Enabling distributed expert input together with centralized data management using a WebGIS-based approach for the implementation of a National Address Register Information System in Kosovo
Session
Web GIS
Full Paper Review
No
Authors
Anthony Braun, GeoFocus,
Steinar Hoseggen, Geomatikk IKT AS, Norway,
Abstract
Street addresses in Kosovo in the wake of the 1999-2000 conflict were highly fragmented, contradictory or simply completely lacking. A European Union-sponsored project that began in 2011 aimed to create a unified, consensual, and up-to-date address registry that would cover the entire country, and would be based on a modern information technology approach. One of the key principles adopted by the Street Addressing Project was that addressing should be undertaken at the local level by experts who are familiar with the urban morphology, as well as with the local social, political, and historical characteristics. A second key principle was to enable a centralised approach to data quality control, data storage and data management. These two principles were achieved by leveraging Kosovo’s fast government internet backbone in order to implement the WebGIS-based Address Register Information System (ARIS).
A third principle was to enable the rapid and widespread adoption of the new address system by all stakeholders, both public and private. To this end, a leading-edge approach to data dissemination was adopted, namely the implementation of Address-related Web Services that are freely exposed to all stakeholders via a web-based Geoportal. The Web Service approach enables the online publishing of the most up-to-date street address dataset, thereby removing any need for the replication or physical transfer of data.
ARIS provides a set of web-based tools and business processes, both tabular and geospatial, to identify, allocate, verify, and update address data up to the level of granularity of the individual apartment unit (though due to budgetary constraints data was only collected up to building entrance level). By the end of 2013, most of the new Kosovo-wide address coverage had been entered into ARIS, and was undergoing quality assurance as well as approval by Municipal authorities. ARIS is an integrated component of the Kosovo Cadastre and Land Information System (KCLIS), which is a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) – based system hosted by the Kosovo Cadastral Agency (KCA).