect types of spatial constructs/relationships that are F4 preserving neighbourhood required for navigation or natural language processing, y n n m m y m e.g. "within", "adjacent to"

Consistent, consecutive numbering. Eg. street that goes F5 preserving order n n n n n m n through multiple suburbs doesn't re-start its numbering. F6 easy to memorize Easy for humans to remember y n y m y y m F7 easy to communicate Easy to communicate verbally or in written text y n y m y y m

Can accommodate new addresses (e.g. as city is F8 expandable address range expanding) and old addresses at the same time. Allowing m y y y y y y for e.g. 13a & b; non-consecutive numbering

Different user views, subject to user group. E.g. utilities F9 multiple views will see the utility entry point of 5 Flinders St, whereas n n n n y y n the postman will see the post box point.

80% of time is spent indoors. 3D element is crucial. F10 allows referencing in 3D Needs functional reference (i.e. 3rd floor, rather than n y n n m m n +15m)

Allow for location referencing in time, e.g. for moving F11 enable time dependency objects (trucks) or people; decoupling the Feature Of n n n n y n n Interest from a fixed location in space & time.

augment traditional Ability to augment, and link to traditional addressing, F12 n n y y y y y addressing mixing authoritative and non-authoritative sources

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No Feature Description

Postal/Street Coordinates what3words MapCode Geepers Addex OLC/Plus+Codes

Convertible to, and interoperable with, other location referencing systems convertible and F13 m m m m m y m interoperable Facilitate easy and robust inter-conversion between innovative as well as authoritative locations (inter- address transformations).

F14 offline resolvable Convert to geocoded location without online access m y y n n n n F15 human resolvable Human can identify location without technology support y y n n n n n Ability for users to self register location references (e.g. F16 self-registration n n n n y y n private addresses, delivery points)

Include, and validate, crowdsourced data (e.g. named places of interest, street aliases, landmarks); F17 crowd-sourced data m n n n m y n

Ability to provide feed-back & updates to improve quality

The set of location reference systems is set to continue F18 future proofing to expand, and any solutions should not be too closely n y n n m m m tied to specific technologies.

A sufficient proportion of the public is aware of, and has F19 public awareness y y m m n m m access to the reference system

6.1 Key Findings The evaluation in the data table above leads to the following findings from this study: Finding 1 No one solution can deliver all features. There are actually two distinct groups of solutions: navigable reference systems (usually street-addressing based that have hierarchies, neighbourhood relationships, and linear referencing), and location based systems that focus on coding and/or describing individual locations in space (and time).

Finding 2 Some features are poorly supported by the solutions reviewed. Poorly supported features that many user stories rely on include 3D referencing, Time dependency, Self-registration, and dealing with Crowd-sourced data.

Finding 3 There can be no single solution to satisfy even the limited number of user-stories identified in this study. Any mature, future-proof solution will have to rely on a ‘system of systems’, with the ability to link, and crosswalk between traditional and emerging innovative systems, some of which may be official, some may be informal.

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The table below summons up the main pros and cons for each of the solutions.

Table 4 Pros and Cons of Location Referencing Systems Solution Pros Cons

Well established High user recognition Systemic Supply Chain Issues Postal/Street Navigable Limited resolution addressing Hierarchical Limited coverage Preserves neighbourhood

Well established Limited user recognition Coordinates Full coverage Difficult for human communication High resolution Not navigable or hierarchical

Growing user recognition Very simple and powerful What3words Full coverage Not navigable or hierarchical High resolution Very easy for human communication

Growing user recognition (supported by TomTom and Here) Full coverage MapCode Not navigable High resolution Usable for human communication Some hierarchical features

Full coverage Emergin Technology High resolution Geepers Limited user recognition Self registration Not navigable or hierarchical Time dependency

Enables system of systems Supports open data Emerging Technology Addex Supports crowd-sourcing and self- Limited user recognition registration

Growing user recognition (supported by Google) OLC/Plus+Co Full coverage Not navigable des High resolution Usable for human communication Some hierarchical features

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7 Research & Development Opportunities One of the deliverables of the CRCSI’s Innovative Location and Addressing project is the identification of R&D topics that are relevant to the use-cases and future vision. To determine these topics, a workshop was conducted with the CRCSI Program 3 team at Curtin University, Wednesday 26 August 2015. In relation to the conceptual model, a number of potential R&D topics were identified to enable and support aspects of the location referencing workflows. These are listed in the table below, which distinguishes between R&D that is currently ongoing in CRCSI, and potential new R&D topics (primarily for CRCSI’s P3 program).

