This seems to be especially true of nominal geocoding and linking data. A good example of this is the municipal addressing system. This can result in poor data description or in extreme cases poor application design and implementation. Maps and the visual representation of geographic data has scale. The way in which geographic elements relate to each other.
All data has topology.
Topology is encoded in different ways depending upon vendor system. How topology is encoded depends upon what efficiencies the vendor is hoping to achieve with their system. We have graphics and we have data. The representation of data should not be confused with the data itself. Given that we believe that to maximize the utility of our data we have to be able to integrate it, the implication is that data sharing is necessary.