AddEx – Solving the Address Data Problem
Dr Laura Kostanski (Presenter)
Geonaming Solutions
laura.kostanski@geonamingsolutions.com
Rob Atkinson
Metalinkage
rob@metalinkage.com.au
Houman Kargaran
Epic Design
h.ka@gmail.com
The Address Data Problem
Around the world multiple address databases are created for bespoke purposes. All of these
databases are incomplete to some degree (whether due to limited scope, outdated data or
inability to exchange information due to non-standardised metadata). The existence of
multiple datasets and data formats results in reduced service delivery capabilities and
increased costs for data reconciliation – all of which are expenses borne by either the
businesses using the data or the public receiving the services.
Developing an Address Data Solution
The extent of this problem with address data was highlighted recently in the Google and
PriceWaterhouseCoopers 2014 Innovation Challenge for Data. The AddWrestlers team
(comprising the 3 authors of this presentation) won this challenge by offering a holistic
solution, backed by expertise in a wide range of related geospatial domains, which proposes
new methods for capturing, maintaining and exchanging address data (see
http://www.brw.com.au/p/entrepreneurs/the_start_ups_picked_to_transform_ijSJNa80jwb36T
5LTWTQJN).
The AddWrestlers team asked why maintaining up-to-date address data should always be
prohibitively expensive? What if we could bring all the existing and future address databases
together to build a complete picture for all users?
Presentation
In this presentation we will show how a multi—stakeholder approach to data creation can be
married to an enhanced way of maintaining information. We will demonstrate methods for
delivering a cost-effective address data solution for contributors and users.
The presentation will focus on a proof of concept project based on basic AddEx features, a
cloud-based data exchange model, that is being developed with the Australian Department of
Communications. This trial will determine how address information for Australian
Government Agencies can be more cost-effectively aggregated and geocoded to pre-defined
government accuracy requirements.
The key to AddEx data exchange is a mixture of openness for the core address data, and
flexibility to allow integration of multiple different perspectives and business models for
address data exchange. Under the AddEx model, the supply chain is flexible and can
incorporate traditional and new datasets- including crowd-sourced information.
Each contributor can maintain their bespoke address data format while integrating the
information into AddEx. For any one physical address multiple contributor details can be
added or verified (including location, site type and custodianship).