Land Administration As-A-Service: Relevance, Applications, and Models

Abstract

The ‘as-a-Service’ (aaS) concept of the IT sector is suggested to reduce upfront and ongoing costs, enable easier scaling, and make for simpler system upgrades. The concept is explored in relation to the domain of land administration, with a view to examining its relevance, application, and potential adaptation. Specifically, these aspects are analysed against the long-standing problem of land administration system maintenance. Two discrete literature reviews, a comparative analysis, and final modelling work constitute the research design. Of the 35 underlying land administration maintenance issues identified, aaS is found to directly respond to 15, indirectly support another 15, and provide no immediate benefit to 5. Most prominent are the ability of aaS to support issues relating to financial sustainability, continuous innovation, and human capacity provision. The approach is found to be already in use in various country contexts. It is articulated by the UNECE as one of four scenarios for future land administration development. In terms of adaptation, the 4-tier framework from Enterprise Architecture—consisting of Business, Application, Information, and Technology layers—is used to model and describe five specific aaS approaches: (i) On Premises; (ii) Basic Outsourcing; (iii) Public Private Partnership; (iv) Fully Privatised; and (v) Subscription. Several are more theoretical in nature but may see future adoption. Each requires further development, including case analyses, to support more detailed definitions of the required underlying legal frameworks, financial models, partnerships arrangements, data responsibilities, and so on. Decisions on the appropriate aaS model, and the application of aaS more generally, are entirely dependent on the specific country context. Overall, this work provides a platform for land administration researchers and practitioners to analyse the relevance and implementation options of the aaS concept.

A Land Administration Data Exchange and Interoperability Framework for Kenya and Its Significance to the Sustainable Development Goals

“…Land administration data sources: the first stage concerns the mapping of all the LA data sources with the authorities responsible for their creation and management. This includes not only the land departments or cadastre and registry, but also the other external data sources necessary for LA functions: land tenure, land use, land value and land development [19]. This stage is discussed in Section 3.…”

A Methodological Approach towards Cyber Risk Management in Land Administrations Systems

“…Although LAS digitalisation [40,41] and online services [12] yield efficiency gains, they also expand the attack surface for malicious actors seeking to penetrate systems and exploit cyber vulnerabilities. Recent surveys reveal significant cybersecurity deficits in land agencies worldwide [42].…”

“…The multidimensional spatial cadastral data [5][6][7][8] contained in the LAS serve as the cornerstone of its essential functions, such as land valuation [9], taxation [10], spatial planning, and environmental monitoring [11]. This geographic information provides an authoritative mapping of land parcel boundaries and associated attributes that enable land markets [12], secured land tenure [2,13], and evidence-based policymaking [14]. However, the integrity and resilience of land information infrastructure now face acute risks in an increasingly digitised and interconnected era [15][16][17][18].…”

Building a Cadastral Map of Europe through the INSPIRE and Other Related Initiatives

“…This is also the reason that many researchers have dealt with the challenges of introducing or upgrading LADM in the country-specific LAS [7][8][9]. Lately, particular attention has been given to the revision of LADM [10], cadastral processes and data dissemination processes, also in relation to LADM [11], and land administration system upgrades challenges [12].…”