Going global: the return of the address wars

What characteristics are required for Global Address applications in the 21st century?

Anthony Beck (GeoLytics)

Unless states otherwise all content is under a CC-BY licence

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## PDF output using pandoc

## For a clean export resetart kernel and clear output

import os


### Export this notebook as markdown
commandLineSyntax = 'ipython nbconvert --to markdown 20190306_Global_Address_Wars_Presentation.ipynb'
print (commandLineSyntax)

os.system(commandLineSyntax)

### Export this notebook and the document header as PDF using Pandoc

commandLineSyntax = 'pandoc  -f markdown -t latex -N -V geometry:margin=1in DocumentHeader.md 20190306_Global_Address_Wars_Presentation.md --filter pandoc-citeproc  --latex-engine=xelatex --toc -o 20190306_Global_Address_Wars_Presentation.pdf '

os.system(commandLineSyntax)


ipython nbconvert --to markdown 20190306_Global_Address_Wars_Presentation.ipynb
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To convert and run this as a static presentation run the following command:


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# Notes don't show in a python3 environment

!jupyter nbconvert 20190306_Global_Address_Wars_Presentation.ipynb --to slides --post serve

To close this instances press control 'c' in the ipython notebook terminal console

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If running dynamically run the scripts below


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#Future proof python 2
from __future__ import print_function #For python3 print syntax
from __future__ import division

# def
import IPython.core.display

# A function to collect user input - ipynb_input(varname='username', prompt='What is your username')

def ipynb_input(varname, prompt=''):
        """Prompt user for input and assign string val to given variable name."""
        js_code = ("""
            var value = prompt("{prompt}","");
            var py_code = "{varname} = '" + value + "'";
            IPython.notebook.kernel.execute(py_code);
        """).format(prompt=prompt, varname=varname)
        return IPython.core.display.Javascript(js_code)
    
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About me

  • Honorary Research Fellow, University of Nottingham: orcid
  • Director, Geolytics Limited - A spatial data analytics consultancy

About this presentation

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Addresses

are part of the fabric of everyday life

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Have economic and commercial impact

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Support governance and democracy

  • Addresses are a pre-requisite for citizenship in many countries.
  • Without citizenship individuals are excluded from:
    • public services
    • formal institutions.
  • This impacts on democracy.

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  • Formal versus Informal
  • Barring individuals and businesses from systems:
    • financial
    • legal
    • government
    • ....

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Provide spatial structure.

  • This helps to identify, locate and access marginalized areas.

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Bridge gaps

provide the link between people and place

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What is an address?

Address abstraction

  • Address did not spring fully formed into existance.
  • They are used globally
    • but developed nationally
    • and for different reasons

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Address abstraction

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In the beginning ...... was the ledger, the register, the record

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Then came formalisation

  • Local Land and Property Gazetteers and Registers
  • Mail
  • Address Base
  • The World Bank
  • Etc.........

Let's look at some

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Korea: The Jibeon system - taxation

  • Until recently, the Republic of Korea (Korea) has used land parcel referening (jibeon)
    • Parcels are assigned chronologically according to date of construction.
    • No local predictability.

  • Until recently, the Republic of Korea (Korea) has used land parcel numbers ( jibeon) to identify unique locations.
    • These parcel numbers were assigned chronologically according to date of construction and without reference to the street where they were located.
    • This meant that adjacent buildings did not necessarily follow a sequential numbering system.
  • This system was initially used to identify land for census purposes and to levy taxes.
  • In addition, until the launch of the new addressing system, the jibeon was also used to identify locations (i.e. a physical address).

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UK Addressing Geoplace - Formal

  • GeoPlace is a limited liability partnership owned equally by the Local Government Association and Ordnance Survey.
  • It has built a synchronised database containing spatial address data from
    • 348 local authorities in England and Wales (the Local Land and Property Gazetteers (LLPG) which cumulatively create the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG)),
    • Royal Mail,
    • Valuation Office Agency and
    • Ordnance Survey datasets.
  • The NAG Hub database is owned by GeoPlace and is the authoritative single source of government-owned national spatial address information, containing over 225 million data records relating to about 34 million address features. GeoPlace is a production organisation with no product sales or supply operations.
  • The NAG is made available to public and private sector customers through Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase products.

