4th Quality Conference 1/7 1) Title of the case. Spanish e Cadastre ( Virtual Office of Cadastre, or OVC). An open space for sustainable quality in cadastral data, working with land management administrations. 2) General description of the organisation and/or project The Spanish Cadastre is an administrative register with a fiscal origin, created as a data bank to be accessed both by Public Administrations (national, regional, local) and citizens. As an inventory of real estate, it contains physical information (surface area, location, use, shape, boundaries, cartographic representation, crops and forest use, type and quality of constructions, etc.), legal information (identification of holders or owners: name, national identification number, address, etc.) and economic information (Cadastral value of land and buildings, valuation criteria). This Cadastral data bank includes detailed information on more than 32 million urban properties, more than 42 million rural properties and over 25 million Cadastral owners. The General Directorate of Cadastre, with headquarters in Madrid, has 52 local branches of which 16 are regional offices and employs over 2,880 public servants, including 300 in Central Services who work in the coordination, design and implementation of Cadastral management and information systems, which are operated, maintained and updated by the local branches. The principal tasks or competencies of the General Directorate of Cadastre are: To perform, or otherwise, manage, control and co ordinate the performance by third parties of, the technical work of creation, conservation and revision of real estate Cadastres. To research and coordinate real estate assessment systems, co ordinate the resulting real estate values, and approves Value Proposals. To produce and maintain Cadastral cartography, necessary for the creation, conservation, and revision of Real Estate Cadastres. To prepare studies and proposals of regulations and systems, relative to the tasks of creation, conservation and revision of real estate Cadastres. To manage and make available Cadastral databases as a public service. To carry out real estate studies, and to prepare and analyse statistical information contained in real estate Cadastres and relative to real estate taxation. The Spanish territory covers over 500,000 square kilometres. The General Directorate of Cadastre is responsible for the Cadastral administration of 95% of the territory, and the remaining 5% is administered by the regional governments of Navarre and the Basque Country. The G.D. of Cadastre has a budget of 123 million euros for 2006. Nearly 5 million euros have been invested in hardware, software and systems development, not including the salaries of 60 public employees in the Deputy Directorate of Information Systems and of nearly 300 more who operate these information systems in the local branches. 7,575 local authorities fall within the competency of the G.D. of Cadastre, which stores and updates the following: Urban Cadastre 12 million urban parcels. 32 million urban units. 1.190.000 million total Cadastral urban value
4th Quality Conference 2/7 19 million urban owners. 1,000,000 Has mapped to scales 1/1.000 y 1/500. Rural Cadastre 42 million rural parcels 57 million sub parcels 27,217 million total Cadastral rural value 7,2 million rural owners 46,000,000 Has mapped to scale 1:5.000. The parcel is defined as the portion of land, delimited by a closed line, owned by a single individual or by several. Urban units are different properties owned by a single individual or several and registered individually in the Property Register, and in the case of the rural Cadastre, sub parcels are portions of land with different crops, usage or yield. The Spanish Cadastre is also a database of the Cadastral values of rural and urban real estate which are the basis for the calculation of real estate tax and other local, regional and national taxes. But this is not its only purpose: it is also a territorial database allowing the location and identification of Cadastral parcels and the assignment of the Cadastral reference, as well as the supply of graphic and literal information to other public entities. The foregoing shows that the Cadastral Information System is a dynamic, open system with numerous flows of interchange of information, with multiple external agents who interact with the Cadastre s databases both as suppliers of information and as users and clients. Information is exchanged regularly with local authorities, notaries and land registers, and data is submitted and cross referenced with other state administrations. More than 2 million citizens visit the Cadastral offices every year and over 12 million users access the Cadastre s website or visit the Virtual Office of Cadastre. 