MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: New Straits Times

The establishment of the Government backed National Land Information System (Nalis), a project currently being undertaken by the Ministry of Land and Cooperative Development (MLCD), arises from the need for an effective use of information technology (IT) to support land and resource management.

It is felt necessary to adopt computer and communications technology to help ensure the best use of the country's finite land resources, improve efficiency of Government administrative systems, reduce cost and accelerate infrastructure development.

Recent worldwide initiatives in spatial IT development have paved the way for the establishment of Nalis, a national land information system/geographical information system (LIS/GIS) that is effected through enhanced networking data exchange linkages to minimize duplicated efforts, speed up development and facilitate land-use and regional planning.

According to Mohaizi Mohammad of the Department of Survey and Mapping, who also sits in the Nalis Task Force (NTF) committee, the main objective of Nalis was to better manage the unit data resources through appropriate data policies, data standardization and data sharing across the civil service. He said that the function of public administration and data sharing across the civil service. He said that the function would be greatly improved if data was treated as a corporate resource and shared by Government agencies, where appropriate.

The NTF, co-ordinated by the MLCD with participating agencies from 36 departments, is charged with the responsibilities of planning and co-ordinating the activities of all the agencies involved in the establishment of Nalis. The concept of Nalis infrastructure will consist of a Gateway, Computer System, National Integrated Land-use Centre, Research and Development and Training Centre. It allows users to identify the land-related data that exists, its location and then request the information required.

The infrastructure also includes a State cadastral database and a national topographic database which provide information common to the majority of users. This is made up of a software that is easily installed on a user computer and provide the capability to dial into, search, request and browse any database and information connected to the system.

A standard interchange format is also required to ensure the data from a number of sources can be integrated. The infrastructure system also includes supplier databases developed by organizations involved in the land-use activities, and used to support their operations and planning activities.

The supplier databases connected to the system is inn a form that can be integrated with a user's existing system.

The MLCD, where the base spatial and aspatial data reside must be the co-ordinating agency that will oversee the overall implementation and administration of Nalis.

Data requests are then routed through a gateway and computer system to the sources. The data is then sent back through the gateway and routed to the requester.

The system will automatically screen computerized data to limit what can be viewed by a user.

Data is restored in a format that can be easily loaded in a local business system. Mohaizi stressed that Nalis would enable efficient sharing and exchange of land-related information among Government agencies in Malaysia, facilitate the development and maintenance of a land inventory for land information users, provide intelligent corporate data model for users, and assist and streamline the process of land-use planning and management.

According to him, the cost-benefit gained from this effective infrastructure system would result in industry standard of 1:10, as compared to automation of task by a department, and significant savings for all participating agencies and the Government as a whole.