MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: The Star (page 45)

“Dataquest predicts that the global market for GIS-based business support systems will grow by 25% year-on-year in the five years ending 2004, while in the same period, the traditional GIS market will grow a mere 5%,” he said.

While he did not have corresponding figures for the Asia Pacific region, he expects similar trends for GIS here, Ashok told In.Tech at the “Autodesk Design Technology Expo” at the Putra World Trade Centre on Tuesday.

A GIS comprises digital maps containing embedded information, including pictures related to key points on the map. It has traditionally been used in land mapping, mining, earth resource and environmental analysis and remote sensing applications.

Business applications of GIS include demographic analysis for insurance sales campaigns, for example.

Municipal use

A GIS can also be used by municipalities, like the Taipei city council which uses AutoDesk MapGuide to keep track of fallen trees, blocked drains, typhoon damage, uncollected garbage and so on.

Daily work schedules are downloaded from desktop PCs at the depot to the service teams’ PocketPCs. The servicemen can record any new problems they observe while on the field into their PocketPCs, and synchronise this information with the depot system when they return.

These new problems can then be attended to by the next team.

As for pure business use, Autodesk’s Singaporean partner Wheresoft Geocommerce Pte Ltd is a GIS ASP (application service provider) that hosts various “spatial” applications which its customers access through a web browser, and which they can synchronise to their handheld devices.

Wheresoft’s applications include enabling site selection and outlet analysis to help businesses identify optimum sites for their outlets, plan optimal delivery routes, track the movement of their resources, and to do thematic and demographic profiling of areas based upon statistics of population size, distribution, migration patterns, fertility rates, and so on.

Its eGuide Online Directory at eGuide helps users find the address and map location of product and service providers, suppliers of particular brands of products, and the location of companies in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Australia.

Users can click on bus stops, train stations, buildings and other such features to display the numbers of buses which stop at that site, the addresses of buildings and so on.

In Malaysia, Wheresoft works with its local partner Terradesic Sdn Bhd, which provides it with GIS maps obtained from the Survey Department.

“The Petaling Jaya Town Council (MPPJ) is a major customer which uses GIS for data capture,” said Terradesic general manager Lo Sze Kee.

Terradesic has also developed a web-based application for PropertyZoom.com Sdn Bhd, where users can search for and view properties for sale or rent on Property Zoom portal.

Other possible GIS business applications include location-based services.

“Location-based services are available in Europe, enabling subscribers to request, for instance, the location of the nearest French restaurant, using a combination of SMS (short messaging system) over terrestrial GSM networks, a call centre, GIS and GPS (Global Positioning system),” said Ashok.

Product rollout

Meanwhile, in conjunction with its expo, Autodesk launched its AutoCAD 2002 general design application foundation and associated vertical applications which sit on it.

These “verticals” include architecture, building, manufacturing and general design, as well as GIS-based applications like Autodesk Map 5 and Autodesk Land Desktop 3.

Map 5 allows for precision mapping and GIS analysis for engineers, planners, utility managers and technicians. It lets users create, maintain and produce maps and integrate data from third-party sources like Oracle Spatial.

Land Desktop 3 allows users create maps, model, align and parcel out terrain, as well as to do project management.

Autodesk has been developing GIS applications for five years, with 600,000 users worldwide.

The company also announced the local launch of e-Store, its online shop catering to Malaysian buyers and based at Autodesk.

For more information, call Autodesk’s Malaysian office at (603) 703-8306.