3) The main content of the case The Virtual Office of Cadastre was created in May 2003 with the main goal of providing other Administrations with information which, until then, citizens were required to present to the given Adminisration after collecting it themselves from the Cadastral office. Today, the Virtual Office of Cadastre provides the following services: Cadastral Information Query both alphanumeric and graphic (maps). This service allows the user to access the physical and economic features of properties as well as their owner. The data can be obtained from the location (address) of a building, from its Cadastral reference or code, or from a list of the properties owned by an individual. Multiple Query Service. Instead of making individual queries, it is possible to send a file in a pre defined format with necessary data, and this service replies with all the requested information in a file. Certificate of Cadastral Data (official document with the data obtained from a previous query). This document is obtained immediately and at no cost. The Certificate bears a 16 digit code which allows the document to be recoverd as originally issued. (Fig 1) Exchange of information. Allowing the exchange of files, in a pre defined format, between the Cadastre and the different Administrations as well as with other collaborating organizations, for different purposes: coordination of the contents of data bases, updating of Cadastral information, legal effects, taxation, etc. It is important to emphasize that these services are provided free of charge, and are universal in nature. Nevertheless, as both the European Union and Spanish laws consider part of the Cadastral data as protected data, protected real estate data are legally accessible only by certain institutions and administrations and, of course, by the owners of each particular property. Identification of data applicants is therefore an important issue. For this reason, involved administrations have to be registered off line in the application and, following registration, they are required to use X509 digital certificates in order to authenticate the users. Owners of a particular property can access protected data on their own properties by authenticating themselves with a X509 digital certificate. Spain has now progressed to the e DNI (electronic National Identity Card), so in a few years all citizens will have an X509 digital certificate to identify themselves and sign electronic transactions.
4th Quality Conference 3/7 Apart from the e DNI, the General Directorate of the Cadastre has reached agreements with different Certification Authorities to admit the X509 certificates issued by them as mechanisms of authentication in the application (the list can be seen in http://www.catastro.minhac.es/formulario_alta_ovc2 /certificados_admitidos.htm ) Description of services Basically, two kinds of services are provided: Request and certification of Cadastral data. Massive exchange of information. Services of request and certification of Cadastral data: These provide the location of a specific property in three different ways: Typing province, town, street name and number in case of urban buildings; province, municipality, polygon and parcel in the case of rural properties. Selecting it in the Cadastral cartography. Typing the holder's Fiscal Identity Number (NIF), and selecting a property from the list of properties owned by that person. Having located or selected the property, the information provided by the program is as follows: Previously registered users who are owners of a particular property (legally authorised, with a personalised access), can obtain detailed information on the property: physical characteristics, cartography, bordering properties (ownership) and economic data (Cadastral values). This information can be certified by obtaining a 16 character code which guarantees that the document is valid, since at any time the original document issued by the OVC can be recovered just by typing this code in the OVC form. Free access users (not authenticated), can obtain all the Cadastral information except economic values and ownership of the property. Cadastral maps are served using standard WMS (Web Map Services) that allow external geographical systems to overlay Cadastral information onto their own cartographies. This is possible even for Google Earth. It is important to emphasize that any particular citizen identified by an X509 certificate, can view all the accesses made on their properties by all administrations and institutions as registered users in the OVC. Certificate of Cadastral data Cadastral code Cadastral map Physical real estate data, cadastral value Legal ownership data Massive exchange of information Services 16 character certification code (Fig 1) The Cadastre exchanges a huge amount of information with external agents in order to coordinate the contents of their respective data bases. These OVC services allow the exchange of data files between collaborating agents and the Cadastre via Internet. The users have the following competencies: To send files to other users, via Internet, generating warnings to the addressee, and to obtain immediate information about the syntactic validity of data of the sent files, giving the possibility, in case of errors, to provoke a reverse gear in the process of information shipment.
