How do we design land transaction system investments? A State of Practice report.

Land transaction systems are often reviewed as part of land administration reform. And what we know is that land administration reform is difficult. There is a long history of paper-records and the digitisation of these – and associated processes – and it is not always straightforward, with both technical and social challenges. Yet reform is important, particularly to ensure land transaction systems effectively protect land rights and ‘unlock capital’ to support the livelihoods of men and women. Well developed, digital land administration information and transaction systems (Land IT Systems) further provide a solid spatial information base for governments to provide critical services and generate revenue through land valuation, taxation, and value-added services.

Despite a wealth of information on the practice of land administration there has been no comprehensive, cross-donor assessment of how we make technology and process-level decisions for land administration reform. This State of Practice seeks to fill this gap, setting out the current state of play of investing in information and communication technology for Land IT Systems. The paper describes past and emerging key technology trends and design principles applicable to Land IT System reform. Most importantly, it presents comprehensive new lines of enquiry on how and when to address the opportunities and challenges of designing, implementing and sustaining the performance of Land IT Systems.

Importantly, this work foreshadows a suite of analytical tools currently under development to guide and facilitate the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) assessment of the appropriateness and scope of potential investments in Land IT Systems.

The paper is a result of many months of work, research and virtual consultation and we hope you enjoy the reading . We look forward to sharing further updates with you all – please do get in touch if you have any comments and would like to stay informed.

State of Practice Report PDF