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Client: Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) is Victoria's leading government agency for sustainable management of resources, climate change, bushfires, public lands, forests and ecosystems.

The Regional Data Net (RDN) program was developed by DSE to support regional access to information, data and applications for more effective natural resource management through the use of spatial information. However, the technologies and processes under the RDN were recognised to be out-of-date and inefficient. DSE wished to review the existing systems and requirements of users to find ways to provide better systems and access to regional users. To support this change, DSE required a Business Case to support the need for a new system to improve DSE regional capacity to support a range of core business activities currently supported by RDN services.

Within DSE regional offices, ESRI’s ArcView 3 desktop GIS platform is widely used to perform basic spatial functions including mapping, data creation and analysis. ArcView is essentially a legacy platform that has long been superseded by ESRI’s ArcGIS platform. In addition to ArcView, a range of other platforms are used including ESRI’s ArcGIS and ArcPublisher, and MapInfo and various web mapping platforms.

Spatial Vision was contracted to undertake a consultancy to identify user requirements for access to spatial information and recommend new approaches to data publication that will support interoperability, single-point-of-truth (SPOT) databases and work practices to make core business more efficient and cost effective.
In addition, Spatial Vision recommended a strategy to migrate users off the ArcView platform. The project outputs provided information to support the DSE business case for new systems.

The project involved extensive consultation with representative users and the trialling of proposed data publication technologies. The final consultancy report outlined options for implementing database publication and replication techniques within DSE. It included user profiles of the types of users of Geographic Information (GI) within DSE satellite and remote sites, the types of functionality and their data access requirements. It outlined the technical environment and infrastructure components necessary to support database replication, the types of database replication required and the procedures and tasks that will need to support those users.

Anthony Draga, DSE Manager for this project, said that the consultancy assisted the department to implement solutions that will ensure all users across the state will have easy access to current and authoritative data, through data replication and Web Map Services.

DSE is actively implementing key aspects of the RDN report.

Demonstrated Capabilities

• Deep understanding of GIS data, replication and publishing technologies and Open Standards
• Engaging consultation processes
• High quality report writing and presentation
• Working in collaboration with client

Resources

Graeme Martin and Ben Johnson undertook the consultancy for Spatial Vision