CASE STUDY OF NSDIs IN COUNTRIES IN TRANSITION - MALAYSIA

Dato’ Abdul Majid Bin Mohamed
Director General of Survey and Mapping Malaysia
October 1998

INTRODUCTION

In the wake of the economic downturn currently besetting the East Asian region, there is fresh interest in some countries of the region in the use of Geographic Information Systems or GIS to better administer and manage their finite resources. Though economically affected by the regional currency crisis, some continue to give high priority to the development of GIS and Infrastructure as an investment for speedy economic recovery.

In Malaysia, the move to create Digital Cadastral Database (DCDB) and the National Topographic Database initiated by the Department of Survey and Mapping (DSMM) in mid 1980’s had put in place the foundation for the development of GIS in the country. Since then, various federal and state land related agencies have undertaken their own initiatives to harness the prowess of GIS and have developed computerised systems to expedite the processing of land related matters. However, these standalone systems, which contain valuable land information, exist as ‘islands of information system’ thereby negating the vast potential offered by modern networking technology and making it difficult for users of land information to get access to them.

THE NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM

In a concerted effort to synergise the distributed land information systems implemented by the various land related agencies, the National Infrastructure for Land Information System (NaLIS) was proposed by the Ministry of Land and Cooperative Development and approved by the Government under the Seventh Malaysian Development Plan (1996-2000). NaLIS will provide users with a single window of access to all land-related information. Its main objective is to better facilitate the availability and access to spatial data for all levels of government, the commercial sector, the non-profit sector, academia and citizens in general. With the establishment of NaLIS, wasteful duplication of effort in the acquisition and production of land data can be avoided and the accuracy, timeliness, correctness and consistency of land information, used in planning for development and management of land resources, can be ensured.

NaLIS Convention 1997

After an initial in-depth feasibility study, NaLIS was officially launched in September 1997 at the NaLIS Convention ’97 held at the Putra World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur. Amongst others, the conference dealt with the national spatial data infrastructure, spatial data framework, data transfer standards, metadata and clearinghouse concept. Various recommendations were adopted by each of the 3 workshops. These recommendations, which may be grouped into three main categories, constitute an incidental road map for the overall implementation of the national spatial data infrastructure.

Policy and Institutional Issue

The convention is of the opinion that barriers to the fuller exploitation of information are not so much technical or even financial, but rather are issues such as organisational structures, copyright, pricing and privacy. What is preventing a more widespread use of geoinformation is a deeper understanding of the nature of that information itself, and the policy and technological issues governing their dissemination

Accordingly, in the area of policy and institutional issues, the Nalis Convention recommended the following strategic plan be followed :

1. That a clear strategy and action plan (road map) be formulated for the overall development of NaLIS.
2. That the Public Administration Development Circular No.1/1997 be widely adopted at all levels to ensure total participation and to encourage and promote the contribution and sharing of information. The circular is the first NSDI legislation providing guidelines to the Secretary General, Heads of Federal/State Departments, and Local Authorities on the establishment of NaLIS. It effectively established the NaLIS Coordinating Committee (NCC) at the federal level, the State NaLIS Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the National Land Information Clearinghouse.
3. That, in response to Vision 2020 and the national agenda on Electronic Government (MSC Flagship), all agencies should concentrate on the acquisition of, and conversion to, a digital data environment to promote the sharing and use of that data.
4. That a Geospatial Data Framework Working Group be established under the NaLIS Coordinating Committee, to be entrusted amongst others, with the following terms of reference:-

5. That, whilst acknowledging that the NaLIS model has been based to some extend on the US NSDI it is essential that this model be evaluated to create the best possible Malaysian model, which is relevant to the political structure, institutional framework, culture and aspirations of Malaysia.
6. That the government should continue to hold the custodianship of NaLIS and its assets while, at the same time, encouraging the private sector to participate in the development of NaLIS, the value adding of products and services, the dissemination of data and information and the promotion of NaLIS.
7. That NaLIS policy makers should quickly develop guidelines with regards to issues such as pricing, copyright, custodianship, confidentiality, security and funding.
8. That the NaLIS vision and community benefits be promoted through a responsible campaign of awareness, implementation and application at all levels of government.
9. That the geodetic, cadastral, topographic and general administration boundaries be the foundation layers of the data framework, providing a sound base for the important themes which include transportation, hydrography, utilities, soil classification, valuation, climate and land use.

Coordination and Integration Issues

Whilst there are coordination and integration issues at all levels, the convention mainly dealt with the Clearinghouse concept, Metadata and Spatial Data Transfer Standards, and recommended the following: -

1. That a NaLIS Clearinghouse Working Group be established under the NaLIS Coordinating Committee to undertake continuing development and extending the NaLIS Clearinghouse prototypes into pilot projects for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.
2. That members of the Working Group should include all major contributing agencies and address all relevant issues of sourcing and integrating data.
3. That the scope of Clearinghouse development, participants, providers and user requirements should be defined to ensure a consistent approach for all applications.
4. That a NaLIS Metadata Working Group be established under the NaLIS Coordinating Committee to, amongst other things:-

5. That WG12 under the auspices of the Malaysian Department of Standards/SIRIM, be given the task to participate in the work of ISO/TC 211.
6. That WG12 develop a prototype to transfer The Malaysian Standard Code of Practice for the Exchange of Digital Feature Coded Mapping Data (MS 1074), to a Data Transfer Standard to enable members to gain experience and knowledge with transfer standards, and thus enable members to actively participate in the ISO/TC 211 working groups.

