A new approach to creating & managing a spatial data warehouse consortium

Alberta’s Digital Mapping Infrastructure - A History of Partnership
In the early 1970’s, Albertans recognized the need for standardized, high quality, digital base maps to support planning, development and management activities in a collective and cost effective manner. In consultation with municipalities, utilities and private industry, the Government of Alberta (GOA) initiated a series of base mapping programs that have resulted in a comprehensive Alberta digital base mapping infrastructure that is estimated to a have a value of over $50 million.

As this mapping evolved, all levels of government, industry and others have collectively invested upwards of $100 million in Alberta building Automated Mapping/Facilities Management/Geographic Information Systems (AM/FM/GIS). These systems rely heavily upon the continued availability of a standardized, reasonably priced, easily accessed and up-to-date provincial base mapping infrastructure. The rate at which these new systems are being developed and implemented is increasing exponentially. Digital base mapping and the new technologies which use it (such as AM/FM/GIS) are key to the efficient delivery of many government and industry services as well as to the international competitiveness of a growing high technology Geomatics services industry in Alberta.

As Alberta’s base mapping infrastructure was compiled, it also had to be updated to reflect changes resulting from on-going development. Additionally, the mapping and its updates had to be stored and distributed to Albertans in an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving technological environment. In 1996, upon completing the geographic coverage of Alberta’s digital mapping infrastructure, the Alberta Environmental Protection (AEP) Department decided that it should not continue to be in the business of updating, storing, distributing and funding this mapping. The Government of Alberta sought a third party who could assume financial and operational responsibilities for these on-going tasks - protecting Alberta’s mapping infrastructure investment in exchange for the revenues collected from distributing the digital mapping.

By 1996, Alberta’s major utility companies had contributed in excess of $5 million dollars towards the initial compilation of digital Rural Cadastral mapping in an unprecedented cost- sharing arrangement with the GOA. Out of this historic partnership and mutual, strategic need for the continuance of Alberta’s digital mapping infrastructure, Spatial Data Warehouse (SDW) was formed as a not-for-profit partnership.

Spatial Data Warehouse is an Alberta-registered, not-for-profit company created on June 25, 1996 to take over and fund digital mapping activities that were previously undertaken and funded by the Government of Alberta. The copyright of the mapping data sets and all updates to those data sets remains with the Government of Alberta.

SDW’s objective is to provide for the long-term management (updating, storage and distribution) and associated funding of digital mapping “data sets” which, collectively, constitute Alberta’s digital mapping infrastructure. SDW’s core purpose is to maintain and promote the broadest possible distribution of the base mapping data to meet the needs of the Alberta market place and preserve the mapping data for the long-term benefit of Albertans.

In December 1997, after a detailed search and evaluation process, SDW selected AltaLIS Ltd. as the private sector company who would assist SDW. AltaLIS is a joint venture comprised of QC Data Ltd. of Calgary and Martin Newby Consulting Ltd. of Calgary. SDW determined that AltaLIS has the best compliment of surveying, mapping, data storage, data distribution, data marketing, management, financial and legal skills, resources and experience to help SDW achieve its long-term objectives. Through a joint venture agreement, SDW and its agent AltaLIS continue to fund the on-going updating, storage and distribution of Alberta’s digital mapping infrastructure.