MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: New Straits Times

Useful information such as the location of roads, railway tracks, road tracks, airports and critical information such as wetlands and rainfall amounts in a particular area can be accessed by reading a digital map on a computer.

GIS-based software has the ability to capture, store and analyse information such as the condition of the land, and can shed light on the activities the land had gone through in the past. Once this information is digested, experts can provide insights to decision-makers on future use of the land.

For example, how people should treat a land area is based on the rainfall amount in the area of the land. If there is continuously less rainfall on a particular spot in the world, it could be an indication that spot would dry up in no time. As there is valuable information to be obtained from a digital map, traditional map makers can make long-term investments, like what local outfit Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd did about five years ago and is reaping the benefits.

Ho Chin Soon Research first started producing maps in the traditional manner, which is by hand-drawing them some 16 years ago. Its founder, Ho Chin Soon, says the digital maps that his company produces are helping property developers locate which land areas are suitable to construct buildings.

"I believe our digital land use maps have helped to speed up the decision making process for chief executive officers of property development companies," he says. "The state of the land to build a property is important to investors and this information can be found in maps," says Ho in an interview with CompuTimes recently.

With a digital map, this information can be spotted faster just because of its form, he adds. He says GIS-based maps can also enable petroleum gas companies to locate suitable areas to set up service stations. Ho adds that his company’s decision to venture into the digital mapping business was, as expected, gradually beginning to be inflexible. "One mistake, and my staff has to go through a laborious effort to correct it," he says. He elaborates that previously, drafting of a map was done manually but now with the use of personal computers and GIS-based software, the company just needs to do it only once.

"We went digital because of cost reasons and we have learnt that it is more cost effective to print on demand," he says. He explains that previously, the company would not be able to estimate the demand, and its printing cost for offset printing is quite high and as it turned out, there was always wastage.

He adds the main urban areas of Klang Valley, South Johor and Penang are digitised. "We are regularly updating the maps in these areas," he says.

Ho foresees the digital mapping business will ripen as the demand for information on maps which his company produces contains also ownership details of large tracts of lands on the outskirts of urban areas and also locations where small parcels of lands are in demand, for example in the Golden Triangle and Mont’ Kiara.

At approximately RM1,500 per digital map, it is nearly four times the price of a manually-done map that Ho’s company produces. Nevertheless, making a step towards changing the nature of their business, the company has made a mark for itself with 500 customers under its belt.