Land iQ offers advanced analytics and scenario planning capabilities that can be applied on a project-by-project basis. The tool can be used to identify sites with a set of criteria, undertake site layouts/feasibilities, make preliminary assessment of business cases, and assist strategic planning and development assessment by analysing the local context from street/suburb scale, to LGA and regional context to understand the existing economic, social, demographic, cultural and environmental context. Users of the tool experience benefits including reduced timeframes with faster/in-house due diligence, and budget improvements along with an enhanced adaptability of existing functions to support delivery of project needs.

A key difference between Land iQ and other digital tools is that it is underpinned by over 40 land use typologies for a consistent approach to scenario analysis across government. It is designed to be agile and modular to evolve for the future needs of its users.

Land iQ was launched on 28 July 2022 for use of state agencies and 110 licenses were initially procured. We are working with agencies to increase awareness and usage of the tool. The immediate focus is on ensuring the data and functionality of Land iQ meets the needs of users across the NSW Government.

We also commenced development of a business case for the long-term solution for Land iQ, which will look at options to bring the tool completely in-house or continue with the partnership arrangement currently in place with the private sector. The business case will provide an opportunity to develop a financial model to cover the ongoing cost of the tool.

We are also working on a pilot project to extend access of Land iQ to Local Government, subject to ensuring appropriate security and access provisions are in place for sensitive data.

Land iQ was developed by DPE as the product owner and holder of the intellectual property rights, in partnership with companies WSP as the provider of analytics and data functionality and Giraffe as the spatial platform host, with high-resolution maps provided by Aerometrex.

Since its inception, we worked with NSW agencies including Treasury, Greater Cities Commission, Water, Customer Service, Transport, Education, Infrastructure and Health to ensure the tool responds to the needs of agencies.

NSW government agencies are the key beneficiaries of Land iQ, as it enables them to undertake comprehensive analysis in a rapid way to expedite their work and leverage data and analytics that would not be possibly done in a fast way in-house.

The wider community also benefit from the tool since the decisions are made by government are faster, more consistent, and evidence based. We believe this tool will increase trust in government decisions on land.

The tool can help Government to save up to $15 million a year. There are numerous costs associated with current practice, including site identification, due diligence, cost planning, master planning, the time associated with the procurement of consultants etc. Land iQ helps to cut time, and therefore cost, from all these processes.

Land iQ currently addresses land use projects across health, education, energy, infrastructure, housing, and transport with further scope to include measurable outcomes of these impacts. The tool also provides real solutions for those in vulnerable situations in a timely and efficiency manner. The tool is used to support the NSW Government’s response to the major flood events experienced across eastern Australia in 2022. With the help of Land iQ, government identified surplus suitable land for temporary accommodation in the fastest way possible. The work we have done would have generally taken several weeks or months but it took just days.

Producing a minimum viable product of an advanced analytics tool for whole-of -government on a very constrained budget and timeframe was the most difficult part of the innovation. But we overcame this issue by working closely with our internal IT product development team and formed collaborative arrangements with major actors in the NSW government.

It was also challenging to co-design a digital tool with so many diverse agencies while ensuring efficient project delivery. Having an open communication since the project inception and effective stakeholder engagement helped us to develop a robust tool accepted widely by stage agencies.

Lastly, gaining access to sensitive government data and making this available to users was challenging. As part of our engagement plan, effective communication and data governance framework, we built trust and reduced friction involved in sharing data.

Endorsement and support from senior executives were crucial to the success of Land iQ. Co-designing the tool with key stakeholders and effective engagement with state agencies were also significant for the success of the tool. The tool is agile and highly adaptable which is considered as a key factor for its acceptance across government. Users can add their own data sets and customise certain aspects of Land iQ which is a unique offering across government.

Going forward, further user acceptance, automation of the manual data management practice, piloting a new interface for local government and securing ongoing funding/budget for the future enhancements will be essential for the sustainability of the tool and to achieve its long-term vision.

Land iQ was launched 3 months ago and since then, it has received significant interest across the sector including local government and the Victorian Government (another state in Australia). There has been interest from users particularly in Transport for NSW and School Infrastructure agencies to build new functionality such as infrastructure feasibility into the tool.

The tool is designed to constantly evolve, and a governance structure has been established to deliver future enhancements. A community of practice will also be established soon to foster further innovation in the design and application of Land iQ. In the future Land iQ will be applied to respond to climate and population pressures, assist in alignment between infrastructure delivery and planning for new communities.

While the platform is currently only available to state agencies, the plan is to continue to refine the tool and develop license options to make it available more broadly in the future to Local Government.

• Aim big and be open-minded. As the development team, we have constantly gone out of our comfort zones and learned from each other to progress the development of this innovative tool. By being open to new ideas and researching new areas the tool has become more robust and it provides more value.
• Make sure decision-makers are on-board, understand the value of the innovation and make them the main advocates of the project.
• Co-design, collaborate and listen- Engage with stakeholders from day 1 to contribute to the design of the tool. Promotion of the tool internally has been most successful when we have taken the time to work on specific use cases related to our colleagues’ work to be able to illustrate how the tool can directly improve the way they work (regarding better quality, saving time and money and accessing to information easily).

Please view the 1-hour panel video which took place in September 2022 for more context. https://environmentnswgov-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/sezen_furmage_dpie_nsw_gov_au/EavbYA4z3DpNhcLh7paQ8VYBgWoCaimNdxCh00P_-ERKfA?e=L6HyCf

A demonstration of the tool is also presented in this video. Please note that, as this is a spatial tool, it is hard to do it justice or accurately explain it without showing it.