Page 1 of 3 Next  Abdul Ghapar Othman School of Housing, Building and Planning Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang ghapar@usm.my Kausar Hj Ali School of Housing, Building and Planning Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang Database applications have been developed by employing the internet technology to manage and enhance data on movement of goods, people and information between places. The demand for fast, accurate and reliable information has resulted in the development of information technology systems that are capable of storing, processing, analyzing and utilizing large volumes of data. Such systems include the Executive Information System (EIS), Management Information System (MIS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and the Land Information System (LIS) among others. While some of these two information systems have engaged the communication networking and internet technology for data management and dissemination purposes, others still operate on stand-alone basis for security reasons. The advanced development of these information systems has provided system administrators choices on whether to network their systems or to let them run on stand-alone basis. Some systems started as stand-alone before employing the Local Area Network (LAN) technology and finally proceeded to the internet once they are matured. The process to maturity might take years depending mostly on the availability of technology, sufficient financial resources and most important of all, the availability of skilled and knowledge workers. Nevertheless, repeated technical and management issues and problems related to policies and structure of data maintenance arises within an organization as well as problems in data dissemination to users are also leading factors that could push forward the need for a solution of better information management through a networking system (Hart, 1994). The PEGIS Centre, a statewide GIS centre for the Penang State in Malaysia, which has been occupied persistently by the above issues and problems had taken a step forward by utilizing the internet technology as a solution to the data dissemination problem to its users. The development of PEGIS Map Browser in year 2000, an internet map browser application has benefited many users. This paper will also describe some of the features of this internet map browser that eventually helped the State government reduce spending on high end computer workstation, expensive GIS software and GIS training. BACKGROUND A GIS was developed for the state of Penang, Malaysia in 1992. With it's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 6.9% per annum between year 2000 to 2005 and manufacturing being the main economic sector, the State of Penang is considered as one of the most industrialized and developed states in Malaysia (Toh, 2005). The main objective of this one-stop GIS data provider agency is to increase the efficiency and the effectiveness of the State Government of Penang in data management by using GIS as a tool for spatial database development and dissemination to various government agencies. 1992 - 1994: The Pilot Project The PEGIS Centre is located at the KOMTAR Tower in George Town, Penang. Established as a GIS unit under the Penang's State Government Secretariat Office, PEGIS is solely a state government multi-agency GIS. It started as a two-year pilot project covering a study area of approximately 74 km sq in Seberang Perai, which is located on the mainland of Malaysia. Various government agencies were involved in the project including several Federal and State agencies and two local authorities. Data were exchanged and channeled between agencies constantly and these data were then retraced and duplicated according to one's needs and requirements. To overcome this tradition, the implementation of a statewide GIS in the State is hoped to play an important role in ensuring that each government agency is only responsible in creating and updating its own data while exchange of data between agencies will be channeled through the PEGIS Centre.
In dealing with policies and matters related to this pilot project, three committees were set up on behalf of the State Government to oversee the development and monitor the progress of the project. These committees were the PEGIS Steering Committee (PSC) chaired by the Chief Minister of Penang, the PEGIS Management Committee (PMC) chaired by the Penang State Secretariat, and the PEGIS Data Administration Committee (PDAC) chaired by the Director of the Penang State Computer Centre. Members of these committees included directors and officers from various government agencies participated in the project. A consortium comprising of GIS related private companies, the ECS Consortium, was formed to assist in the setting up of the PEGIS Centre in addition to developing GIS applications and managing the cadastral database while the Universiti Sains Malaysia was appointed to collect and analyze non-cadastral data for the State. After benchmarking some of the available softwares, the Penang State Government had chosen Arc Info as the main GIS software since it met most of the requirements and standards for this project. Eight Arc Info licenses running on HP-UX were purchased from ESRI along with two licenses of PC Arc Info running on MS-DOS and two licenses of PC Arc view (ECS Consortium and USM, 1992). Each of the Arc Info HP-UX licenses cost about RM 80,000 (USD 20,000), while the PC version cost about RM 25,000 (USD 625). The eight Arc Info licenses were residing on a HP-UX server and were linked to four HP workstations and four personal computers (PC). Data were stored on a mass storage device and backed up on a Digital Data Storage (DDS) Tape Drive. Each of the HP workstation cost about RM 70,000 (USD 17,500) while the PC at RM10,000 (USD 5,000) each. Four A0 size digitizers were also added to these HP workstations including an A0 size electrostatic plotter (USD 87,500). Most of the data supplied to the PEGIS Centre were in analog form and conversion to digital form as well as maintenance of these data were done by representatives from each agency at the PEGIS Centre.  Fig. 1: Web Page of PEGIS Map Browser 1994 - 1999: The Interim Period With the successful implementation of the PEGIS Pilot Project, the Penang State Government had decided to extend the project throughout the state. No new applications were developed and most resources were utilized for the creation and maintenance of additional data for the whole state. The PEGIS databases were finally completed in mid 1999 along with other digital map bases. Almost all of the spatial digital map bases were converted into the state plane coordinates utilizing the Cassini-Solder projection.
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