Nova Scotia's
    Geographic Information
    Standards

1.1 Historical Overview of the Standards Initiative

The Nova Scotia Geographic Information Standards initiative had its beginnings in 1989 when the Province of Nova Scotia, in cooperation with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), jointly funded a study entitled Corporate Land-Related Information Strategy for the Province of Nova Scotia. While the study did not specifically focus attention on standards, it was directed to look into the concept of easy access to and sharing of land-related information. The report highlighted the facts surrounding the complexity of information sharing and it went on to propose information sharing in light of a provincial land information management system. It further noted, that in such a system land information agencies would have to embrace the corporate information (Endnote1) concept. As well, if the development of a provincial information system were to evolve, a focal point for corporate land information management was a must.

In 1991 the Government of Nova Scotia through the Department of Municipal Affairs created the Land Information Management Services Division (LIMS). LIMS was given the specific mandate to develop and promote the efficient collection, use and management of corporate land information within and across departments and agencies of government. This mandate includes the responsibility for geographic information standards.

In order to meet the responsibilities associated with standards development LIMS, along with the Nova Scotia Land Use Committee and the Electronic Data Processing Advisory Committee, initiated a study to address the land information standards issues. The final report, entitled Nova Scotia Land Information Standards Study, was delivered in July 1992 and outlined over 40 land information standards recommendations. The majority of the recommendations were categorized and prioritized within 12 issue areas: Data Schema and Dictionary; Spatial Reference System; Data Quality and Accuracy; Terminology; Feature Definition and Coding; Linkage; Spatial Analysis Tools; Data Collection; Cartography; Database Directory and Catalogue; Data Interchange Formats; Data Security. Four of the recommendations, however, related to the development of a standards process. These four recommendations were:

The Department of Municipal Affairs wasted little time in continuing to meet its standards related objectives. Indeed, there was not enough staff in house to address the issues and coordinate the activities of a land-related standards program. In April 1993, LIMS acted upon the first process recommendation of the 1992 report and hired a Land Information Analyst to coordinate the standards effort. The Analyst's first tasks were to devise a workplan for the process and establish a formal mechanism by which standards could be adopted.

1.2 The Provincial Land Information Management System: Past, Present, and Future

The need for readily accessible, accurate and comprehensive information is essential to all sectors of the provincial economy in order to improve both public and private investment decision making. Information related to the land and water forms a substantial part of the base for those decision making processes.

In 1989 the Province of Nova Scotia, in cooperation with ACOA jointly funded a study entitled Corporate Land-Related Information Strategy for the Province of Nova Scotia. The study was to look into the concept of easy access to and sharing of land-related information. During its study a number of issues were highlighted which further strengthened the idea for a need for coordinated activities. Technologies that were being put into place were identified as single user or sectoral in nature. The true picture of information sharing was brought to light (as depicted in Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1

Land-Related Information Sharing in Nova Scotia (circa 1988)

In the end the study addressed the issue of a corporate vision and strategy for information sharing. This in turn lead to the creation of the Provincial Land Information Management System concept upon which the province would build effective and efficient information sharing.

The land information system would have two guiding principles. First the available information would be accessible by all parties interested in its application. Second, corporate information must be put in a form such that it can be shared and thereby integrated into the bigger system. Figure 1.2 highlights the concept of corporate information.

Figure 1.2

Definition of Corporate Information

To address the types of information being referred to in the provincial system two fundamental categories of corporate data were identified: primary and thematic databases. Within the provincial land information system the primary databases would include aerial photography, the coordinate referencing databases (coordinate framework of the province), topographic mapping (LRIS urban and resource series) databases, and property mapping (cadastral overlay) databases. Thematic databases would include specialized data that departments are mandated to collect and maintain. Examples of thematic databases include the transportation network, forestry, geological information, administrative boundaries and land use.

Occasionally the bounds of primary and thematic databases may be overlapping. For example, transportation networks might appear in both. Positional information for these databases will be the same, however, classifications or degree of specialization may differ.

The system would allow data to be shared by a variety of land information consumers and it was therefore envisioned to be a heterogeneous database (containing many databases) which would be shared by various departments, agencies and external information consumers. The provincial system will be a multi-system network. It will consist of a number of individual databases, each containing corporate data. In its present but ever evolving state, databases contained within the provincial system will be the responsibility of the department which has been assigned the mandate to collect and maintain the information. The responsible department may collect and maintain the data themselves, or they may contract the services out. However, the department will be the custodian (owner), and as such will be responsible for update, maintenance and quality control.

