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An interesting part of the interaction between the core group and the user departments has been informally conceived as the "squadron theory", which is based on the notion that, depending on the "stunt" required to solve a problem or to overcome a barrier, one of the "aces" took over the command of the team's resources. Having people from several different areas, with no forcible hierarchy, has served as a great problem-solving resource. For example, if one of the user departments experiences a problem involving the use of raster images, an expert (the "ace") from the core group (the "squadron") would lead the studies and development that would eventually solve the problem. Likewise, if a particular problem involved cadastral fieldwork, another "ace" would take over, and solve the problem. This kind of "anarchical" approach has been very effective because firstly, there was no formal hierarchy to constrain such an approach, and secondly, it was recognized that different people were specialists in particular domains, which is natural considering the inherently multidisciplinary character of urban GIS. The corporate leaders were happy to let things "flow" in such a fashion.

The project also was blessed with champions in the political arena, people with privileged access to the decision-making process for financial resources allocation at the municipal administration level. At the initiation of the project, PRODABEL's president was the vice-mayor, a former systems analyst, who could easily perceive the strategic value of such a project. One of his closest staff members was extremely enthusiastic about the potential impact of the project on municipal administration. Soon after, vice-mayor became the mayor, thus making things flow even more easily. By the time a new administration took over, the project was already consolidated, with a complete and updated database, and with some applications already under development. This way a strong base was established which was further strengthened over time by the team of dedicated professionals. The following administration grew to like and respect the use of GIS as a tool for the city, and are currently engaged in a large effort for the expansion of GIS usage.

The current philosophy underlying the interaction between PRODABEL and the users is based on the following principles: PRODABEL's decentralized unit at the department's site should be responsible for all applications development, customization, installation, support, etc. required by the GIS users at that site; both PRODABEL's unit and the users, meaning the department as an institution, should be responsible for the maintenance of the data pertaining to their organization. In the Education example, the user department would be responsible for updating data on schools, school jurisdictions, student data, and so on. And PRODABEL's central GIS team would be responsible for overall support and standardization, as well as for the maintenance of general use layers, such as those that compose the city's base map.

In summary, the key learning that can be gained from the PRODABEL experience relates to the following: the manner in which the institutional arrangements have been organized locally; the integrated and holistic approach taken for database development; the systematic manner in which a team of dedicated geoprocessing professionals has been built over time; the long term view of GIS development taken by the city; and the extremely user-sensitive and incremental manner in which the developers and users interactions have been initiated and strengthened.

There is a lot of learning which other developing country organizations can take from the PRODABEL experience. PRODABEL recognizes that the project has to be continuously strengthened and improvised upon, for example upgrading their technology to reflect current technological trends. We believe this project has a very bright future ahead of it, and is one which can serve as an international model for GIS implementation.

References

[1]	Fonseca, F. T. GIS for a Two-Million-People City in Three Years. In URISA Annual Conference Proceedings, III: 146-152, 1993.
[2]	Fonseca, F. T., Zuppo, C. A. School Pre-registration and Student Allocation. In URISA Annual Conference Proceedings, 1: 30-40, 1994.
[3]	Oliveira, S. M., Sousa, R. P., Davis Jr., C. A., Amaral, F. M. P. O Reviewing the Boundary Definition for Census Sectors and Other Urban Spatial Reference Units (in portuguese)In XVII Brazilian Cartographic Conference Proceedings (in portuguesse), 857-863, 1995.
[4]	Sahay, S. and Walsham, G. Using GIS in developing countries: Social and Management Issues In UNIDO Publications: Vienna, 1997.
[5]	Sahay, S. Implementing GIS technology in India: some issues of time and space. InAccounting Management and Information Technologies, 8, 147-188, 1998
[6]	Sousa, R. P., Bretas, N. L. GIS in the Surveillance of Infant Mortality of Poor Areas in a Two-Million People City. In URISA Annual Conference Proceedings, 2: 1, 1994 (abstract).
[7]	Taylor, D.R.F., Preface, GIS in Developing Nations. In International Journal of Geographical Information Systems, 5, 3, 1991.
[8]	Zuppo, C. A., Davis Jr., C. A., Meirelles, A. A. C. Geoprocessing in Belo Horizonte’s Transportation and Traffic Systems (in portuguese). In GIS Brasil’96 Proceedings, 376-387, 1996.

Acknowledgments
The author Karla Borges wishes to thank PRODABEL's GIS professionals and systems analysts, the people of municipal administration departments of Belo Horizonte declaring that this paper is a truly an achievement of the whole team.
A special thanks to Clodoveu Davis.

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