Alberta Government Services, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada the Alberta Spatial Information (SPIN) System (2001-Single Process) (2005)

System Summary To achieve internal and external operation and distribution efficiencies, Alberta Registries initiated the Surveys Automation Project in late spring of 1997. Its primary goal was, for one of the first times in North America, to move the entirely manual survey plan registration, archiving, printing, and distribution process into a modern digital environment over a two-year period. Registries worked in partnership with the Alberta Land Surveyor community, other provincial government departments, the federal government, and other industry stakeholders to develop new digital submission standards and an encrypted electronic plan submission process via FTP. The Computer-Aided Design (CAD) standards set for digital submissions also provided the ability to directly update the digital cadastral mapping of the province, thus greatly reducing the overall cost to maintain this vital data set. Associated with this automation effort was the development and implementation with a private sector partner, WayTo Integration, of the Web-based Spatial Information (SPIN) search-and-delivery system for the 250,000 registered plans of the province, to replace an existing text-based system that was not year 2000-compliant. Along with various legal identifier text-based queries, SPIN provides a new graphical mapping interface that allows users to drill down to a specific area in the province to identify survey plans and other land information available. Once data has been selected for purchase, it may be downloaded directly or a request may be made for prints, CDs, or diskettes for delivery. Clients may access and purchase information from SPIN (http://www. spin.gove.ab.ca) either by using an established account or by electronic commerce (e-commerce). SPIN has been so successful that other agencies have paid to have enhancements made to overlay, search, and deliver other government land-related data to a variety of clients (e.g., soils, survey control markers, township plans, cemetery locations). Other products or services are currently being discussed for the SPIN platform, including data for assessment services, municipal boundaries, and survey field notes. The SPIN system has set a new standard in the low-cost delivery of services it provides by employing user-friendly, leading-edge Internet technology and graphical-search interfaces. This success has laid the groundwork for even larger application of this technology as Registries moves to redevelop the entire Alberta Land Titles (ALTA) System and assist in meeting the evolving land information/geographic information system (GIS) requirements of the province. Motivation for System Development The primary motivators for Alberta Land Titles to initiate system development included the need to automate an entirely manual registration process to gain internal and external registration and data-distribution efficiencies as well as provide a cost-effective mechanism for updating the cadastral mapping of the province. In addition, an opportunity existed to build an open-ended Web-based application that could be reused for a variety of purposes by both Land Titles and other areas of the Alberta government if so required. System Benefits Achieved Benefits: * Cost savings associated with digital archiving and Web delivery of data allowed Land Titles to reduce the cost of Web-delivered plan data by 33 percent. * Surveyors in isolated areas are now downloading plans by laptop and cellular modems. Previously, if they were missing data, the survey crew would have to return to town and wait several days for newly ordered plan information to arrive. * Municipalities and utility companies that have traditionally maintained large hard-copy libraries of plans can now access low-cost, real-time plan information, thus eliminating the need to maintain their libraries. * Albertans may use the extended legal identifiers (e. …