Geo-Enabled 'Government-With-You'
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SINGAPORE GGeeoo--eennaabblleedd ''ggoovveerrnnmmeenntt--wwiitthh--yyoouu'' Geospatial technology has played a significant role in Singapore's march into the league of developed nations within a short span of time. Not content to rest on the achievements so far, Singapore is actively implementing the technology to secure its growth he leading financial and business hub of South tion management. The practice of sharing land informa- East Asia, the city-nation of Singapore has been tion among the government agencies dates back to the Tsuccessively rated as one of the most favoured 1980s. 1981 saw the launch of the Civil Service Comput- destinations globally to work and live. That Singapore erisation Programme (CSCP) to enhance the effective- has achieved this feat in a remarkably short time since ness and efficiency of public administration. CSCP saw its independence in 1965 speaks volumes not just the introduction of proprietary GIS systems into individual about the country's vision and policies, but also the land-related government agencies. prudent use of technology in establishing the right It was during this time that the Singapore infrastructure that makes the city a destination to be government noticed that with the newly acquired IT reckoned with. resources, agencies had started to migrate from tracing paper to digitised maps. However, a lack of THE GEOSPATIAL BEGINNING… integration and disparate electronisation efforts of the The geospatial journey of Singapore began by design various land-related agencies resulted in duplication, rather than default, finding its genesis in land informa- inaccuracy and inconsistent land data across the GeospatialWorld I October 2011 31 Singapore public sector. Consequently, the government Emphasis on ICT realised that the public administration could be greatly For more than 30 years now, Singapore Government has improved if data were treated as a corporate resource tapped advances in information and communication tech- and shared across the civil service through a centralised nologies (ICT) to transform public administration and data hub. This led to the conceptualisation of Land Data service delivery. It has launched several plans to enhance Hub (LDH). the nation's economic competitiveness and ability to innovate using ICT, from the Civil Service Computerisa- BUSINESS DRIVERS tion Programme in the 1980s, to the e-Government Action Plan I and II from 2000 to 2006. The Intelligent Stable economy Nation 2015 (iN2015) is a 10-year master plan with the Singapore is considered as one of the most open and vision to build Singapore into "An intelligent nation, a competitive markets in the world. The 2011 World Bank global city, powered by infocomm." Another plan is the Ease of Doing Business Index ranks Singapore as the Master plan 2011-2015 (or eGov 2015). Through this plan, best country in the world to do business - ahead of Hong the government aims to shift from a "government-to-you" Kong and New Zealand.Between the 1960s and the approach to a "government-with-you" approach in its 1980s, the manufacturing industry attracted numerous delivery of government electronic services (or e-services). multi-national companies and foreign direct investment into the country. This became the foundation for Singa- GEOSPATIAL IMPLEMENTATION pore to grow into one of the most advanced and techno- logically driven economies in the world. According to the Land information 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, Singapore is the 2nd Land information is the biggest consumer of geospatial freest economy in the world. Singapore's business free- technology in Singapore and also the biggest input dom score is exceptionally high - it takes three days to provider for the technology. Singapore Land Authority start a business in Singapore compared to the world's (SLA) optimises land resources, maintains the national average of thirty-four days. title registry and land survey systems and promotes Singapore's economy staged a spectacular usage of geospatial information. SLA has developed comeback in 2010. After contracting to 1.3 percent in many systems and infrastructure leveraging on cutting- 2009, GDP growth for 2010 is estimated to be nearly edge geospatial technology. 15 percent. Mature government framework Geospatial Initiatives in land information Singapore Land Authority (SLA), the national geospatial Initiative Details data agency of Singapore, is the front runner in the Licensing of digi- Businesses can apply for a licence to use the digitised tised land infor- land information to meet their business needs or to create development and consumption of geospatial technology. mation products and services e.g. maps for street directory The setting up Land Data Hub (LDH) gave impetus to the Geospace It is a portal for government agencies to share and access geospatial data. It was launched in 2011 by SLA concept of data sharing which was further given thrust by the NSDI initiative, called Singapore Geospatial Production of Maps of Singapore or various districts of Singapore