Land administration expert Mark Briffa has joined the Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration (CSDILA) at the University of Melbourne.

Briffa brings an impressive 38-year history of experience in land administration, more than half of which was spent in management roles at the Victorian Land Registry.

Briffa has been heavily involved digital transformation initiatives, including spending the last nine years leading a dedicated work unit focused on modernising and enhancing land administration systems and processes.

He was also instrumental in the implementation and advancement of SPEAR and ePlan, which was undertaken in close collaboration with the surveying and property industries, where he delivered tailored engagement programs.

Briffa led SPEAR User Group Meetings and gave presentations to jurisdictional and international delegates at industry and academia events. In addition, under Briffa’s leadership of ePlan, CSDILA partnered with the Victorian Land Registry for seven years.

Briffa’s contributions to digital reform date back to the 1990s, when he worked on the digitisation of Victorian cadastral maps, and the early 2000s, when he successfully led the Land Registry’s transition to the digital editing of land records.