Distributed territorial data management and exchange for public organizations

Development of Information Systems based on territorial data (e.g., land planning, geo-marketing, vehicle management, traffic guidance,...) is usually highly complex and expensive. A large part of the cost is due to the fact that the real value of geographical data for a given application purpose is highly dependent front the match between data quality characteristics and the application target. On the other side, large availability and easy exchange of territorial data relative to a given region are fundamental ingredients to support economic development in many service sectors that are increasingly and increasingly based on Information Technology systems. Hence a critical issue fbr arty public administration in its role as a policy making organization is the definition of a techno-organizational infrastructure ensuring, at the same time, cooperation and competition in this critical market. In this paper we describe fundamental ideas underlying a possible approach to deal with such an issue. The lines here discussed have been implemented and tested in a system prototype developed in Italy, whose realization was promoted by AIPA, the italian Authority for Informatics in Public Administration.