Problems of Introducing Geographical Information systems (GIS) to developing countries Dr. Mohammed A. Gorani Head Dept. of Surveying Engineering University of Khartoum, Sudan Email: amnahamid2000@yahoo.com Abstract GIS now is a utility which can't be ignored. All government and private sectors are trying to make use of it. However the main problems concerning GIS is not in software , hardware or even manware . It is most of the times in the supporting infrastructures. To mention a few: The availability and accessibility of base maps for all, data exchange laws. The awareness of GIS and maps.… etc. The solution can be approached through one of two procedures:- 1- Top down approach and that is mainly by the government undertaking to solve the problem by choosing a number of bodies to start this project. This approach lend itself , in our Arab countries , to Gulf States such as Dubai, Abu Dabi, Qatar,…etc. These countries are characterized by their small size, high income, and efficient governments. 2- The Bottom up approach ; this approach suits larger countries because the supporting facilities take time to build. Examples of successful project in man-made environment in both cases will be discussed. The paper will suggest and an standard approach where by the main form of the system is maintained whether it is applied immediately as in Gulf States or it achieved through time and when the funds are available. Meanwhile individual projects are taken as they come but with the agreed upon frame work and they will join each other according to the standards specified already. These include , data format, meta data, data exchange laws ,…etc. Problems of Introducing GIS to Developing Countries GIS is tool that can not be ignored, because it has the capability to help people to manage many decisions specially those concerned with space, to mention a few: Priorities of changing water pipe in a water network. Where best to grow what (soil capability). Who is preferable candidate (statistical data of voting polls). Where are your clients and what type people they are, (education, income ownership… etc.), and much other decision making that can not be enumerated here. It has been claimed that about 80% of all data has something to do with space. Part of the basic spatial data is:- Topography. Vegetation. Water surfaces. Geology. Geomorphology. Built up areas. Rural areas. Utilities:- Roads. Water Network. Power lines. Sewerage systems. Town planning. .etc Now we know it how to establish bodies to help us in all our decisions especially concerning the spatial element. So the first step is to create maps with suitable scales to communicate this knowledge of place and (to where is it questions), maps are the specialty of survey departments. Problem (1): Maps:- The status of map making and map revision in developing countries is poor. They are either not available. Available but not in the proper format (i.e. incomplete). Or available in proper format but not accessible for some reason (security). It goes without saying that (No maps no GIS).In many developing countries surveys departments are (by law) the only organizations that allowed to make maps. Although national topographic maps and base maps are usually poor yet these departments claim to provide also thematic maps. This is a legal problem to be overcome. This usually leads organizations such as telecommunication companies’ water organization … etc. to seek a solution for the problem of the need of large scale detailed maps for telephone network. In many such cases the demand exceeds by for the supply and therefore individual solutions by these are sought. Each of these organizations makes its own maps and uses it. This escalates the problem, because maps made by different authors are likely not to match each other although for the same area. Also GIS systems will fail to join these themes easily. It is also wise not re-event the wheel by forcing organizations to make their own maps, while ONE base map properly made can solve these two problems. So the solution of this problem is to encourage government to invest on base maps and avail them to users by law. Problem (2) Unique Numbering System:- Standard numbering system are very well known world wide but in many developing countries they have not been adopted. One of the popular unique numbering systems is the hierarchical one i.e. two digits For the largest administrative area i.e. a state, a province …etc, and one digit or two for the next largest administrative area in the country and so on until it comes to a few blocks of buildings, where it is bounded by known streets. Let us say (Alhai ). Then individual house holds are given unique numbers that are not repeated any where in the country. So a house in the city of Khartoum will have a unique number such as 123456789 The aim of having unique numbers for house holds is because they are the smallest unit, data can be acquired from. Statistical data consumption of electricity, water, television data …etc is obtained from these parcels. Problem (3) Exchange of data Not only direct spatial data are used in GIS but also statistical data, climatic data, environmental data, underground water …etc. In many countries these data are sold for very high prices and are not easily available if at all for security reasons. Basic data such as the population of a city or a village could be available for those who need it. But can only be availed by a new law that legislates for exchange of data. LAN model of data exchange:- Also many organizations think of data exchange as some body or some organization will take their information away and use it leaving them drained out of their own information. This is why many organizations are hesitant if not resistant to data exchange. However the most probable set up of data exchange is not to physically take data away in tapes, CDs or Subs but the data will be with their original makers but made accessible and shared with other organizations with the consent of all partners the LAN. This point should be made clear of all participants. Also one trades his data with data from others upon an agreed upon treaty. Problem (4) Base maps and thematic maps:- In some developing countries all map making is invested in one organization. Most probably the national mapping organization in the country. This includes base maps at different scales and all thematic maps. This is a huge assignment by any standard and most of the time this can not be fulfilled by the national mapping organization. To my thinking ONLY base maps are supposed to be carried out by the national mapping agency and these base maps are made available with minimum cost to thematic mappers i.e. different governmental or private sector organizations. It is well known that for each map there an author who is responsible of its facts and there is the cartographer the designer who communicates these facts to others. In topographic mapping, the author (the surveyor) and the cartographer happened to be in one organization that the mapping organization. In case of i.e. department of statistics they get the base maps from the mapping organization but they add their population distribution and densities themselves because they are the authors of this data. This set up has to be understood in this context so that data are exchanged smoothly. Also this set-up has two distinctive advantages:- One base map is made once and for all and used by all. This will save time and money and no need to re-invent the wheel. GIS themes have to use the same base map otherwise there be no integration between the themes and eventually no analysis. Problem (5) Investing in spatial data and their updating:- As mentioned before base maps are the weak point in the spatial data requirements. Even when available the data of the maps and the other thematic data many times are out of date. Maps need to be updated to be useful, obsolete