6. Conclusions

1. All the Acacia partners currently have different business requirements for addresses. The objects that they are interested in are different. However, there is a core set of objects (residential and business premises) that is widely used.
2. The address lifecycle is complex and not rigorously defined. The interests of both Acacia partners and address users start at different points in this address lifecycle.
3. There is no current address solution that meets the needs of the National Address Infrastructure. No single organisation can supply all the address information that others require. However, local authorities are the most closely involved in the address creation and change processes and are therefore essential partners in any national address infrastructure.
4. The current address update process is fragmented. This leads to missing and erroneous addresses in a number of business systems, and causes major problems to the effective and efficient operation of government and other services. There is widespread duplication of effort within the management of addresses and the current address solutions are not effectively meeting the requirements of the users.
5. There is inconsistency between Acacia partners in address creation. BS7666 is not universally accepted by them, and where it is accepted, is not consistently implemented.
6. There are quality issues associated with all the current address datasets, particularly with respect to currency and completeness.
7. Address users outside the Acacia partnership require a single source of addresses, a National Address Infrastructure, and a simple pricing structure for their access and use. They currently do not feel that their needs are being adequately met.
8. For different business uses, different forms of address (postal, geographic) are required.
9. A central national address infrastructure will be essential for e-government and for many major government projects such as the Citizen’s Information Project to deliver what is expected of them.
10. There are a range of anticipated benefits from a National Address Infrastructure to Acacia partners and address users. The main benefits (not yet fully perceived in many cases) are access to a quality assured comprehensive address dataset, improved service provision, improved operational efficiency, an improved basis for policy formulation. and the opportunity to create new products and services.