Why we need a standard

The Asset Management Data Standard (AMDS) will offer a consistent, integrated approach to data structures and asset management. It will enable better asset data acquisition and analytics, better management of land transport asset data and greater opportunities for sharing and collaboration. This will help with forward work planning, strategic asset management and improved sector-wide investment decisions because of a richer, consistent, spatially enabled evidence base.

The AMDS is one of the building blocks to enable a digital engineering approach by providing an agreed set of definitions, labels, categories and data requirements for land transport assets across New Zealand. With the increased Government emphasis on infrastructure investment eg New Zealand Upgrade Programme (NZUP), the AMDS will build on the maintenance work to date, including additional zones and multi-modal assets as part of capital projects, providing the asset information requirements. 

The 2018/19 Government Policy Statement (GPS) sets an expectation of Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to ‘deliver the right infrastructure at the best cost’ as part of the ‘value for money’ theme. This calls for a more mature approach to whole-of-life asset and activity management, and greater consistency across the land transport sector. 

The Treasury’s National Infrastructure Plan also highlights the importance of the development of ‘national, shared, open data standards for infrastructure’ as one of the key focus areas.

Other public infrastructure owners such as the water and broader utilities sector are also progressing their national, shared, open data standards. This means we are working collaboratively to ensure the interdependencies are better understood and, where necessary, the data standards for similar land transport assets are aligned to give a joined-up view of public infrastructure.

Sector benefits

The data standard for land transport assets will offer a consistent, integrated approach to data structures and asset management. It will enable better asset data acquisition and analytics, better management of land transport asset data and greater opportunities for sharing and collaboration. This will help with forward work planning, strategic asset management and improved sector-wide investment decisions because of a richer, consistent, spatially-enabled evidence base.

The implementation of AMDS will enable multiple benefits across the sector, that include:

  • cost savings and efficiency - data collection and processing
  • better value for money through prioritisation
  • benchmarking best practice across councils
  • more accurate planning and forecasting
  • improved investment decision making
  • better asset management.

Groups who benefit include:

  • Direction setters and investors: more confidence in benefits, costs and timeframes.
  • Customers: better reputation from better value for money of activities, and more comprehensive response to service rather than technical issues.
  • Asset managers, engineers, planners: greater impact from expertise enabled by time freed from finding, reworking recreating data.

Short – long term benefits tested and reviewed with transport sector stakeholders [PDF, 115 KB]