1.3 The Nova Scotia Committee on Standards for Geographic Information (NSSGI)

1.3.1 Top Down Committee Building

As outlined in the 1992 standards study, the establishment of a formal working group to address the standards issues was critical to the initiative's success. The Department of Municipal Affairs further noted that a consensus building process was necessary if the initiative was to be successful. To attempt to achieve consensus building, primary consumers and producers of land related information were invited to become part of the Nova Scotia Committee on Standards for Geographic Information (NSSGI).

With shrinking budgets and reduced staff throughout all sectors of the geomatics community, LIMS was faced with a problem of not only creating the committee structure but also ensuring commitment by committee members. Consensus building ideologies were not enough. A top down approach was initiated to recruit participants. Through the Deputy Ministers' Land Use Committee, an interdepartmental standing committee, the Department of Municipal Affairs approached public and private sector agencies to supply representation to the NSSGI. Most public sector agencies approached supplied representation while those who did not, indicated a willingness to adopt the standards evolving from the process. Municipal and private sector responses were also well received and representatives have been added to the committee's membership.

1.3.2 Bottom Up Standards Building

From its very inception it was recognized that the NSSGI would be far too large to address the issues at a working level. It was also noted that not all of the expertise for the issues resided within the committee's membership. It was agreed, therefore, that task groups would be established to address specific standards issues. This would result in the implementation of a bottom up approach to standards development and application.

In 1994 there were 20 committee members representing municipal, provincial and federal government agencies as well as private sector agencies. Task Group membership at any given time is dependent upon the issue(s) being addressed. Efforts have been made to limit task group numbers to eight people. The membership specific to a task group has only two requirements: (1) the chair of the task group must, wherever possible, be a standards committee representative; (2) the secretary of the task group is the secretary of the Standards Committee (the Land Information Analyst of Municipal Affairs). The remainder of the task group is made up of geomatics expertise within that particular group's issues.

1.3.3 The Standards Process

Figure 1.3 gives a snap shot view of the Standards Operational Structure. This operational structure has three distinct phases/elements: Development, Consultation, and Approval. The Committee and the Task Groups reside in the Development Phase of the process. The Department of Municipal Affairs meanwhile, because of its lead role in land-related information management, is located within the Approval Phase. Because there are other standards and information development activities throughout the Government of Nova Scotia, the standards process has elected to incorporate an additional Consultation Phase.

Figure 1.3

Nova Scotia Geographic Information Standards Operational Structure

As a result, the process for standards development is as follows:

The exact time necessary to carry a standard from concept to final adoption depends, to a large extent, on the issue(s) being addressed. A work plan has been adopted by the Standards Committee. This workplan however, has gone through a number of revisions and does change based on the activities of the participants. One aspect of the workplan, however, has not changed and that is the order in which the issues will be addressed. The issues and subsequent standards developments will be addressed in the following order:

1.3.4 Public Input

The Nova Scotia Geographic Information Standards Initiative values input from the geomatics community. As outlined in the Communications Strategy to follow, the process prides itself on consensus building. And while efforts are made to include interested individuals during the standards development phase, not all can be accessed. The Standards Committee has therefore put into place the "Request for Establishment and/or Modification of Nova Scotia Standards for Geographic Information" form. This form is a mechanism by which individuals or agencies may make comments regarding existing standards, or make requests to the Committee to address specific issues.

1.4 The Role of ITAP

Implementing GIS technology within an agency cannot be successfully accomplished without a great deal of consideration for information technology architectures. Because of its commitment to investigate standards activities of other agencies and given the fact that the Information Technology Architecture Plan (ITAP) and evolving information technology (IT) standards resemble GIS industry trends, the Nova Scotia Geographic Information Standards Initiative has developed a link with Nova Scotia's ITAP. This link is found at both the executive and working levels and is formed both informally and formally (via cross participation at the committee level).

Both ITAP and the GIS industry have explicitly accepted the "open system" architecture and distributed computing philosophies. Excluding the Standards for Geographic Information, presently being developed, current IT standards only indirectly impact GIS technologies by specifying component tools for a much larger information system. IT standards do not presently address core GIS issues such as software, digital map data formats, GIS applications development, etc.

IT standards for hardware impact GIS acquisition by describing the "basic workstation" and special purpose "processors" and the circumstances for their use. IT standards for Local Area Networks and Wide Area Networks are less significant to the GIS field due in part to the flexibility of many GIS technology products (GIS, CAD, AM/FM, etc.) .

Endnotes:

Chapter One Table of Contents