4th Quality Conference 4/7 To download received files sent by other users, following identification of the sender, type of file and dates of shipment. To view statistics on sent and received files. OVC is the main example in interoperability between all the Spanish land management organizations, mainly Land Registers, and municipalities. They both use Cadastral data in their daily work, and work with the GD in data updating and assuring data quality in a sustainable quality model. The Land Register depends on the Department of Justice within the Ministry of the Interior, and constitutes a legal register of rights that ensures a high degree of legal security in real estate transactions and also acts as a freely accessible public information service. While the Cadastre uses the Cadastral parcel and urban unit as the basic entity, and cartography as the essential territorial support, the Register stores titles and deeds, registered using regulated systems of registration. Today, the Cadastre and the Land Register are related systems which use the same Cadastral reference as the key to identification of real estate. They are now working towards using Cadastral cartography as a territorial support for the identification, location and description of parcels, and send all Cadastral alterations through the OVC. 4) The reasons behind the case In 1998 the G.D. of Cadastre launched the Ensenad@ project, a strategic project to allow Cadastral clients citizens, local, regional and central administrations, and companies to access and use Cadastral data and services on an open 24x7 Internet platform. This strategic enterprise culminated in 2003 in the inauguration of the OVC (e Cadastre), which is the Cadastre s website for all the e Cadastre services. There were several reasons for the new strategy: First, Cadastral information (back office), is high quality information, partly unknown to the public, that must be brought closer to citizens and public administrations. Secondly, society demands information that is high quality, up to date, and easy to obtain. Customer service at Cadastral offices had to be improved. More than 2.3 million people visited the Cadastre s territorial offices in 2003, a figure that is now going down, and citizens were required to obtain over 1 million Cadastral certifications for other administrations which today obtain them directly from the OVC. Thirdly the General Directorate of Cadastre exchanges a large amount of information with all organizations managing territorial information. Two years ago, this information was exchanged using magnetic formats. Now the OVC is a gateway for these organizations to place the information directly into the territorial databases. These are the master databases, the main tool for updatings and improving Cadastral information. Fourth, free access to Cadastral databases for public administrations and private companies has represented an opportunity to speed up the economy in the territorial information sector. Not only for literal information but also for Cadastral maps. A new space was needed to guarantee interoperabliity between different organizations working with Cadastral information, and that space is the OVC: a new scenario for new services and products. 5) The actors behind the case The OVC was an initiative of the General Directorate of Cadastre, steered by the Information Systems Department. The project was designed by a small team of Cadastral staff, made up of I.T. engineers and managers. The design, technical specifications, and requirements were also developed entirely by Cadastral staff. For project implementation, two separate contracts were published in a public process, one for application programmers (five people) and the other for system administrators (six people) to conform the pre production and definitive hardware and software platform, and as systems administrators and supporters for the service. All of them have been working together with the Cadastral staff in the Cadastral offices in Madrid. Additionally, hardware and software companies such as Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Dell Computer, or Oracle, have been involved in platform support. This mix of public and private enterprise (G2B partnership), has worked together
4th Quality Conference 5/7 with excellent results. A good example of Public and Private Partnership (PPP) is the use of cadastral vectorial cartography over Google Earth. (Fig 2) Google KML image with 3D Cadastral information. Castellana street, and Real Madrid Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. (Fig 2) It is important to emphasise the collaboration of the different public administrations (notaries, land registers, municipalities etc), all of which are Cadastral information consumers, and at the same time participate in Cadastral maintenance by sending all the information related to Cadastral alteration. These entities are VIP users of the OVC, which allows them to identify Cadastral real estate and to obtain all physical information thought Internet (G2G partnership). Another important contribution is the effort of diffusion made by Cadastral managements, and the high degree of acceptance by public administrations. Finally, the system has been possible thanks to the engagement of the entire Cadastral organization, since the principal value of the system resides in the back office. Cadastral staff have worked diligently for the past ten years in data maintenance, data quality, setting Cadastral values, linking literal and legal data to Cadastral parcels in vectorial UTM Cadastral maps for the entire Spanish territory. The result is a high quality product, easy to sell because is a request of society (G2C partnership). 6) The process leading to success The implementation process has had four different stages: Phase 1 Data consolidation of the 52 territorial data bases in Cadastral headquarters central office. The National Cadastral Database (BDNC) is updated daily with all the movements in the master territorial databases, not only for literal information but also for vectorial cadastral maps, and all movements are consolidated in BDNC daily. This is also the master database for owner identification. Phase 2: Analysis and implementation of OVC. Aim: Electronic services for citizens and public administrations through Internet System activities: o Implementation of preproduction Software and hardware platform, o Implementation of production Software and hardware platform, o Modular integration of OVC applications. Other activities: o Legislative reforms to support: Free services in Internet In all the Administrations the obligation to use only Cadastral accesses by Internet. o Spread the new strategy to all the Cadastral organization: Procedures reform and simplification
