FIG Commission 7, Cadastre and Land Management, held a successful international seminar on e-Land Administration from 2nd to 4th June 2004 in Innsbruck, Austria, in close co-operation with the Austrian Society for Surveying and Geoinformation. The seminar attracted 115 participants from more than 35 countries all over the world, representing a wide range of interest groups from private and public sector, IT industry and users as well. The interest for the seminar was even bigger but the venue out its limits to the participation.

Cadastral data as part of geographic information has developed into a new tool for crucial political, economic and legal decision-making. But there is still a lack of awareness concerning the importance of digital cadastral data. e-Government has become an issue in all fields of public administration, requiring transformation of background procedures into models offering the client simple solutions as a product of differing content on various levels of quality yet without evidence of unique standards. e-Land Administration is a major part of e-Government and may be considered a strong fundament for legal, administrative and technical structures for an entire public administration. Land administration data are indicators for a wide range of related information and are essential for creating value-added data for e-Government.

Papers Presented

Papers were presented entitled ‘International trends for e-Land Administration’, ‘e-Government: next steps towards a bright future!?’, ‘Impact of e-Government for surveyors’, ‘Standards-based open web services for e-Government’, ‘Cadastral automation and related e-Government initiatives in NZ’, ‘Land Information (LIN) – catalyst for integrated e-Government’, ‘Base Registers as Part of e-Government in Finland’, ‘e-Government …. Using a mouse to avoid a queue’, ‘Geo-referenced addresses for e-Government’, ‘Land Administration – a model by Lithuania’, ‘e-Government in accession countries – experience in Poland’, ‘e-Land Administration in Hungary’, ‘Experiences and Directions in National Portals’, ‘The German GDI – a public private co-operation model’, ‘Pricing models for e-government procedures’, ‘e-Conveyancing – a challenge and a prize’, ‘Legal issues in future e-Conveyancing in NL’, ‘e-Conveyancing using PKI technologies’, ‘Cyberdock – archives for e-Government’ and ‘Links between Land Administration and Risk Management’.

The Conclusions

At the output side of Cadastre and Land Registry organisations, e-Land Administration contributes to better transparency in the real-estate market. It improves B2B activities and efficiency and might decrease transaction costs, thus representing economic value. e-Land Administration as the core of SDI supports easy access to data and increased use of such data, thus generating more revenue. It attracts new services and new registrations. A single window contributes to improved customer satisfaction; the same is valid for value-added products. For this purpose, new business models and pricing models have to be developed in close co-operation with the private sector.

In relation to throughput it provides opportunities for the introduction of Workflow Management. Furthermore, easy access can be given to digital archives with deed, title and other legal documents. Another opportunity lies in the future development of fully automated updating by either customer or professional.

On the input side, various forms of e-Land Administration have been recognised: e-conveyancing, e-registration and e-lodgement. This enhances transaction procedures in the land market and (again) makes this market more transparent; it resolves the chain of titles and allows a quicker transfer of purchase prices.

The link between e-Land Administration and SDI is a prerequisite to the implementation of ‘single-window policy’. The single window increases customer satisfaction. This link will offer a good opportunity for value-added products where the private sector opens up the market on the basis of a public-private partnership or (better) a public-private co-operation. The link between SDI and e-Land Administration increases the use of data and so increases return on investments. For this purpose, mechanisms of data sharing based on standards have to be enhanced. SDI with integrated land registry and cadastre may flourish well as base registers as part of a governmental policy, where guaranteed quality in relation to the registers is an item. Apart from parcels, addresses are key to accessing information.

e-Land Administration involves stakeholders. The development of e-Land Administration cannot be done in isolation.

e-Land Administration and technology: technology is not a restriction. Good co-operation with the IT industry is required; one example here are the efforts being made in core cadastral domain modelling.

e-Land Administration and political support. e-Land Administration is only possible within a context of national information policy resulting in new laws (legal framework) and public administration arrangements. Evidence has to be given of the benefits in terms of economic justification and customer satisfaction.

e-Land Administration and impact on organisations is expected to be substantial in terms of re-engineering IT and workflows; this goes with restructuring of the organisation and re-skilling of employees.

Gerda Schennach
Paul van der Molen
Commission 7