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October 2003 |
Geomatics industry assuming new dimensions
Which are the major areas of application of geomatic where private sector is involved?
NAB: We are seeing some movements and acceptance in the use of such information in plantations, commercial, statistic industries. However this is still quite small in comparison to other industries such as the map making organizations.
DAMM: Ministries, departments, statutory bodies and companies within the government constitute the majority of GIS users. Land related ministries such as Land, Agriculture, Environment, Geoscience and departments and agencies within them are the traditional users of GIS. Defense, Police, Energy and Utilities, Education, Health and Local Government are some of the newly emerging users. With the advent of more powerful and user friendly GIS software in utilizing geographic information, exciting areas of applications are emerging in the country.
NA: The main areas are the provision of the systems. Beside that data conversion and training is another major part where private sectors are involved. Currently many agencies have started to request for application development.
How conducive are the government policies of Malaysia for private sector?
NAB: The Government policies in Malaysia are quite conducive when it comes to private sectors. They encourage private sectors to play their part together with the government when it comes to ICT based industries.
DAMM: Malaysia has traditionally depended on trade for its growth, and with the thrust of the 2004 Budget that Malaysia should further develop as a trading nation, the government policies by necessity are very much in tandem with the private sector.
NA: Since most of the application and development are for the government agencies, policies are still within the agencies concerned. Some are very conducive while some does not have specific policies on this matter.
How strong is the culture of public-private partnership in Malaysia?
NAB: The government encourages private sector to participate in programmes related to ICT industries.
DAMM: The government has a policy called the 'Malaysia Incorporated Concept' (MIC) which has been operational for a number of years now. The MIC encourages public-private sector partnership and recognizes that the government and indeed the country has a lot to benefit from a strong and healthy private sector.
NA: The MIC has given a boost to the public-private sector partnership and we hope that this tradition shall continue forever.
How easy or difficult is the access to large scale digital maps and high-resolution imageries for private sector?
NAB: It is quite okay. The map-making organizations in Malaysia have gone through tremendous changes over the past years in making sure that information is readily available to the public. However, there are some restrictions with regards to some map series for the public to acquire.
DAMM: An Administrative Circular issued by Prime Minister's Department stipulates, inter-alia, that all maps (including digital), aerial photographs and satellite imageries of a scale larger than 1:250,000 are classified as restricted. To obtain these documents (or digital data), one needs to make a formal application to the Director-General of Survey and Mapping Malaysia. This ruling applies to all the users including non-Malaysians.
NA: Not many agencies have large scale digital maps. In fact this is still a major component of private industries contribution to Geomatics (especially the surveyors).
As for high-resolution imageries, aerial photo is still a restricted item while Ikonos and Quickbird could be purchased directly from the local agent.
Would you like to mention any interesting case study about the application of geomatics undertaken by your company?
NAB: Well, over the past 7 to 8 years we did go through few series of providing solutions to our clients in Malaysia which consists of Digital Thematic Mapping System, Digital Cadastral Mapping System, National Land Information System and Topographic Mapping System with regard to geomatics.
DAMM: Although there are a number of successful GIS implementations that were carried out jointly with systems integrators, one particular installation that has continued to operate to this day is the Penang GIS Centre. It is also a reflection of a successful implementation through a public-private partnership with full State Government support that helped produced the first state-wide GIS involving a number of public agencies and data custodians in delivering multi-sectoral geospatial applications. Since then, a number of such state GIS has been embarked, setting the pace for development of enterprise geo-information systems that 'digital cities' are based upon.
NA: Most of our works are interesting to describe in one way or another. We are involved in big scale analysis and small scale application. In some cases, with the absence of a guideline or criteria, the level of acceptance of analysis produced by GIS may still be doubtful to professionals. However, even the developed countries do not have a fix rule on this matter.
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