MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: The New Straits Times (page 10)

In making the call, Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, said without such support, Malaysia would be left out of regional datum development and matters related to cadastre - the public registration of land for fiscal purposes, and land administration - among Asia-Pacific countries.

"These issues need to be looked into seriously because with the Global Positioning System (GPS), the economic, social and environmental status of the country can be further improved."

"GPS would also be able to give an accurate measurement on the whereabouts of an object, as well as a single geodetic to coordinate all data," Koh said when launching a permanent committee on Geographic Information (GIS) Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) at a workshop on regional geodesy and cadastre at the Parkroyal Hotel, here, today.

Koh hoped the workshop would provide delegates with an opportunity to discuss works and research carried out on regional datum development and to execute the regional and global GIS infrastructure.

"The delegates would also be able to share their own experiences and ideas, as well as look for solution to these issues."

Koh also hoped member countries would facilitate the introduction of a single regional geodetic datum and provide a linkage of individual geodetic datum to the regional datum through densification of the International Terristrial Reference Frame (ITRF).

(ITRF is a precise international co-ordinates system to support regional geographic information infrastructure.)

A total of 55 Asia Pacific countries, including Iran, Armenia, Russia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are represented at the two-day workshop.

They comprise experts attached to governmental institutions, higher-learning institutions and individuals interested in creating an existing regional geodetic and cadastre framework.

Earlier, Koh said the GIS infrastructure was already being used by the State Government to capture all geographic data and electronically map the state.

Penang was the first in the country and in South-east Asia to implement the use of GIS, since 1992 when the Penang GIS (PEGIS) project was introduced in the State.

Koh added that GIS software has been implemented beyond city planning-level, which covers environmental, forest management and environmental protection data.

ESRI is the sole distributor of GIS software, with its headquaters in Kuala Lumpur.