Funding and Training Issues

Funding and training are two issues that were considered to be of importance if success is to be guaranteed and if progress is to be achieved in a reasonable time frame. The conference recommended:-

1. That an assessment be made of the financial requirements for NaLIS development and implementation and that funding be provided. The funding issues from the conference were specific to:-

2. That all land related agencies should provide facilities for the development of human resources capable of handling spatial data.
3. That NaLIS, together with contributing agencies, should identify and organise training, workshop and seminars in the specialised area of data capture, storage, analysis, maintenance and data transfer.

CURRENT DEVELOPMENT OF NaLIS

Since its inception in 1994 there has been a great deal of activity in Malaysia surrounding the national land information initiative. There are already in place a NaLIS Coordinating Committee (NCC) with appropriate linkages and institutional framework, the state NCC and the NaLIS Clearinghouse established by the Public Administration Development Circular No.1/1997. Since the 1997 Convention, NaLIS has further established 3 subcommittees in the areas of Metadata, Standards and Framework as recommended by the convention. The convention recommendation to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) to bridge the spatial data activities between NaLIS and the National Mapping and Spatial Data Committee (NMSDC) has also been approved by NMSDC.

The JWG will be responsible for, amongst others, the identification of fundamental data sets, determining priorities for data acquisition, coordinate data collection and maintenance programs. However, the most important task of this JWG is to prepare procedures and guidelines on all technical and management aspects related to the Framework, which includes data standards and metadata. The JWG is currently working with the Metadata and Standards Subcommittee of NaLIS in reviewing the ISO/TC 211 Metadata Committee Draft and the MS 1074.

A prototype SDI has been set up by the NCC to test the efficiency of managing network data through the Internet. Only four land related agencies in the Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur area are involved in this prototype project namely the DSMM, the Department of Land and Mines, Department of Drainage and Irrigation and the City Council of Kuala Lumpur with the Ministry of Land and Cooperative Development acting as the Clearinghouse. It is envisaged that the success of this prototype would facilitate the nationwide implementation of the NSDI.

THE NATIONAL MAPPING AND SPATIAL DATA COMMITTEE

In tandem with the various reforms spearheaded by the DSMM in its effort to fulfill its role as a digital spatial data provider, the National Mapping Committee of Malaysia has also taken step to restructure its setup as well as changing its name to that of National Mapping and Spatial Data Committee (NMSDC). This change was deemed necessary in view of its expanded role in the domain of spatial data including spatial data standards and infrastructure.

The Committee’s terms of reference, which include mapping policy and priorities have been augmented to include coordinating the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). To facilitate its work, the NMSDC has formed 5 technical subcommittees. Amongst them the Subcommittee on Standards and Data Exchange, has been tasked with developing in close cooperation with SIRIM (The Standards and Research Institute, of Malaysia), a Malaysian Spatial Data Standards for use by both producers and users of spatial data. As a member of ISO/TC 211, Malaysia would ensure that the standards being developed by this Subcommittee would be in conformance with ISO’s.

The NMSDC, headed by the Department of Survey and Mapping (DSMM), is comprises of various land related departments and agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Geological Survey at both the state and federal levels, the National Remote Sensing Center and the relevant academic institutions. With its membership make up of main stream spatial data producers and providers this committee is set to play a strategic role in the coordination of data collection and development of the NSDI.

The Environment and Land Resources Management Technical Committee setup under the NMSDC has been given the task of determining the fundamental dataset that is required for national lands resources management and planning. At its recently concluded meeting in Kuching Sarawak, NMSDC has requested its members to provide the Technical Committee with the types and format of data that each member agency is collecting in order for it to determine a common core dataset.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The Malaysian NSDI is still in its infancy stage and work on policy matters are still on-going in respect to organisational structures, copyright, pricing and privacy, which are "difficult issues" as the NaLIS Convention 1997 had pointed out. In this regards no formal law has yet been enacted. However, existing legislation are considered sufficient and in addition, various cyberlaws are now being drafted which would ensure privacy of individual citizens and intellectual property be protected. The Public Administrative Development Circular of 1/1997 provides guidelines on the establishment of the NSDI. The Fees and Royalties (Survey Data and Digital Mapping) Order 1997, which provides copyright protection for all forms of digital survey and mapping data as well as regulating the fees and royalties chargeable by the government.

Although an initial budget of RM1Billion (RM3.8 = 1 US Dollar) has been allocated for the implementation of NaLIS nationwide, the economic downturn being experienced by the country has approved only RM27 Million for the current development period. Given this constraint, it is envisaged that priority would be given to the development of the NaLIS prototype for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. As mentioned earlier, this would test not only the "viability of concept" but also the efficiency of managing the network.