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The AddressBase Family

  • The National Address Gazetteer Hub database is owned by GeoPlace and is claimed to be the authoritative single source of government-owned national spatial address information, containing over 225 million data records relating to about 34 million address features.
  • Each address has its own Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN). The AddressBase suite have been designed to integrate into the Ordnance Survey MasterMap suite of products.

AddressBase is available at three levels of granularity (lite, plus and premium).

  • AB+ merges two address datasets together (PAF and Local Authority) to provide the best available view of addresses currently defined by Local Authorities, giving many advantages over AddressBase.
  • AB+ lets you link additional information to a single address, place it on a map, and carry out spatial analysis that enables improved business practices.
  • Geoplace argue that further value comes from additional information in the product which includes:
    • A more detailed classification – allowing a better understanding of the type (e.g. Domestic, Commercial or Mixed) and function of a property (e.g. Bank or Restaurant)
    • Local Authority addresses not contained within PAF – giving a more complete picture of the current addresses and properties (assuming they are in scope (see below))
    • Cross reference to OS MasterMap TOIDs – allowing simple matching to OS MasterMap Address Layer 2, Integrated Transport Network or Topography Layer
    • Spatial coordinates
    • Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) – which provides the ability to cross reference data with other organisations, and maintain data integrity.
  • Premium includes the address lifecycle

AddressBase supports the UK Location Strategy concept of a 'core reference geography', including the key principles of the European Union INSPIRE directive, that data should only be collected once and kept where it can be maintained most effectively (see AddressBase products user guide). It's probably worthwhile mentioning that this is not an open address layer - however, a 2104 feasibility study sponsored by the department of Business, Innovation and Skills included a recommendation that AddressBase lite is made openly available.

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Royal Mail - Access and Delivery points

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Denmark: An addressing commons

  • Geocoded address infrastructure
  • Defined the semantics of purpose
    • what is an address
  • Open data
    • an address commons with full stakeholder engagement and participation
    • There is no such thing as an unmatched address

  • Geocoded address infrastructure
  • Defined the semantics of purpose
    • what is an address
  • Open data
    • an address commons
  • The re-use statistics are staggering:
    • 70% of deliveries are to the private sector,
    • 20% are to central government
    • 10% are to municipalities.
  • Benefits:
    • Efficiencies
    • No duplication
    • Improved confidence
    • Known quality
    • There is no such thing as an unmatched address

A credible service providing a mutlitude of efficiencies (@_addressing_2012, pp.50 - 54)

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The World Bank

  • Urban bias
  • Cost of infrastucture development
  • Lack of community involvement

The World Bank has taken a street addressing view-point (@_addressing_2012, p.57). This requires up-to-date mapping and bureacracy (to deliver a street gazetteer and to provide the street infrastructure (furniture)). However, (@_addressing_2012, p.44) demonstrates that this is a cumbersome process with a number of issues, not the least:

  • Urban bias
  • Cost of infrastucture development
  • Lack of community involvement

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Addressing issues

  • Addresses are increasingly over-loaded
    • Assets as addresses
    • Services as addresses
    • People as/at addresses
  • Addresses as things

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Issues: addresses = postal address.

  • Is Postal a constraining legacy?
  • Is address a useful term?

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Taking stock

Addresses are heterogeneous

In terms of:

  • What they mean
  • What they are used for
  • Who uses them
  • How they are accessed

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Assets can have addresses

So - anything can have an address (the Internet of Things)

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National data silos

  • They have been created to solve national issues.
    • Applying different paradigms
    • Are relative referencing system that do not implicitly provide an accurate spatial location.
  • No unifying semantics.

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Licence silos

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Addresses are bureaucratic and costly

Severely protracted when formal/informal issues are encountered.

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Addresses can be opaque

transparent reproducibility critical for those at the beginning and end of the addressing lifecycle

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Addresses are of global significance

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Addresses are ripe for disruption

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What about the address disenfranchised?

It is almost impossible for individuals to be part of society without a legal identity.

4 billion people are excluded from the rule of law because they do not have a legal identity, and that establishing such an identity often depends on having an official address.

Addresses appear to be a key element in aiding the delivery of policies at national and international levels ....

