Connecting Government and Citizen through Ubiquitous GIS

1. Achieving a balance between development and environment conservation is now high on the agenda of countries around world including the Asian economies. These two areas are witnessing increasing implementation of new and innovative technologies. Backed by the strong IT growth, geospatial technologies too have come to the forefront when the aspects of development and conservation are discussed. Hence, there is a wider reach and spread of geospatial technologies within areas that earlier were known to have small and sporadic usage of them. The implementation of these technologies is now becoming enterprise wide and in many cases they have become ‘new age business drivers.’

2. I am particularly very happy about the forward looking theme of this year’s Map Asia and ISG - that is ‘Connecting Government and Citizen through Ubiquitous GIS’. At present we are witnessing the increasing use of GIS at local government levels. But with the too many organizations and people working on the same tasks, the repetition is higher. We definitely need to develop ‘connected’ systems that can remove such redundancy. Having connections in a ubiquitous environment vis-à-vis public service delivery mechanisms should be the focus of the community that comprises of developers and users who have assembled here today.

3. Geospatial technologies which are to a large extent made available through interoperability and accompanying standards have become fundamental to the convergence of the domain of information and location. Almost every type of information that is used in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) today can have some type of location or spatial context associated with it. This involves applications and systems such as portals and web services, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Management (ERP), Database Management System (DBMS) and many others. Therefore, efficient use of geospatial technologies will enable us to understand and leverage the value of spatial/location based information and processes in the broader context of enterprise information systems.

4. When we look at the scenario of 'Connected governments', it implies convergence of information and locational databases that various offices of the government hold. It also signifies the greater adoption of enterprise deployments based on the widespread use of ICT systems and services, with the underlying integration of geospatial technologies and services. This integration has been made possible by number of factors including increasing use of mobile devices, communications and services; rapid development and deployments of open, standards based service oriented architectures and more uptake and implementation of web service tiers with business logic and workflow.

5. An important aspect of ubiquitous GIS is Geospatial Web 2.0 and its prospects as a platform for citizen-oriented public services. Previously only technical experts and professionals with expertise on the use of highly technical software running on a desktop computer were able to access the traditional desktop-based GIS. However, the GIS became increasingly accessible to lay users with its adaptation to the Internet through Web GIS and Geospatial Web 2.0 platforms. Now, the Geospatial Web 2.0 platform has the power to harness public participation in real time and this has been made possible with the emergence and extensive use of the newer generations of “smart” phones, social networking sites and microblogging sites.

6. These developments and GPS-equipped devices have enabled participatory GIS by allowing amateur citizens to generate and share geographical information quickly over the Internet. Local governments can take advantage of such real-time information to increase their efficiency in service delivery.

7. I am delighted to share with you that Malaysia is now moving towards SEG and even SES. Many Government agencies such as the Department of Survey & Mapping, Department of Agriculture, Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency, Public Works Department, Economic Planning Unit, Valuation and Property Services Department and many others have long been using GIS technology in their operations. In 1997, NaLIS (National Land Information System) was developed, under the authority of a unit called NALIS Secretariat. In 2002, against the wide scope and duty of the unit, the Malaysian Centre for Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MaCGDI) was established to replace NaLIS Secretariat.

8. MaCGDI, an agency of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible to carry out the development of geospatial data infrastructure encompassing policies, standards, technology, rules, law, safety and support for data preparation in Government agencies at Federal, State, and Local Authority levels. In this regard, the Malaysian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MyGDI) is a platform for geospatial data sharing among Government agencies.

9. Despite the relatively young age, I see that the implementation of Geospatial Data Infrastructure (GDI) in Malaysia is pretty much in balance with the other developed countries. Even in terms of activities and implementation programs, I may say that we are on the right track and approaching close to our initial goals. However, it is in my concern that more efforts are required to encourage data sharing, not only among the Government agencies, but private sector as well.

