Pricing of digital data: a GIS user's dilemma
1995
Nanton, Hayden (Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources, Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago))
The output from a Geographic Information System (GIS) is not generally a final product but information which through digital exchange is capable of being further processed to yield more information. Through such a system, users have access to a range of tools for the manipulation of data, facilitating ease of management of spatial information. Value can therefore be added to the data over and above the state in which the data was accessed. While this is advantageous to both the user and supplier, the question arises as to how a fixed cost may be placed on the output. This paper serves to identify some of the many issues involved in the pricing of digital data. A number of proposals have been identified, and these are discussed with a view of arriving at a system which recognizes the potential of data in this format beyond its actual attribute value, while being independent of intended use.
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