@_addressing_2012 p. 6

... particularly with regard to:

  • governance
  • rule of law
  • poverty reduction
  • disease prevention
  • the provision of basic services such as:
    • electricity
    • sanitation
    • water.

@_addressing_2012 p. 6

This century is witnessing a fundamental change in our way of life; for the first time in history, half of the world’s population lives in towns and cities.

Urban areas are growing faster in developing countries, mostly through informal settlements.

The lack of an address, particularly in informal settlements, can also mean the lack of legal identity, equal opportunities for employment and social integration.

@_addressing_2012 p. 6

Addresses are becoming a basic human right.

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The World Bank have a plan

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But in Africa:

It's difficult to do street based addressing when there are no streets!

The mapping of informal settlements in urban area implies legitamacy - hence it's not done!

And this does exacerbate the urban rural divide.

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Legitimacy

Formal and informal barriers are profound

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What are the aspirations for a global addressing framework?

Or an addressing commons?

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It will need to harmonise the formal and informal

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It should meet the needs of the rural and urban communities equally

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It should be lightweight and cheap to implement

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It should be transparent, reproducible and predictable

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It should be born spatial and global

An address system should not require specific geocoding services to make it spatial.

Streets are so last century.....

  • Ubiquitous GPS/GNSS
  • Structured crowdsourced geo-enabled content (wikipedia, OSM)

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It should be an openly licenced Core Reference data set

The situation is best summarised by the open access Danish addressing commons [@_addressing_2012 p. 54]:

The re-use statistics are staggering:

  • 70% of deliveries are to the private sector,
  • 20% are to central government
  • 10% are to municipalities.

There is no such thing as an unmatched address.

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It should be accessible (on and off-line)

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It should support and enhance business services

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It should support many ways of engagement

What3Words completely get this!

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A new global address paradigm?

  • Amazon drone delivery in the UK requires
    • A new view over addressing complements streets and buildings but is geo-coded at source
    • and supports accurate delivery throughout the delivery chain using a global referencing system.

Is there a universal approach which allows all avenues to be satisfied?

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How might this look? CORE

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MUST HAVE Core requirements for a Global Address Framework

. .

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WGS84 algorithmic address minting

  • Born spatial
  • Accessible
  • Lightweight and cheap to implement
  • Transparent, reproduceable and predicatable

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Small footprint

  • Accessible
  • Lightweight and cheap to implement

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Short/memorable

Support and enhance business services

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Self checking

  • Support and enhance business services

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Unlimited spatial recording

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Open and interoperable

  • Transparent, reproduceable and predicatable
  • Openly Licensed

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the lack of a consistent and transparent legal and policy framework for sharing spatial data continues to be an additional roadblock.

@pomfret_spatial_2010

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How might this look? Nice to haves

. .

Would be nice to have extended requirements for a Global Address Framework

. .

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Indoor use and 3D

  • Support and enhance business services
  • Incorporating wifi-triangulation - individual room addressing and navigation.
  • Seamless integration with BIM and CityGML.
  • Addressing isn't only about buildings and 2D - think 3D and the Internet of Things

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Inherent geo-statistical aggregation (spatially scalable)

  • Support and enhance business services
  • GIS free multi-scale analysis and reporting during disaster scenarios.

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Area representation based on a regular tessellation

  • Support and enhance business services
    • It is still useable within traditional GIS.

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Spatial adjacency relations within the encoding

  • Support and enhance business services
    • Understanding localised connectivity relations.

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What do you want your technology candidates to do?

BCS examples (in alphabetical order):

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Combining frameworks

  • One size doesn't have to fit all.
  • Build bridges between Global and National frameworks
  • Understand fitness for purpose for each application

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Q. How do we encourage such infrastructure development?

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A. Support core reference geographies

Bob Barr has described core reference geographies as geographic data which:

  • Are definitive
  • Should be collected and maintained once and used many times
  • Are Natural monopolies (which addresses are)
  • Have variable value in different applications
  • Have highly elastic demand

Global addresses are a core reference geography.

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Wrap up.... A GeoCommons core supporting formal and informal services

What if global addressing, as a core reference geography, was an inclusive loosely coupled GeoCommons.........

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Questions


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