can Maps be customized according to user requirements Collaborative Environment, or SG-SPACE, provides an infrastructure, mechanism and policies to allow Integrated Land INLIS is a one-stop online service specially designed for Information Ser- property buyers, real estate agents, valuers, developers, convenient access to quality geospatial information vice (INLIS) architects, surveyors, engineers, lawyers and the general in usable form across government agencies and the public to have quick and easy access to land and property information. Through INLIS, SLA and government agen- public. The architecture of SG-SPACE allows agencies to cies can offer its information services to the public. share data via the system without the need for each to OneMap OneMap is a common map platform for public agencies to have their own individual portal. The policy framework publish information and deliver map-based services. It is also open to use by anyone as a platform for innovative applica- sets standards for data collection and sharing, with a tions - including individuals, business entities and community organisations. central clearinghouse, and common tools and services. 32 Geospatial World I October 2011 Geospatial initiative in industrial infrastructure “Given Singapore's land constraints, there are always competing demands for land to support housing, business- Initiative Details es, commerce, recreation, utilities, and transportation. GIS GIS Dash- Launched in 2010, GISD enables officers to perform is one of the important tools used in Singapore to tackle board(GISD) search, query, thematic mapping, drawing and editing of the challenges of land use planning” graphics, as well as plan generation. GISD is also linked to SLA's OneMap, and officers can switch between the JTC base map and OneMap's street map to look at surrounding - Peter Quek Ser Hwee land information, or even to create a hybrid map Director, Information Systems , Urban Redevelopment Authority Industrial infrastructure using GIS for land use planning since 1995 when it imple- Efficient industrial infrastructure development has been mented the first GIS in URA called the Integrated Land one of the key factors in establishing Singapore as a Use System (ILUS), which was the first integrated GIS regional and global economic hub. Industrial infrastruc- implemented in Singapore, informs Peter Quek Ser ture development in Singapore is spearheaded by JTC Hwee, Director, Information Systems, URA. In 2006, URA Corporation that extensively uses geospatial technology migrated ILUS to Integrated Planning and Land Use Sys- in planning, promotion and development of a dynamic tem (iPLAN). iPLAN is among the world's first nationwide industrial landscape. enterprise GIS for urban planning. JTC started using MapInfo as a land planning tool in 1995. In 2004, JTC launched a Web-based GIS (WGIS) Housing using Esri ArcGIS to search for and analyse spatial infor- Providing affordable homes of quality and value has been mation with greater efficiency, informs. WGIS has now integral to nation building in Singapore. Singapore been replaced with the new portal, GIS Dashboard. aggressively leverages GIS in public housing, through its Housing and Development Board. As a repository for HDB Urban development with more than 100 map layers, HDB’s corporate GIS, For a nation that catapulted itself from a third-world Integrated Land Information System (ILIS) ensures that country into the league of developed nations in just one data is "captured once and used many times" and is generation, efficient urban development has been one of sharable across the departments, says Loh Loon Tong, the pillars of Singapore' evolution. Director (Properties & Land), HDB. Singapore's national land use planning and conserva- With more than 80 percent of Singapore's population tion authority, Urban Redevelopment Authority, has been living in HDB estates, the challenge for HDB is to Key geospatial projects in urban development Geospatial initiatives in housing Project Details Platform / Applications Details Master Plan The Master Plan is the statutory land use plan which guides Integrated Land Informa- The Corporate GIS of HDB, ILIS has grown from a 2008 Singapore's development in the medium term over the next 10 tion System (ILIS) local GIS serving mainly internal departments to an to 15 years. The Master Plan shows the permissible land use enterprise GIS serving and reaching out to many and density for developments in Singapore. more users, including the public. In the beginning, iPLAN was used to digitise and prepare the electronic it was a local GIS offering full GIS functionalities to versions of the draft Master Plan, as well as Special and only specialised users. Today, it is a multi-faceted Detailed Controls Plans. The digitised Master Plan was enterprise GIS offering intranet and internet Web later published via the iPLAN Internet Map System (IMS) as GIS. part of the public consultation exercise and about 200,000 viewers accessed the IMS during the launch of the public con- Intranet Web GIS - ILIS ILIS EMAP is the HDB intranet Web-GIS offering sultation on the draft Master Plan.