eMap
The Ministry of Development for Brunei
Darussalam has long recognized the importance of spatial data in
providing services to the country. Excellence in physical
planning, geomatic services and land use management is one of its
strategic goals.
With the announcement of e-Map in April 2007, the Ministry began the
process of developing the standards, technology, access systems and
agency arrangements necessary to harmonize Brunei Darussalam's
geospatial data and services and to making them available on the
Internet in a secure authorized environment. The objective of these
online spatial services is intended to support the Government's drive
towards e-Government.
A synopsis of the development of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) to support these national initiatives can be accessed
from http://www.bit.gov.bn. Sections of particular interest are:
» The Brunei Darussalam National Development Plan
» The Brunei Darussalam National IT Strategic Plan ("IT 2000 and Beyond")
» The e-Government Strategic Framework ("EG21 - Governance and Services Online")
With these national initiatives in mind, the objectives of e-Map are to integrate and implement services that will:
» Effectively enable the Ministry of Development to improve its work practices in relation to its needs;
» Deliver genuine benefits and savings to the Ministry of Development.
e-Map Applications
The primary stakeholders of e-Map are the Ministry of Development
departments of Survey, Land and Town and Country Planning.
Together the departments have identified core processes that will
enable e-Map to be an integrated solution supporting government
policies. These processes, which will be elaborated on below,
include the implementation of:
» An e-Map portal that will provide a point of entry for clients and employees;
» A Brunei Spatial Data Infrastructure (BSDI) harmonizing spatial data within the country;
» An e-LIS to support Land Information System applications within the Survey Department;
» An e-PPT portal supporting land subdivision and consolidation process within the Survey Department;
» An e-Planning portal and GIS applications supporting business processes within the Town and Country Planning Department;
» An e-Land portal supporting business processes within the Land Department.
Figure 1 - e-Map Applications
In order to meet the objectives mandated by the Ministry of Development the e-Map applications are intended to:
» Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of core processes
through the provision of automated functionality with the
implementation of workflow management and improved access via the
Internet;
» Provide high-quality information that is readily and
efficiently maintained to support informed decision-making, evaluation
and planning, and to enhance control and effectiveness through the
provision of systematic reporting;
» Support e-Government initiatives that are web-based,
database-driven and architecturally open allowing more efficient
interactions between the Ministry, related government agencies and the
public.
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Brunei Spatial Data Infrastructure (BSDI)
The
Ministry of Development for Brunei Darussalam has long recognized the
importance of spatial data in providing services to the country.
“Excellence in physical planning, geomatic services and land use
management” is one of its strategic goals.
Today Brunei, and indeed the world, moves at a frenetic pace, in which
the country must meet challenges and growing demands for effective and
efficient delivery of products and services as reflect in the National
IT Strategic Framework.
The production and use of geospatial information within Brunei
Darussalam has traditionally been accomplished by various departments
and agencies in accordance with their individual needs and expertise.
This has resulted in multiple efforts, reduced opportunities for
sharing and reuse of data, and an unnecessary cost burden for the
country as a whole.
While individual departments and agencies can be commended for their
efforts, the means by which objectives are achieved and the manner
products and services are delivered can be enhanced. The need to
establish greater system coherence for the applications and exchange of
geospatial data has been addressed with the introduction of the Brunei
Spatial Data Infrastructure (BSDI).
Spatial Data Infrastructures, a concept that dates back to the early
1990s and adopted by more than 250 countries and administrative
jurisdictions, supports geographic information exchange, standards
adoption and asset sharing across information networks. The term
infrastructure encapsulates the sense of a reliable foundation for
exchange of geospatial information to support national development;
somewhat analogous to a conventional ‘infrastructure’ of
rail, road, communications and port links that move goods to support
economic activities. The principal objective of the BSDI is to
strengthen decision-making for sustainable economic development and
improve the well being of citizens.
Early national initiatives elsewhere have confirmed that the discovery,
ready access to, evaluation and dependable utilization of geospatial
information was greatly facilitated by an underlying infrastructure of
policies, technologies, data, common standards, practices, protocols
and specifications that collectively make up a ‘Spatial Data
Infrastructure’. The BSDI has been development and implemented to
follow these same principals, while carefully taking into
considerations of national interests and policies.
The BSDI is all about re-use; re-use of data, re-use of technical
capabilities, re-use of skills developed, and re-use of invested
intellectual effort and capital. Re-use minimizes the initial system
wide investment needed from co-operators to benefit fully from spatial
data and information, ‘sharing not wearing’ the costs and
helping to realize more rapid returns on investment. Implementing the
BSDI also means learning from the experience of others and avoiding
pitfalls.
The BSDI has been developed around four primary principals:
1. Provision for the discovery, access and utilization spatial data and information through common networks like the Internet,
2. Development of common data services and applications based on recognized international standards,
3. Foster capacity building,
4. Promotion of partnerships and cooperation.
The BSDI is a comprehensive, decentralized geospatial information
framework that facilitates decision-making at various levels by
enabling access, retrieval and dissemination of geospatial data and
information in a rapid and secure way. It enables
interoperability between spatial data infrastructures developed for
specific purposes that operate within government departments, among
groups of agencies sharing common interests, and between other parties
interested in leveraging the utilization of spatial data.
To achieve this the BSDI provides a base collection of technologies,
datasets, human resources, policies, institutional arrangements, and
partnerships that facilitate the availability, exchange of, access to,
and use of geographically-related information using standard practices,
protocols and specifications. It is a national gateway for all
geographic information about Brunei Darussalam, along with supporting
business processes of a spatial nature. The BSDI opens
opportunities for multiple agencies to participate in web delivery and
development opportunities based on the use of geospatial data.
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