Ongoing New

CRCSI P3: Conflation CRCSI P3: Integrating crowd-sourced & “authoritative’ data Conflation is the process of dealing with datasets that essentially describe the same objects. For example, five If we consider an authoritative dataset sources of fire hydrant data. The question is how do you deal generated by some previous process, the with these multiple disparate sources. Ultimately it depends question is how can new crowd-sourced data on the user’s requirements. The research is focussing on be included to update the authoritative dataset. determining relevant knowledge represented as ontologies This research is investigating a semantic and rules to process the data. For example when assessment of a feature’s attributes against considering property locations, it may be appropriate to ontologies representative of features likely to average the many results to give an estimate of the centroid reside in this location. This provides an of the property, or it may be best to choose one of the indication of how likely it is that the information representations. submitted actually represents what is on the ground. This trust rating can then be

incorporated into provenance information to Explores Features F5, F9, F12, F13, F18 provide users of the dataset an indication of each feature’s likely accuracy. Further to this, querying of provenance information can identify the features with the highest/lowest trust rating at a point in time. (FOSS4G 2015 abstract, Hamish McNair) Explores Features F12, F16, F17

CRCSI P3: Natural Language Processing (Geometry) CRCSI P3: Data Quality determination For search and discovery of spatial data, natural language Comprehensive provenance metadata is queries are needed. In Google, the query “Parks in Perth” envisaged to be required for a full assessment and “Parks Perth” return the same results i.e. the spatial of quality aspects of data. However this may operator “in” is ignored. Other spatial operators such as be too much metadata for many users to “adjacent to”, “contains” and “intersects” would be consider. The research will be looking at how considered similarly. Current research into spatial searching all the metadata concerning provenance can is examining these simple and more complex natural be distilled down to a few quality indicators. language queries identifying objects (Parks), spatial Relatively simple examples are hotel star operators (in) and geometry (Perth inferring that some ratings, NCAP crash worthy ratings etc. The polygon or region describing Perth is required) to identify question is which are the important parameters relevant information. to distil and how should the mapping be carried out. Explores Features F1, F6, F7 Explores Features F1, F16

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Ongoing New

UOM: Natural Language Processing An ongoing project at the University of Melbourne is studying how peoples’ natural language descriptions of places can be geo-referenced and then mapped. Solving this challenge will support situations where the standard available geographic information (such as GIS, gazetteers, or national address files) is either dated or not detailed enough for localization (e.g., in an emergency response). Further it will enable the enrichment of authoritative datasets such as gazetteers and address databases with people’s local geographic knowledge. (PhD proposal 2015, Stephan Winter)

Explores Features F1, F6, F7 CRCSI P3: Orchestration Orchestration is concerned with identifying processes (e.g. Web Processing Services) that can be chained together to satisfy a user query from available datasets. Importantly such chains of processes should be generated on the fly if needed as some queries may not be predicted, such as for emergency management. Research is focussing on identifying the metadata required for each process to allow them to be chained automatically, including algorithmic complexity, location (process needs to be near the relevant data), execution time and resources required. So far it has become apparent that significant extensions to the WPS standard will be needed to enable automatic or semi- automatic orchestration.

Explores Feature F12 CRCSI P3: Provenance & Trust Most spatial data available has, historically, been that provided by government agencies which implies it is reliable and trustworthy. The increasing availability of other sources of data including crowd-sourcing and private organisations means that some means of assessing trust is needed. Provenance is key to trust assessment and research is investigating provenance models for spatial data, especially that generated by complex supply chains. A full provenance model will include not just data creator and date created, but also details of processing applied, location of source code, decisions made at each stage of the supply chain, average, max. and min. accuracy etc. Such a complex provenance model can only be utilised through a user query given that the provenance information may be may be bigger than the data itself.

Explores Features F10, F12

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8 Scoping a Pilot The Validation Workshop in Melbourne in August generated a number of suggestions for real-world use-cases that could be implemented in a Pilot.

8.1 Capabilities to Implement The main capabilities that such a pilot could implement and demonstrate were identified as: 1. Validation and Crosswalk between systems. Raised by the Victorian Emergency Services Telecommunication Authority (ESTA). This pilot proposal aims to enable the validation process between a caller and a 000 operator, where the caller uses location references that are different from the official GNAF addresses, and the ESTA 000 application is able to query different location solution APIs to try & validate the caller’s location. 2. Aggregate & Interoperate between location references. This proposed pilot would analyse the (natural language) input string, parse it for location references, identify which reference system they refer to, and call the respective system to resolve and validate the location. Such a pilot would have to deal with issues such as semantics, natural language processing and error detection and correction. This is an ambitious proposal and could scale up internationally. 3. Providing a location data interchange system that allows anyone with location and/or address details (e.g. developers) to register new or provisional addresses, and which would notify interested parties such as councils, emergency service organisations, or utilities. This would allow interested parties to get timely access to provisional addresses before they are ‘official’, allow for registration of aliases, and could be easily extended to non-address based locations. This proposal could be extended to include linkage and interchange with legacy address & location systems, to ensure existing investments continue to be utilised and, over-time, duplication can be reduced. 4. Multi descriptive location application that can identify which location reference system is used in a query (e.g. distinguish between an address, MapCode or 3-word address), and which then calls the appropriate API to resolve. This could be a sub-system for a solution to #1 or #2 above. 5. Find out what ‘real’ people will use in practice. Trial which location referencing systems people will use in different scenarios, and how effective these are. While non-technical, it would provide valuable insight into the relative qualities and potential adoption rates of the respective solutions. 6. Standards considerations – standards, such as metadata or addressing, ought to have the capacity for recording multi-sourced (more than one type of) addressing information in alphanumeric format. A coding system could assist identification of each source utilised. This has the capacity to reduce un-addressable, unknown or imprecise locations but would allow new location information to be utilised with existing information within systems.

