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WALIS Advisory Committee Spatial Data Pricing Discussion Paper
The WALIS Advisory
Committee (WAC) recommends that the WALIS Data Pricing and Transfer Policy be
reviewed and revised. WAC considers there are a range of issues that highlight
the need for a change in policy. The current pricing policy is incompletely and
inconsistently applied. Technology and the means to disseminate data have
rapidly evolved, as have consumer and market expectations. Local industry needs
to be stimulated and Western Australia needs to maintain
its competitive advantage.
Any revision of
the WALIS Data Pricing and Transfer Policy should be underpinned by the
following overarching principles:
- Government policy should ensure the focus is on a whole-of-state benefit, including consideration of increased economic activity, new economic development, and support for social and sustainability strategies.
-
All sectors of the community should have easy,
efficient and equitable access to spatial data where technology, data formats,
institutional arrangements, location, costs and conditions do not inhibit its
use.
In addition
to these two overarching principles, WAC has developed a number of general
principles. These include the need for a consistent application of pricing
policies by Australian governments and to transition from charging for data to
charging for services. Data should not be differentially priced based on
intended use, but can be differentially priced based on service provided and/or
currency of data, given the provision of real-time data could be considered to
be a service.
In any case, any pricing model
must be transparent, so that the means by which a price has been determined is
clear and defensible.
A key driver for change is the rapid adoption of spatial data, and the financial and strategic benefits that accrue from its use, directly to government agencies and to the citizens in general. WAC strongly advocates a pricing policy which strives to increase the usage of spatial data, by recognizing:
- The value of spatial data is realized through its usage. The more it is distributed, the more it is used. The more usage, the more value.
-
The savings to the State that result from not
spending money due to the use of quality spatial data in decision-making.
Note: This paper reflects the views of the WALIS Advisory Committee and does not reflect the Western Australian Government’s policy on spatial data pricing.