Q. What is Pointer®?

A. Pointer is the address database for Northern Ireland with the joint support of Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI), the Valuation & Lands Agency (VLA) and Royal Mail. The project is independent of the above organisations, and is managed through a Project Board with membership from the Central Information Technology Unit for Northern Ireland (CITU(NI)), OSNI, RM, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) represented by Ards Borough Council, VLA and Water Service.

For the first time there is a common standard address for every property in Northern Ireland. Each property has a unique reference number and geo-spatial coordinates. Pointer will provides infrastructural support to private and public sector organisations alike. It allows quick and accurate sharing and analysis of data and it supports a host of value added applications. Pointer has been created through a process of complex data matching and intensive ground validation across Northern Ireland in order to maximise the accuracy of the dataset.

Q. How is an address defined within Pointer?

A. Many organisations across the public and private sectors define an address to satisfy organisational, business and operational requirements. To meet the needs of these organisations, the address held in Pointer will be created by using two types of addressable object:

Primary Addressable Objects (an addressable object that can be addressed without reference to another addressable object); and

Secondary Addressable Objects (an addressable object that is addressed by reference to a Primary Addressable Object).

Pointer is maintained through the provision of data from Councils, Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI), the Valuation & Lands Agency (VLA) and Royal Mail.

Local Councils have the statutory power to name roads and number premises so they will be the source of these address elements. OSNI, Royal Mail and VLA will maintain other address elements such as geocodes, postcodes, building classification, multi-occupancy and building status.

Q. Who will determine what the correct address is in Pointer?

A. The Pointer database has been populated through a data matching exercise between the address datasets maintained by OSNI, VLA and Royal Mail. Unmatched data resulting from this exercise has been validated on the ground. The Pointer Team works with Local Councils to confirm the correct version of street names. In addition, the Pointer Team works with Local Councils to confirm the correct version of an address.

Q. How has the Pointer database been created?

A. A complex address matching exercise has been undertaken between the address datasets held by Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland, the Valuation & Lands Agency and Royal Mail. The resulting data (both matched addresses and unmatched) is held in a relational database which has been developed in Oracle. The database has a highly developed front end to enable validators to input and change data as a result of the ground validation. It also enables a series of reports to be run to produce ongoing statistics on progress. The unmatched address data is currently being checked on the ground through a process of ground validation.

Q. What is ground validation?

A. Ground validation is the verification, on the ground, of unmatched and partially matched addresses from Royal Mail, Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) and the Valuation and Lands Agency (VLA). The Ground Validation Officers conducting the validation are issued with a ground validation pack which comprises:

• A map of the area;
• The addresses to be validated; and
• Forms for recording new buildings and organisation information.

An ID number on the map highlights the buildings that need to be visited on the ground. When a property is visited, the validator must record as much address information about the property as possible, including:

• Building number;
• Building name;
• Street name;
• Sub-building numbers;
• Organisation name;
• Building status; and
• Building use.

When the ground work is completed, the validator returns to the office to enter the validated data onto the Pointer database. There are various situations when a validator cannot determine the correct address on the ground, for example, if there is no building number on the property and no occupier is available to consult. In this case, a prepaid card is posted to the property, asking the occupier to verify their correct address details. Other situations when an address may be difficult to verify include:

• New buildings that are still under construction
• Industrial estates
• Hospitals and healthcare parks

In order to deal with complex addresses and data anomalies like those mentioned above, a Data Integrity Team has been established within the Project Office. The validators record any complex issues and pass these to the Data Integrity Team to resolve on their behalf. Other responsibilities of this team are:

• Quality checking and quality control; and
• Database entry and temporary geocoding of new properties / developments.

Quality assessment is essential and is carried out on a continuous basis on both the ground and on the data entry system.

Q. Why do we need to validate this data?

A. The initial matching exercise generated a core set of 565,000 matched address records, and 350,000 unmatched and partially matched addresses. These were categorised as varying levels of match:

• Fully matched records;
• Royal Mail & OSNI 2-way match;
• Royal Mail & VLA 2-way match;
• OSNI & VLA 2-way match;
• Royal Mail only records;
• OSNI only records; or
• VLA only records.

As a result of ground validation, a number of 2-way matched addresses and unmatched addresses have subsequently been matched to other records. Therefore, the number of fully matched records is continuously increasing, on a daily basis. The overall aim of the ground validation exercise is to maximize the number of fully matched addresses, and decrease any unmatched records. Following all data collection activities, a number of processes will be implemented to analyse the data and ensure high quality standards are adhered to in all validated addresses, before data products and services are created.

Q. Who will maintain organisation name details?

A. Royal Mail will maintain this data.

Q. Are non-postal premises held in Pointer?

A. Yes, both VLA and OSNI hold a variety of non-postal premises such as ATMs, electricity sub stations, car parks, play grounds etc. These will be flagged as non-postal premises in Pointer.

