2 Technology and tools
Good tools, methods and a well-functioning technical infrastructure must be in place in order to convert data to information and knowledge for practical use.
Figur 2.1 Geospatial data in your mobile phone
Kilde: Illustration photo: www.colourbox.com
The infrastructure must be further developed
The use of standards is key to the infrastructure. National standards for geospatial information have long been in widespread use. The national standardisation efforts must be developed in accordance with new societal needs, the development of new technologies and new international standards. Standards, harmonised data formats and concepts, for example, are prerequisites for international cooperation, research and problem solving across sectors and national borders.
Norway is at the forefront in the use of modern data capture methods. Many actors have established efficient production lines for their geospatial information. Good information management will also be a fundamental prerequisite for the geospatial data infrastructure in the future as well. It is also necessary to establish a uniform approach to work with information security. Among other things, there must be good mechanisms for handling classified information in the infrastructure. The Norwegian Mapping Authority as the facilitator and all the data owners and contributors are responsible for ensuring confidentiality, data integrity and the availability of information in the infrastructure.
Integration between infrastructures, data and services is becoming increasingly important
Geospatial information is currently integrated to varying degrees with the available IT solutions. The lack of suitable user applications is one of our challenges. Global actors now offer a growing number of services and information in the “cloud”, which helps increase availability and can lower the user threshold. New user platforms and mobile devices, however, will entail new requirements for standards and user-oriented services in the infrastructure. Geospatial information from the national infrastructure needs to be better integrated in the work processes and user tools that are used. The infrastructure and shared solutions must interact with commercial software, while the technology is at the same time adapted so that it is independent of the platform. The infrastructure shall facilitate fully digital and efficient processes, as well as service innovation and good utilisation of the knowledge base.
There is also a need for harmonisation and links between the infrastructures, so that the same data can be used in different computer systems. For users today are confronted with different platforms and shared solutions in related sectors and specialist areas. For example, there is a need for good links between the national geoportal “Geonorge” and the sharing portal “data.norge.no”. There is also a need for integration with the research infrastructure and international infrastructures. As a platform for access to all geospatial information, Geonorge will be a source of innovative applications for the data content. It must be possible to integrate geospatial information with other infrastructures and with commercial software, and to handle new data capture methods and new types of data. The Digitalisation Directive stresses the importance of developing continuous digital service chains in the public administration. This will be an important premise for efforts to ensure an efficient flow of data for geospatial information.
Geointegration
Geospatial information systems do not automatically interact with the municipal administrative processing and archiving systems. The administrative processing and archiving systems are not automatically able to utilise information on geospatial conditions either. The Norwegian Mapping Authority and the Norwegian Association of Local & Regional Authorities (KS) are cooperating on developing and maintaining common standards and principles of this type for interaction between geospatial information systems, other professional systems and administrative processing and archiving systems. This applies in particular to integration with the land register (cadastre) and systems that the municipalities use for building applications and land-use planning. The standards have been developed and tested in broad cooperation between the municipalities, suppliers and central government agencies.
Infrastructure must handle new types of data and technologies
The geospatial data infrastructure must be capable of handling new types of data and larger amounts of data. The use of three-dimensional data (3D) for planning and engineering is increasing – and concepts for three-dimensional engineering, such as computer-aided design (CAD) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) are rapidly evolving. There are also increasing expectations that the infrastructure shall handle dynamic (time series) data. Already today, sensors are used a great deal, for quality assurance and analysis of the data that comes from administrative data capture in the enterprises (so-called change analysis), among other things. Growth in the number of devices connected to the Internet also contributes to dramatic growth in the amount of sensor data. This will streamline the collection of geospatial information, but it will also challenge the systems with regard to their storage and processing capacity. The infrastructure must facilitate broad utilisation of the new opportunities for decision support that lie in data analysis and big data. It will also be necessary to develop new methods and solutions to take full advantage of sensors and other new sources of data in the infrastructure.
Technology and tools sub-goal
2.1 Geonorge ensures an efficient flow of data between sectors and levels
Enterprises in the public sector exchange and reuse data today, but the flow of data can be streamlined. Geospatial information can be utilised more efficiently than it is today – on different platforms and with different technology carriers. In the future, commercial actors will set out higher requirements for the availability, robustness and functional interfaces of the infrastructure as they integrate public information resources with their business models and become economically dependent on both the availability and quality of the data. Geonorge shall therefore be further developed as a national service-based architecture with standardised and sought-after interfaces. This will ensure an efficient flow of data across the sectors and levels. Search and access solutions shall be offered through good interfaces and opportunities for integrations.
