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Client: Brad Dale, Parks, Flora and Fauna Division, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Victoria

Victorian national, wilderness, state and regional parks and reserves cover more than 3.75 million hectares, or approximately 16% of the State. The Parks, Flora and Fauna (PFF) Division of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) is responsible for key policies and future directions for the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of these areas of public land.

Over the last 15 years PFF has invested significantly in hardware, information systems and databases to assist with the management of these invaluable natural resources. However, PFF now administers a cumbersome IT infrastructure. In some cases, systems are not directly compatible nor readily accessible to users. PFF recognised the critical need to improve access to their information to facilitate a better understanding of the value of biodiversity and the ability to plan and manage these resources.

PFF commissioned Spatial Vision to look forward for the next five years and develop both a vision for improving access to their information resources and a road map for achieving it. Spatial Vision worked collaboratively with PFF staff to identify the current state of the data infrastructure, commonly recognised constraints and strategic objectives.

The initial review of existing hardware and software highlighted the diverse nature, state of completeness and technology standards for many of the databases and difficulties encountered in their management.

The vision for PFF is to create improved access to a well designed and integrated set of biodiversity information. The information will be efficiently captured and maintained, reliably curated and published, both within and outside NRE, via products that meet the needs of users.

The migration of PFF data resources to the new infrastructure will enrich the information content of this investment. A five-year migration path was recommended with a series of objectives enabling PFF to monitor progress on an annual basis.  Each step along the path toward the vision will assist PFF to identify and better manage the environmental, conservation and recreational values of Victoria's natural resources for the benefit and enjoyment of current and future generations.

PFF have adopted this vision and strategy and expect to realise benefits from the proposed migration within the first year.

Demonstrated Capabilities

• Identification of business information and process needs
• Understanding and analysis of complex corporate IT infrastructures
• Comprehensive knowledge of new and emerging technologies
• Effective consultation with stakeholders through interviews and participatory workshop
• Identification of key strategic issues and potential solutions
• Determination of a clear implementation path

Resources

Ian Miller and Graeme Martin undertook all components of this project.  

Technologies Applied

• Sybase RDBMS
• Oracle RDBMS
• PowerBuilder Client/Server
• Microsoft Access
• Visual Basic
• Dbase IV and Clipper
• ArcInfo
• ArcView
• ArcSDE
• ArcIMS
• ArcGIS
• Oracle Spatial