5.2.2. Unique identifier

Critical to data interoperability is the ability to uniquely, and therefore unequivocally, identify each of the geographic objects in GeoPrism Registry and ensure that this unique identifier is used across information systems. Therefore, it may be beneficial to use geography as a neutral platform for the integration of information and data coming from different sources.

While the selection of the appropriate coding scheme associated with each type of geographic object is not a functionality of the platform, GeoPrism Registry has the capacity to capture and maintain such a scheme.

The choice of an appropriate coding scheme to be associated with each type of geographic object is therefore critical, as modifying the scheme once implemented in different systems can not only be costly but also have a significant impact on data compatibility as well as on the trust in the common geo-registry's content.

Please refer to Ebener (2022), World Health Organization (2019) and Liu et al. (2021) for more guidance on the choice of an appropriate coding scheme.