data are some times more harmful than no data at all. Problem (6) Meta data:- Meta data (data about data), is a summary document providing content, quality, type, creation spatial information about data sets. It can be stored in any format such as a text file, extensible mark up language (XML) or data base record. Because of its small size compared to the data it describes, metadata is easier to share. By creating metadata and sharing it with others information about existing data becomes readily available to any one seeking it. Metadata makes data discovery easier and reduces data duplications. This is a pre-requisite to data exchange. Problem (7) Technology Transfer:- The concept of technology transfer is not all together new. As early as The 1958 Space Act, legislation was written with the purpose of transferring technology between the federal labs and the private sector. The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and the Stevenson- Wydler Act of 1980 laid the groundwork for the process, and the 1986 Federal Technology Transfer Act opened the doors to research and development partnerships between federal labs and U.S. industry. Subsequent legislation and Executive Orders have broadened their scope. The concept of technology transfer as a practical matter becomes clearer when one understands what technology transfer is designed to accomplish. For instance, the purpose of a federal technology transfer program is to make federally generated scientific and technological developments accessible to private industry and state and local governments. These users are then encouraged to develop the technology further into new products, processes, materials, or services that will enhance our nation's industrial competitiveness or otherwise improve our quality of life. Defining Technology Transfer There is no widely accepted definition of technology transfer, but, generally speaking, technology transfer is the sharing of knowledge and facilities. By definition, "Technology transfer addresses the assessment, adoption and implementation of technology." Innovation diffusion theory provides a conceptual background that has frequently been used in the study of technology transfer. Roger's innovation model (1986) defined diffusion as "the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time, among the members of a social system" (Fagan). Barriers to Technology Transfer:- A dominant approach to technology transfer is to focus on the development of individual capacities and on the techniques of GIS. Most often, any deviations from the road to successful implementation are corrected through increased techniques and technology training or increasing the amount of data used. Technology Transfer Process;- Technology transfer is the process of using technology, expertise, know-how or facilities for a purpose not originally intended by the developing organization. Technology transfer implies that a technology developed for one sector is then used in a totally different area. Transferring such technologies and know-how is not an easy task and the process relies heavily on personal networking. Technology transfer often results in the commercialization of products through licensing or product/process improvement – though this usually takes a couple of years or more to happen. Unfortunately, many of the results achieved from research activities are still a long way from commercialization, whatever their potential. Furthermore many companies, in particular Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which are very common in Europe, lack the necessary innovations for product development due to limited budgets available for R&D activities. Equally, universities, the major source of innovative research, often lack the means to bring the fruits of their efforts to the market place themselves. Organizations – whether universities or industrial companies – are now increasingly aware of the need to exchange, transfer and license their technologies, experience and knowledge – the intellectual property – they have developed in order to access new markets and revenue streams. However, it is also increasingly evident that companies need to acquire new technologies in order to exploit their ideas and create new products. For this a technology transfer and commercialization a programme is required which embraces both technologies push as well as market pull on both a local, regional and even global basis. In order to orientate the transfer of technology primarily to the needs and requirements of target markets outside the field in question, such needs should be determined continuously so that on the one hand the compilation of the technology pool reflects the current trends in industrial needs and on the other hand new solutions for specific challenges are sought. Technology brokers are often used to carry out an assessment of the market needs of companies active in areas for which an exploitation potential of given (e.g. space) technologies exists, with a focus on the sectors of interest. In addition, they make a regular collection of the technology demands of companies outside the sector in question and disseminate these to companies and institutes within the sector that might be able to provide solutions. In the case to transferring GIS technology base pre-requests have already been mentioned from 1-7, Pilot Scheme what is basically requested here is to start with a pilot scheme for small town to exercise these different tools and legislation and when it proves successful one can go for the whole country. However obviously these take a lot of deviation and preparation. There are two approaches to achieving country wide GIS: 1) The top down approach:- This approach proved successful for some countries such as the Arab Emirates. Qatar was a pioneer in this respect as it started its experience in 1972, with a pilot scheme the town of Al Khubar. This experience is followed by many of UAE, what helped developing this approach is three factors:- These countries are small in size and therefore are easier to manage. These countries are rich and therefore financial problems of acquiring hardware, software and man-ware are made available rather fast. The line of decision making is short and fast i.e. what has been decided is immediately applied with minimum office routine and so congratulation for their success. 2) Bottom up approach:- This approach is more suitable for larger and poorer countries because in large countries collecting data changing laws and creating Metadata …etc, take a very long time. However they can start with a pilot scheme to learn from and with some government departments. They can even start with one state, what takes time is the following:- Preparing base maps of the whole country with a priority of potentially high investment areas. Changing the laws to concentrate on base maps and avail them to other users and making their use a must. adopting a unique numbering system, for urban areas and international numbering systems for natural resources such as soil, geology… etc. Agreeing on a specific format for each discipline and make it the stand format to exchange with others. The national mapping organization has to concentrate on production and updating base maps and avail them for other users. Every department has to exchange their data and they are responsible of the production and updating of their data. Each organization has to develop its metadata and exchange them with others. When All these steps are ready and well prepared we will be in a position to cross the bridge to a national Geographical information system. Conclusion and Recommendation: The most important to be in track from the very beginning. It is waste of time and resources to use more than one base map. The awareness of decision makers is of paramount importance. All above steps have to be satisfied and a pre-requisite before a national GIS is achieved.