Q. Will names be held in Pointer?

A. Pointer will not hold the names of individuals.

Q. Can Pointer hold dual names where more than one street/road name exists?

A. Where Irish or Ulster Scots street names have been accepted by the Local Council in addition to the statutory English thoroughfare name, these have been included in Pointer as an alternative thoroughfare name.

Q. Will the Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF) be updated from Pointer?

A. Yes, all updates will be fed back to Royal Mail.

Q. How will compliance with Pointer be enforced within Government?

A. Pointer is not a compulsory system and will not be enforced within government departments and agencies. It will be up to the discretion of individual departments and agencies to implement Pointer.

Q. If there is only one geocode per building, does this mean there is no information about multi-occupancy sites?

A. The address information for multi-occupancy sites is held at the sub-building (Secondary Addressable Object) level. Although the geocode will be the same for each sub building within the property, there will be a UPRN assigned to each sub building.

Q. Why can the geocode not be the actual address?

A. The geocode of a building does not distinguish between sub buildings within a property, and therefore only refers to the Primary Addressable Object level.

Q. If an address is entered initially as a site number, how will this be updated when the full address details are known?

A. Each address will be allocated a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN), which will be permanently associated with the address throughout its lifetime. Therefore when the site number of a new property is changed to a full address, the UPRN will still refer to the same property. This will enable Pointer to hold temporary address data from a very early stage in the address life cycle.

Q. Is Pointer BS 7666 compliant?

A. A Technical Address Model Specification (TAMS) has been published, on the Pointer website (http://www.pointer-ni.gov.uk), which specifies the fields held in the Pointer database. The TAMS was originally developed to support and accommodate the matching of diverse address datasets from Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland, the Valuation & Lands Agency and Royal Mail. As such, it allowed room for flexibility on the definition of address objects such as locality and thoroughfare. This automated data matching process has now been completed, and as a result, the TAMS is being revised to bring these definitions fully into line with conventional addressing terminology, including BS7666-3:2000.

The TAMS is not however a specification for any of the address dataset products which will be generated from the Pointer database. For example, the current TAMS specifies a relationship between Primary Addressable Objects and Secondary Addressable Objects which does not reflect the real world, and is only enforced to maintain the integrity of the database. This relationship will not be reflected in any dataset product which is consistent with BS7666-3:2000. While BS7666-3:2000 is applicable, in principle, to addresses in Northern Ireland, it may in the future require modification to accommodate local requirements. For example, a number of Councils in Northern Ireland have adopted a policy of neither naming streets nor numbering properties in rural areas, which makes the representation of these addresses in a BS7666-3:2000 dataset somewhat problematic. The Pointer project team will therefore be contributing to the ongoing review of BS7666-3:2000.

A dataset which is consistent with BS7666-3:2000 will be one of the core datasets which will be derived from Pointer. This dataset will be generated using appropriate business rules for the formation of an address which is consistent with the British Standard . These rules will be developed later this year, in consultation with the IST/36 committee.

In addition, Pointer has been allocated a set of UPRNs from the national hub, which will be allocated to all addresses within the dataset. This will ensure consistency of UPRNs across Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Q. How will Pointer be maintained?

A. The Pointer Project is aiming to manage the full life cycle of an address through the development of an integrated address maintenance system involving OSNI, VLA, Royal Mail and Local Councils in Northern Ireland. This will ultimately result in the development of proposals for a 'cradle to grave' integrated address life cycle which will aim to maximise automation of the life cycle of an address and minimise manual intervention.

Q. Will Townland names be held in Pointer?

A. On 1 October 2001 the Assembly debated a motion that called on each Government Department to adopt a policy of using and promoting townland names in all Government correspondence and official documents. The motion gained cross-party support and was supported unanimously.

In addition to highlighting the historical and cultural aspects of townland names, the Assembly also debated the problem of simply using house numbers and street names for the Emergency Services. Examples were quoted of some long roads that run for up to 10 miles, making it difficult for an emergency services driver to locate a particular house if the numbering of properties along that road is inadequate.

In May 2002, the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee published a report of their inquiry into cultural tourism and the arts. In particular, the Committee heard evidence about the use of townland names in Northern Ireland:

"The resonances of history and place, which Northern Ireland's townland names encapsulate, are even now almost lost to the next generation. Furthermore, the old birth, marriage and death records, which are the […] tourist's main source of information about his or her ancestors, tend to refer to the townland in which the relevant event took place. The gradual erosion of familiarity with townlands and their boundaries will, if not halted, eventually result in stalling the development of [this form of tourism]."

As a result, the Committee recommended that:

"Government departments, district councils and other public bodies, as well as the public utilities, should include townland names on all postal communications."

Pointer includes the townland name within its specification. It will also provide a central and cost effective means of maintaining the townland name within the standard address held by the Public Sector. For the Emergency Services, Pointer will provide a link between an address and an accurate geographic location on the ground.

As a result, every address which is held within the Pointer database will be integrally linked to both a townland name and a geographic location.