4th Quality Conference 6/7 Integration in Cadastral Telephone service Diffusion Campaigns Services: o Literal Cadastral data query and certification for citizens (G2C), Administrations and public bodies (G2G). Internet certificates are not subject to tax. o Interchange system for Cadastral files (G2G) o Browser and display of cadastral maps, and certifications with both graphic and literal information. (G2C + G2G). o Cadastral Information Points (PICs). Phase 3: Direct interoperability with external Systems. Aim: To integrate Web services for those administrations who work with cadastral data. Services: o Massive data exchange in XML. o Public Web services to obtain cadastral codes and cadastral certifications. o Web Map server, to use cadastral data maps directly from other GIS systems. Phase 4: Electronic Advanced Services: 2007... Aim: Provide added value services using PKI systems. Advanced Services (G2C) such as: o Sketches per floor, 3D Cadastre in Internet. o Electronic payment of cadastral stamp duties. o Services to correct personal data. o Application through Internet for requests and documentation. o Cadastral proceedings monitoring. o Appointment request 7) Success Indicators The key indicators of success are the increase in the implementation of OVC by public administrations, and increased usage. All these data are published, up to date, and on line in Internet, so everybody can measure the evolution of the system every day. The following figures show the evolution of some quantitative indicators since launch of the service in 2003. Evolution during the past year has been particularly impressive. This is because the product that OVC offers is something useful and necessary for all those territorial administrations who work with cadastral information. 1 2 3 4 march 2003 march 2004 march 2005 march 2006 Public Admins users registered 0 6.233 16.668 34.775 e Cadastre OVC visits 0 511.440 2.700.175 10.868.955 Free accesses to non protected data 0 1.073.504 6.620.236 30.821.512 Accesses to personal data 0 88.354 1.301.485 5.198.422 Cadastral certificates 0 43.399 460.015 1.957.867 Accesses to cadastral data maps 0 0 7.412.264 57.522.592
4th Quality Conference 7/7 The Cadastre is now working to increase the number of Cadastral Information Points (PICs), with the goal of locating one PIC in each Local Authority, in order to bring e Cadastre closer to unqualified users. In just one year, this project has achieved more than 1,950 active PIC users and nearly 990 Local Authorities. A survey has now been sent to all Administration users registered in the e Cadastre. The survey basically asks the opinion of customers visiting the e Cadastre about the quality of service received, how e Cadastre has changed their daily work, suggestions etc. The analysis of their answers could be a fundamental tool in the goal of continuous improvement. 8) The main obstacles of the case These have been the main obstacles of the case: Resistence to Change. One of the main challenges has been to change the habits of the traditional users of cadastral data (public notaries, local authorities...). These users were accustomed to having information on paper from the Cadastral offices, usually requiring citizens to visit these offices to obtain it. To convince them of the advantages of changing to a self service model whereby they obtain the necessary information themselves through Internet has required an enormous effort, especially by the employees of the Cadastral offices, who were aware that this change would improve service delivery to citizens. Legal restrictions to data accessibility in accordance with Spanish data protection law. Registered users have different roles depending on their competencies, requiring the system to allow for different user profiles according to their level of territorial competency. Current low rate of user identification using PKI. This system is not yet widespread in Spain, and there are few citizens using electronic certification. The new electronic identity card could be a real solution. The technological barrier, especially for rural users in small remote villages with no Internet, no training, etc. The answer to this obstacle is the Cadastral Information Point, providing free access to all citizens in all municipalities with the aid of a civil servant. 9) Main sources of inspiration behind the case Apart from some other development actions in different administrations, such as the Virtual Tax Office and others, the main source of inspiration has been the technology itself. The source of inspiration behind the e Cadastre was the need for a common space in Internet for the different users and Administrations who use cadastral information daily, both those requiring cadastral data and those who work with us in data quality. We needed a standard open space for Cadastral interoperability, and this space is the web based e Cadastre, or OVC. A space for sustainable data quality and for cadastral services and maintenance. 10) Principal Learnings Society is ready for web based services and appreciates them. Added value is immediately generated to traditional public administration. Transparency is inherent to the system and with it, the quality of contents is improved. The e Cadastre is a valuable tool to integrate public services within a common European network (PSI, IN SPIRE).