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Lack of Clearing House and Information It is difficult to find out information about GIS data in most countries in Asia. There is a lack of clearing house, which provides information on the price and where to purchase the data. Attempts have been made such as the Japan Map Centre in Japan and the Land Data Hub in Singapore to provide a central clearinghouse at least for all government digital georeferenced data. Need for a Georeferenced Data Development Strategy The main issues of GIS data development are:
Participation of Users at Early Stage of GIS Projects Information systems serve a purpose and how good they are depends upon how well they serve that purpose. Their designs should be based on a clear understanding of who is going to use the system, what will it be used for, and how will it be used (Cartwright, 1987; De Man, 1988). There is a need to determine what type of data is needed to be stored and shared in the GIS. Are they available? Can they be stored in GIS and what is the appropriate spatial unit for storing in the GIS? If GIS is to be used effectively, potential users need to be identified at the early stage of development. They have to be involved at the planning stage of the development so that the GIS will contain data that are useful to the users and in a format that can be easily incorporated into the GIS and mapping packages. Incremental and Basic Mapping Approaches in GIS Development The most important lesson learnt in the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT) experience in promoting the use of microcomputers for planning in the developing countries is to take an incremental approach (Cartwright, 1987). It is difficult to build a GIS that is agreeable by all. It is a formidable task in negotiating data definition and format of a comprehensive system involving many different departments. It is also difficult to find funding to finance such mammoth project in which the technology is relatively new and its usefulness has yet to be tested and appreciated by the community. It is better to take an incremental approach and start at a department or agency that utilizes maps and land information system most frequently. The efficiency and effectiveness of the system can then be seen immediately. It will be too risky to develop such a large and costly system. The project may become an investment disaster if it fails. Once a small system is installed, it can serve as a demonstration project to other departments and users, showing the usefulness of the system. A larger system may be evolved from this core system.  GIS can be developed in stages. It can first start by better coordination of existing available databases and later progressed towards a more integrated system. At present, databases are scattered in different departments and users have to approach different departments to get the data. As an intermediate step while the design of a more comprehensive management information system is underway, a coordination agency can be set up to coordinate data collection and distribution. Instead of approaching different departments for data, users only need to approach the coordination agency to get their data. The final stage is the development of a central integrated geographic information system where users can directly obtain data from the information system. It is only when such central integrated geographic information system is set up that a GIS information superhighway will be established. The Singapore’s Land Information Hub is moving towards such direction. Digitizing does not have to start at the beginning of a GIS project. It can start simply by the computerization of tabular data with the geocoding necessary for future integration into a GIS while the availability of base maps is under investigation. There is a need for a GIS development strategy with the long-term objective of integrating the databases. Experience in GIS development shows that successful systems are those which are evolving and adapting system. It may not be necessary to develop a very large system at the outset. A simple system can be developed and applied quickly. This can later be evolved into a more sophisticated system with more data and applications. Map is a basic media for addressing and storing spatial data. Most departments and private firms which use and store spatial data do not have their own base maps but often have to rely on surveying and mapping departments. Basic mapping can be used as a starting point of GIS. Once the GIS is operational, its digital base maps can encourage and enable other departments and private firms to integrate their textual data into the system. Apart from saving time, effort, and resource in digitizing and maintaining the base maps, GIS can help the standardization of base maps which is one of the most commonly encountered problems in map overlay analysis when roads, coastlines and boundaries from different sources do not match. Hong Kong has adopted such a strategy in the setting up of the Land Information Centre in the Lands Department in 1989. But, as can be seen in the case of Hong Kong, the availability of base maps alone does not guarantee that these base maps will be able to integrate with the data of other government departments and data suppliers to form an integrated GIS system that is beneficial to the GIS users in the public and private sectors (Figure 1a). It has to be accompanied by a set of central policy on data standard, data exchange, and data availability (Figure 1b). Central Policy on Data Standard, Data Exchange, and Data Availability There is an emerging trend of data standardization in the development of GIS. The National Committee for Digital Cartographic Data Standard (NCDCDS) and the Federal Interagency Coordination Committee on Digital Cartography (FICCDC) tries to establish standards to ensure compatibility among digital spatial data gathered by different agencies (Digital Cartographic Data Standards Task Force, 1988). A similar effort is also being made in the United Kingdom (Rhind, 1986) and Canada (Zarzycki, 1984). Efforts have also been made in developing data exchange standards (Morrison and Wortman, 1992). Recently, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is also developing a handbook on GIS standards and standardization procedures for countries in Asia. Although it will take much time and effort to set up data standard for GIS, this is an important and worthwhile task that will greatly facilitate future data sharing and integration of different GIS within a country. A central policy is also needed for data exchange standard and the availability and distribution of data to reduce the duplication of effort in data entry. Setting Up of a GIS Advisory Committee/Steering Group To make data to be available in a format that is usable and compatible with each other, a GIS Advisory Committee/Steering Group is needed to be set up to formulate and implement GIS development policy to integrate different georeferenced data together to form an integrated GIS system (Figure 1b). GIS involves many government departments and users. A formal channel is needed for them to meet regularly to discuss GIS development issues and formulate GIS standards and policies. Experience in some countries shows that GIS Advisory Committee/Steering Group is very useful in GIS development (McLaughlin and Nichols, 1987; Merideth et al., 1987). In the Philippines, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) in coordination with the National Statistical Coordination Board (NCSB) has created the Inter-Agency Task Force on Geographic Information (IATFGI) in 1993 to promote and coordinate the efficient development, management and utilization of geographic information. A GIS Advisory Committee/Steering Group with representatives from different government departments, public utilities, and users in the public and private sectors is needed to coordinate data input, develop data standards, set prices, and formulate data development priorities, phasing, and policies. Without such advisory committee/steering group, the development of georeferenced data will be fragmented and it will take a very long time before the needed data can be available in a desirable format that can be used and shared by different users. Conclusion Asia is developing very rapidly in the last decade and the market for GIS and digital georeferenced data is growing. Many businesses have not seen the advantage of the use of GIS but this will gradually be improved with the development of the service sector. The development of the service sector, especially logisticis industry which is of increasing importance to local, national and world economy because of the need for “just-in-time” pick-up and delivery, will make GIS to be more useful in transport and marketing. Asia is a highly densely populated area. At the city level, people may not need GIS because they know the place so well. But when people go beyond the city, covering a wider area, GIS is needed. There has been much development in the digitization of topographic maps and administrative boundaries in Asia. Apart from the price and the availability of these data to the public, one of the main obstacles in GIS and mapping applications is the paucity of compatible socio-economic data. Some of the data are also not in format that can be easily imported and used by GIS and mapping packages, making them difficult to combine with socio-economic data for mapping and business applications. |