8.2 Pilot Scenarios Two main scenarios for a pilot stand out for the demonstration of these capabilities: 1. Delivering services to indigenous customers in remote locations. There is a recurring business need for accurately recording the location of indigenous settlements, dwellings and significant sites, which spans across many government agencies and NGOs. Currently no such joint capability exists, where it would underpin holistic, more suitable, cost- effective and appropriate service delivery. Problem owners for such a use-case, who have already shown interest to participate in a pilot include the ABS, DHS, and potentially the WA government.

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Such a pilot could highlight the utilisation of data interchange, linkage and crosswalk, multi- language support and would benefit from understanding which location referencing systems work best for which population groups. 2. Responding to requests for assistance In particular for 000 operators, but also for e.g. roadside assistance purposes (where up to 25% of all requests for help come from non-addressed locations), there is a compelling safety-of-life as well as economic case for faster, and more accurate location referencing. Challenges in this scenario range from operator-guided resolution of location referencing, to natural language processing, validation, error detection and updates, combining the capabilities described under points 1, 2 and 4 above. Problem owners for this scenario can be ESTA, and potentially motoring organisations such as NRMA or RAC. 3. Greenfields Developments3 For rapidly developing regions it can be challenging for utilities and government departments to keep up with the pace of infrastructure developments, such as house building. Without information on who is living where, companies cannot supply and bill for utilities and government cannot provide schools, healthcare and other basic services. The challenge is to provide reliable location referencing in rapidly changing environments where the implementation of a conventional street-addressing system is unfeasible due to time, cost, and the need for sustained access to the required specialist personnel. Problem owners for this scenario can be utilities, developers and potentially local councils with a large proportion of greenfields development.

8.3 Governance and Next Steps After validation of the findings and pilot scenarios with the CRCSI steering committee, the recommended way forward would be as follows, roughly based on the testbed process in use by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC):  Nominate project management team (project manager, business lead, and technical lead)  Confirm problem owners and potential sponsors, either informally, or through a public ‘call for sponsors’. Sponsors can provide cash or in-kind contributions.  Refine scenarios and specific requirements with problem owners and sponsors.  Open call for participants (data providers, user representatives, technology providers), participants can be paid, or providing in-kind contributions.  Evaluate participant submissions and select pilot delivery team  Run Pilot

3 Problem description as described by what3words: http://what3words.com/examples/government/ (accessed 2 October 2015)

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Appendix 1 – Workshop Participants 1. User-stories workshop, Canberra, 4 June 2015

Maurits van der Vlugt Mercury Project Solutions Kylie Armstrong CRCSI Jamie Baker Department of Communications Margie Smith Department of Communications Steven Ramage What3Words David Whitfield Geepers Laura Kostanski AddEx Stephan Winter University of Melbourne Matt Duckham RMIT Phil Allen TomTom / MapCode Nicole McNaughton ABS

2. Follow-up interviews with potential users, solution providers and academic sources

Laura Kostanski AddEx Stephan Winter University of Melbourne Matt Duckham RMIT Richard Murcott LINZ Mike Judd LINZ Peter Florent DHS Marcus Blake ABS Nicole McNoughton ABS Andrew Wise ESTA Jo Mond DTO Mary Koloamatangi DTO

3. Validation workshop, Melbourne, 20 August 2015

Maurits van der Vlugt Mercury Project Solutions Kylie Armstrong CRCSI Jamie Baker Department of Communications Steven Ramage What3Words David Whitfield Geepers Laura Kostanski AddEx Stephan Winter University of Melbourne Matt Duckham RMIT Phil Allen TomTom / MapCode Geoff West CRCSI Lesley Arnold CRCSI YiFei Li University of Melbourne

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Darren Mottolini CRCSI Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed Ghouse CRCSI Jeff Adair ESTA Andrew Wise ESTA Tegan Halliday ABS Alison Szetho ABS Wayne Patterson NSW LPI Maria Vasardani University of Melbourne

4. R&D workshop, Perth, 26 August 2015

Maurits van der Vlugt Mercury Project Solutions Kylie Armstrong CRCSI Geoff West CRCSI Lesley Arnold CRCSI Darren Mottolini CRCSI