4. Lessons that can be learned from using GIS in LGUs in developing countries
This section will give a description of the few case studies that include some lessons on the use of GIS in LGUs in developing countries. Three case studies are described in more detail. It will focus on the third aim as formulated in the first section:
3. Identify whether lessons can be drawn -in terms of success and failure factors- from the adoption of GIS in local government in developing countries.
Case 1: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Belo Horizonte, the fourth largest Brazilian city, was one the first Brazilian municipal administrations to develop an urban GIS. Through the Constitution of 1988 new responsibilities and powers were transferred to the municipal governments. So there was the need to increase the level of economic and administrative efficiency through the adoption of new approaches, like the technology of geoprocessing.
In 1989 Belo Horizonte started to implement a full-scale GIS, instead of beginning with a pilot project. In 1992, a very large database was assembled in vector format from stereophotogrammetry, comprising around 95 different themes, covering all kind of geographic objects. A municipal level IT-company has been responsible for the design en development of the urban GIS and for the management of the geographic database. To make the system more user-friendly the addresses in the city has been geographically localized. This is said to be an important step towards the successful implementation of the GIS. After possession of a basic set of information one started focusing on four different applications: Education (The School Registration System); Transportation and Traffic; Urban planning applications; Health (Surveillance of infant mortality). What is said to be the main success factors of this GIS use in the municipality of Belo Horizonte:
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One did not rely on international technology transfer but build in-house expertise over a long period of time.
- The company has set up an organization that is dedicated completely to the development of geoprocessing expertise to support municipal administration in Belo Horizonte.
- The systematic and integrated manner in which the database has been build.
Source: "Learning about GIS implementation from a public sector GIS experience in Brazil", Karla Albuquerque de Vascocelos Borges (PRODABEL) and Sundeep Sahay,
www.gisdevelopment.net
Case 2: Cebu, The Philippines
A good example of a LGU where GIS has been implemented successfully is the Province of Cebu. From 1991 to 1994, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) supported in the Province of Cebu the establishment of a service institution for applications in the field of GIS. In April 1995 the 'GIS Cebu Province' was successfully transformed into the Geoplan Cebu Foundation, which runs independently from the administration of the provincial government.
During the years that GTZ has been involved in this project various reports from short term consultancies and project documentations are available. Unfortunately these reports are unpublished documents for internal use only. This is regrettably as a lot of -for this study- interesting information will be in these documents.
But something is said about the first years of Geoplan. The most hindering factor of its first year was the unstable financial situation and the lack of financial buffers. One expects this not to change during the following 2-3 years. Another identified bottleneck is the lack of qualified GIS personnel and the high staff turnover.
When talking about the transformation of the GIS Cebu Province into the Geoplan Cebu Foundation it is said to be successful. Reasons given for this is the increasing flexibility to offer services and products on the GIS market and that the foundation is now able to make decisions independently without government intervention. The future trend for Geoplan will be to move away from low-end digital cartography to higher-end GIS solutions for local clientele. The only thing of concern is the relatively high staff turn-over. This is partly due to the low salaries, but also to changed work conditions in a non-governmental environment.
Source: Becker, M. & K.P. Traub (1996) The Transformation of the GIS Cebu Province into Geoplan Cebu Foundation, Inc.. Submitted to the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).
http://www.gtz.de/lamin/deutsch/geoplan/e_pic.htm
Case 3: Lilongwe City Council, Malawi
A GIS pilot project was commenced in Lilongwe City Council (LCC) in September 1995. This project was under the auspices of the World Bank and ITC was the implementing institution. The focus of the study was the Town Planning and Estates Management Services Department as its nature of work foresees a need for a GIS. This department had little experience with the use of information technology. For this reason, a training program was one of ITC's activities. Besides, the other activities were: analysis of the user requirements, systems analysis and design; pilot system development and modification; and consolidation and enhancement of systems. Before the methodology for the design and implementation of the project was adopted the (local) situation had been analyzed. There seemed to be some barriers to success:
- Technical barriers: no prior computer skill, irregular electricity supply and limited local support for computer technology.
- Financial barriers: doubt about financial support.
- Institutional barriers: poorly paid and not well motivated staff, general organizational problems and lack of awareness and knowledge about GIS.
One of the problems faced during the project and also known as a danger for the continuity of projects is the loss of key professional staff. Staff with computer and GIS skills are targets for other employers and difficult to replace.
There are some general lessons learned which should be taken into account with the expansion of GIS to other councils:
- the availability of professional staff with GIS knowledge and experiences;
- the availability of computer staff;
- the availability of good quality base maps or a sound and affordable method for map updating
- a more gradual introduction of (spatial) information technology into the organization
- the need for very substantial staff development programs aimed at raising and maintaining skill;
- the feasibility of utilizing the LCC system should be considered as a model for other councils thereby reducing development costs;
- the need to identify means of cost recovery and reserving finances for future system
Source: R. Sliuzas (1997). Lessons from the GIS pilot project at Lilongwe City Council. Geographical Information. Third Joint European Conference & Exhibition on Geographical Information, Vienna, Austria 1997. And: Lilongwe City Council Pilot Project:
http://www.itc.nl/urban/docs/lccgis.htm
These three case studies only are examples of the implementation of GIS in a city. They do not intend to be more that just an illustration of the subject of this study.
But although the 3 cases are rather different and the number is too limited to generalize lessons some concluding points should be remarked:
- One important issue is the problem of maintaining the qualified personnel.
- The funding should be guaranteed or better, there should be no (or low) reliance on external funding
There should be full commitment and participation in the implementation on all levels of the organization
For now just these issues will be pointed at based on the cases. It is not the intention of this report to go into further detail on factors that contribute to successful implementation and use of GIS. These factors can for instance be found in Ramasubramanian (1999), Masser & Campbell (1991) and Reeve & Petch (1991).