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GENERIC STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH STEP TWO

It is very important to state in the metadata which geographic coordinate system was used to capture the
locations of the various service points. If the location of service points are stored in different coordinate
reference systems, the points will not line up in a GIS.

The overall cost of developing data is often high and capacity constraints such as a lack of funds, staff
and skills has had an impact on the type and quality of data that is available. Departments should hence
share data as much as possible and collaborate with one another in data collection. The sharing of
service delivery data facilitates synergy and alignment in planning processes in the interest of joined-up
government.
Establish a protocol to enable the sharing of spatial

information with other departments.

Your department should establish a protocol or data user’s agreement according to which the spatial
datasets will be made available to other departments and users. These will need to be in compliance
with the policies of the SASDI. Possible information that could be included in the protocol:

 Stipulate how the datasets can be accessed, for instance, it may be necessary to complete a data
request form which is available on the website of the data.

 Specify the terms and conditions, including restrictions, under which the datasets may be used.

 Possible privacy and security laws in the use of the data.

 Indicate that your department is the sole custodian of the datasets.

 The use of the data is at the user’s own risk and that the department shall not be liable for any loss
or damage whatsoever arising as a result of such use.

 Provision for the signing of the protocol.

Publish service point datasets together with metadata on
the website of the department

Departments should preferably publish or provide links on their websites to their most recent service
point datasets, to make it possible for other departments and data users to readily access and download
the data. Links to the data should be easy to find on the websites. It is important that the data should
be provided in a machine-readable format, such as Excel, and should as a minimum include the names
and types of service points, physical addresses and geographic coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) in
Decimal Degrees format. Metadata should be made available together with the datasets.

As an example, the South African Police Service provides a link on its website (https://www.saps.gov.
za/services/boundary.php) to enable anyone to formally request its most recent police station data. The
dataset is then sent by email n.csv format.

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