2.2 Shared solutions have been established for the storage and management of geospatial information
Robust and user-friendly shared solutions can contribute to a more coordinated management of data in society. Public data providers must be able to deliver data through electronic services that maintain the expected delivery quality. The users must be able to rely on the services from Geonorge. There is a need to further develop national (central and distributed) solutions for the storage and management of geospatial information, such as solutions that support work with impact assessments, licence applications and other processes that the public sector initiates. Such processes may also involve private actors. The possibility of national cloud solutions for the management, adaptation and sharing of geospatial information shall be considered. Cloud-based management solutions may be able to reduce the need for local solutions and may save costs.
2.3 Infrastructure must be subject to satisfactory information security
The infrastructure shall be subject to a regime that ensures the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. There shall be clear principles and responsibilities. Data owners have an independent responsibility to safeguard information security for their own data, software systems and services. In the central infrastructure, common mechanisms, components and systems shall be established to manage information security. Risk analyses must be conducted annually for all the systems that share data in the infrastructure. Further information security requirements may be found, for example, in the Norwegian Security Act and the Norwegian Personal Data Act. See in particular Section 15 of the eGovernment Regulations.
2.4 Streamlining data capture to the infrastructure
In many areas, sensors and other new technologies (drones, satellites, etc.) make the collection of data significantly more efficient. Further use of sensor technology provides opportunities for obtaining better data, more knowledge and more efficient data collection compared with traditional mapping methods. For example, data can be collected from the general public through the use of mobile devices. The supplier industry and those who deliver data to the infrastructure shall cooperate on the development of methods and other initiatives that contribute to the increased utilisation of sensor technology for efficient data capture. A development in the direction of more use of sensors will generate a continuous flow of geo-referenced data. This is expected to provide substantial growth of dynamic data in the infrastructure for years to come. This requires, however, that the infrastructure be further developed with better support for this type of data.
Norwegian Meteorological Institute
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute is a world leader in utilising observations from private individuals in weather forecasting. From the spring of 2018, temperature readings from a large number of private stations will be combined with established weather stations to correct forecasts on Yr. Private stations make it possible to observe much larger areas, so that the weather forecasts better represent the major local differences that exist in Norway. A high density of stations is essential in order to offer the general public forecasts adapted to each individual user. The use of private so-called non-conventional observations requires new forms of quality control in order to weed out imprecise measurements. Even with conservative tests, around 70% of the private observations are included in the production of weather forecasts. Conventional and non-conventional observations complete and complement each other. All the data is free and openly available.
2.5 Utilisation of big data technology to acquire greater knowledge
Intelligent links and analysis of large amounts of data will form the basis for new knowledge and more efficient decision-making systems in both the public administration and the private sector. In the future, big data will be able to provide considerably better utilisation of the data contained in the geospatial data infrastructure – preferably combined with other types of data (for example, socio-economic data, social media, international data). How big data can be facilitated in the infrastructure shall be studied in more detail.
2.6 Geospatial data infrastructure manages three-dimensional data
Many application areas require an information basis beyond what can be represented by two dimensions. Two examples here are the planning, engineering and management of underground service lines and the drilling of energy wells. The opportunities for handling three-dimensional data (engineering, terrain profiles, underground data, volumes, etc.) are rapidly evolving. At present, however, there are no shared solutions for managing the type of information that is included in modern engineering tools, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and computer-aided design (CAD). Technology that handles such data in the geospatial infrastructure, from data collection to use, shall be developed and implemented.
2.7 Geospatial data infrastructure is adapted to handle processed data
It must be possible for the infrastructure to increasingly handle processed data, with documentation of the calculation models, algorithms and uncertainty. In some cases, the users will want to calculate old data with new methods, for example, calculations back in time in the area of climate research. Access to this type of data in the infrastructure will also help ensure that algorithms, analysis results and calculations can be reused to a greater extent by various parties. Technology that handles processed data in the infrastructure shall be developed and implemented.
2.8 Forward-looking standards and user technology shall be developed and implemented
Standards shall contribute to a predictable flow of data and enable integrations and utilisation across technical platforms, sectors and specialist areas. The Digitalisation Directive's instructions regarding architectural principles and standards also apply to the geospatial data infrastructure. Standardisation efforts in national and international standardisation forums shall focus on forward-looking, national and international standards, including efficient utilisation of sensors and other new data capture technologies in the infrastructure. It is also important that the standards and services in the infrastructure facilitate integration with the users’ other technology environments. The domain-specific standards of new actors must also be taken into account in this context. Standards shall also enable integration with other types of data.