The Need to Shift GIS Technology and Ourselves
(The Geospatial Specialists)
Fong Kum Ling
Chief Executive Officer
Spatial Data Enhancement Consultancy Sdn. Bhd.
Malaysia
klfong1996@gmail.com
Abstract
Over the past decades, we have seen how GIS has taken over some of the roles of CAD-based system,
especially in the areas of automated drafting tool. Although many GIS technologies today offer good
development tools, many GIS are still been used merely as a mapping tool in some organizations. This
has led to under-utilization of the technology. On the other hand, there are also successful GIS projects
consist of advanced applications regarded as beyond-the-standard GIS functions. With the advent of more
advanced technologies in geospatial and related technologies such as in Global Positioning System, web
development, mobile and wireless communications, not only we can now explore more about the beyond-
the-standard-GIS functions, but also how a GIS can act as a ‘Single Window’ to valuable data
residing in GIS and most of the back-end systems in our organizations. This paper presents some of the
customized applications developed for power and telecommunication industries in China to improve
business activities in engineering, construction and projects monitoring. Some of these applications
incorporated complex engineering mathematics. It also presents a successful ‘shift’ mentioned above, by
discussing how a core water GIS project in Malaysia has shifted from a departmental GIS to a fully
integrated web-based spatial resource planning solution, acting as a web-based ‘Single Window’ to data
residing in the water GIS and other major back-end systems, serving people across all levels of the
organization in a cost-effective way.