I was in Australia recently visiting our colleagues and meeting some clients.
I learnt about the national address database G-NAF (Geocoded National Address File) which has been built by PSMA in combination with Logica CMG and Geometry Pty and including data from local government and the Australian Postal Service and the electoral commission There seemed to be little of the acrimony between the parties that characterises addressing in the UK. Of course I may not have been there for long enough to get a full picture.
The metadata on G-NAF is refreshingly candid about its accuracy:
G-NAF is not 100% accurate nor does it have 100% coverage. The G-NAF project is a concerted effort to deliver the best possible geocoded national address dataset available and there is significant commitment to ensuring that it will improve with every release.
The magnitude of this dataset, the complexity of its content, and the multiplicity of its sources in both initial construction and ongoing maintenance, means that there is still a great deal of work to be done to improve the content, quality and coverage of the G-NAF.
A slightly different approach to that which we experience in the UK
Interestingly G-NAF is supplied with a database loader which avoids the need for multiple applications vendors to devise their own tools to load the data, it also ensures that the loader and schema are always aligned.
Saw some street theatre in Sydney. Could this be a new version of an OLAP Cube?
Strange?
