Accurate data and modelling can provide useful information that is valuable for good decision making. International networks of people and infrastructure have contributed to the development of global assets like Open Street Maps. Now, the completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of such data often equals or surpasses some commercial and governmental datasets. Arguably, open geospatial data collected through Open Street Map and Overture curation processes is now of sufficient quality to be integrated into some government data processing pipelines and support government decision making.
However, challenges remain. Even in ‘high-income’ countries such as Australia, significant gaps in geospatial digital infrastructure remain, particularly in remote areas, contributing to data inequity. Open data will have limited benefit unless there is a clear purpose. The value of data is directly related to how it is used to support human activities.
This paper describes how open-source data, and national administrative data can be integrated to create modeled residential dwelling reference frames, complex transport network models, and service location registers that enable the modelling of service access metrics. Case-study examples from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Spain are provided.
The Australian case study outlines the modelling of the location of dwellings in northern remote Australia, where government data sources are non-existent or incomplete. This work has been supported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) with the aim of reducing error in the Census process though a better understanding the location & occupancy of dwellings in Australia .
In New Zealand we have developed a proof-of concept approach using open-source data, to estimating the impact of extreme weather events on the spatial accessibility of health services. We expand on this approach to model the impact of floods under different climate change scenarios. This provides important information to support disaster risk reduction and resilience in an area that is little researched in the NZ context to date. Spain increasingly experiences road network disruption from flash floods.
Fiji is an archipelago nation comprising more than 330 islands, of which around 110 are permanently inhabited. According to the most recent 2017 Fiji Population and Housing Census, the population was counted at 884,887 with nearly three quarters residing on the island of Viti Levu, which is also home to the capital city, Suva. Population dynamics affect every aspect of our nation – whether its economic growth, employment, social security, health, education or environment sustainability. In Fiji, the spatial data for population are based on statistical boundaries (enumeration areas) which are compatible with the administrative boundaries. The Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBoS), with support from the Statistics for Development Division (SDD) of the Pacific Community (SPC), have made significant progress in developing and refining Fiji’s population grid. The grids are derived from the most recent 2017 Population and Housing Census data, estimated to the year 2025.
This collaboration with SPC, CARA and Waikato University has shown significant development on the experimental service access metrics for Fiji using open-source data.