10. Let me now talk about some recent GIS initiatives in Malaysia. One of the key focus areas is Land Information System. Malaysian states are keenly taking up the tasks of framing land information systems with GIS capabilities. A recent example of this endeavour is integrated land information system by Sarawak's Land and Survey Information System (LASIS). The system allows online payment of land rent and premium and also enables landowners to view the rent record prior to the payment. It provides instant registration of land instruments with automated e-mail notification.
11. LASIS provides title search facility to the public for them to search land titles at any land and survey divisional offices at a nominal fee. Online submission and approval of land applications between the department headquarters and the divisional offices can be done without physical documents. The system allows digital submission of survey jobs by private surveyors. The fully integrated datasets permit the information to be made available on demand to facilitate intelligent analysis and reliable decision-making.

12. An important development, which many of you would be aware of, is the procurement of Mobile GIS by the Implementation and Coordination Unit (or known as ICU) of the Prime Minister's Department. ICU needs to integrate the resources and strategies from distinct institutes and find the best solution to support projects in various domains, such as agriculture, tourism, and rural development.

13. Apart from that, the Department of Mineral and Geoscience is also fast catching up with the trends in geospatial and is currently building an enterprise level GIS - Geoscience Information System (GEOSIS). GEOSIS is an integrated, centralised and Web-based spatial database with both textural and spatial aspects. The project was initiated in 2002 and is running in line with Master Plan 2010. It has five GIS applications -Economic GIS, Hydro GIS, Engineering GIS, Map GIS and Exploration GIS. The project is expected to be completed by next year. Once completed, GEOSIS will provide services directly to the public.

14. Another agency involved in GIS technology application is the Department of Agriculture, which is developing Agriculture Information System Geodatabase Portal (AgrIS) for the entire department. This Web-based system integrates data in all the States of Malaysia into one system where one can access up-to-date information about soil, rainfall, pests, land use etc.

15. In order to achieve our goal of becoming a SEG and SES , we need to work on effective planning and implementation of policies and programmes. The Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia, together with MaCGDI are working on a 5-year roadmap, which includes the establishment of a centre for geospatial data at the Federal level and the States. This Geospatial Data Centre will play the role as a data bank to facilitate the utilization and sharing of data by the stakeholders for various purposes.

16. Geospatial data is considered as a country valuable asset in supporting the country’s development activity. For this reason, we are also working on a distinctive policy and legal framework to improve geospatial data management in the country. This policy and legal framework is important to determine the basic principals and responsibilities of the Federal, States and Local Authorities towards comprehensive and organized geospatial data dissemination.

17. The legal framework will basically be guided by two (2) main factors. The first refers to factors that promote and improve data availability to the users, in terms of access, usage, and sharing. Whereas, the second refers to factors that hinders its availability and involves issues related to privacy, liability and intellectual property. The coordination to balance these two factors is very important to ensure geospatial data development in the country is not hampered. The formulation of this policy and legal framework will be given priority with the focus on data security and confidentiality, custodianship, data sharing, data integration, data dissemination and standards.

18. It is also heartening to note that Map Asia and ISG has been facilitating technology exchanges and has been a recognized as a platform to voice issues with which the Geospatial community of Asia grapples. I strongly believe that this year the two forums will be instrumental in taking the technology to a higher level. The discussion and deliberations will create a way to bring in more openness in the scheme of the things that not only enable development of the region but also are favourable to the industry. I am confident with the presence of renowned experts and international vendors as well as representatives from the government, industry and the academia, Map Asia and IGS 2010 will achieve its objectives.

19. I am also happy to know that GIS Development has come up with the Geospatial Excellence Awards to recognize and honour the best applications and usage of geospatial technologies in various walks of life. The Award commemorates excellence in the field of geospatial technology applications, who have made significant and measurable contributions to the development of new geospatial applications, or innovative modification of existing geospatial technology practices to substantially reduce project costs and bring in efficiency in the workflow.