Is an address still an address if you don't know what you're addressing and why? Towards ontologies for addressable geographical objects The 2nd UK Ontology Network Workshop Edinburgh University 11 th April 2013 Professor Robert Barr OBE Manchester Geomatics and University of Liverpool

Overview Why addressing matters Why addressing is difficult Ontology Examples Research Agenda Conclusions

Why addressing matters? The ‘address’ is the most frequently used item of geographic information Address geocoding is the most common transformation from ‘indirect’ geographic referencing to ‘direct’ (coordinate based) referencing Addressing applies across a wide range of domains

Why addressing is difficult The meaning of an address depends on: – The semantic structure – that is the text of the address – The function of the object being addressed For example, mail delivery point or cadastral parcel

Why addressing is difficult – The purpose for which the object is being addressed For example, delivery, legal definition or navigation, utility connection – The form of the object being addressed For example House, Flat, Church,, Factory

Semantic Structure Building Name Number Street Locality Post Town County Postcode Country streetAddress postOfficeBoxNumber postalCode addressRegion addressLocality addressCountry Source: schema.org/PostalAddress

What are we addressing? Delivery point Letter Parcel Large Item – e.g. shed Dwelling Taxable hereditament Property – legal – In uniform ownership or tenure Property physical – Parcel – Building Utility connection point Utility billing address Legal sub-parcel – Wayleave ‘Point of Interest’ Street furniture Advertising location Infrastructure – Bridge – Tunnel Emergency services – Fire Ambulance Police Motoring organisations Etc Etc …

Why are we addressing it? To deliver a letter To deliver a parcel To deliver a large load To buy or lease the addressed object To tax the addressed object To deliver a service to the object – Gas – Electricity – Water – Sewage removal – Telecommunications To determine where the occupants of the object can vote To collect information about the object To collect information about the occupants of the object or to inform them To navigate to the object To ascertain whether the object is at risk – E.g. flood, or wayleave Etc Etc …

Ontology “An explicit formal specification of how to represent the objects, concepts and other entities that are assumed to exist in some area of interest and the relationships that hold among them.” ( DOI Foundation, 2003).

Ontology Ontologies are important: – They define geographic concepts – Move from fuzzy natural language definitions – … to formal definitions that can be standardised – They are a vital step on the way to a Linked Data – They make it easier to re-use data in new situations

Limitations of Ontology A shared view? – A useful ontology requires the widest possible consensus and use – Ontology creation tools and editors make it easier to re-invent an ontology than to re-use existing ones – While it is theoretically possible to extend an ontology from one domain to another, in practice this is rarely done – Semantically orientated

Why it matters now The government’s White Paper ‘Open Data – Unleashing the Potential’ identifies address data sets as critical parts of the infrastructure for handling data. In particular it states that:

Why it matters now “…the Postcode Address File (PAF) [ is ] produced by the Royal Mail. It is an important input into many private sector products and services and its value now goes far beyond its original purpose as a tool to enable delivery of the mail. It is also a critical part of the National Address Gazetteer (NAG), which is the definitive single address register and is part of considerations to develop plans for a rolling census.”

That’s it Professor Robert Barr OBE