Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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Item[Review of the books Skunk works: a personal memoir of my years at Lockheed and The story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's controversial dictionary and its critics](The Victorian Bar, 1995)Description of two creative men and their work products – innovative top secret US military aircraft and the current edition of Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.
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ItemImplementing LIS/GIS from a customary land tenure perspective: the Fiji experience( 1995)This paper briefly reviews Fiji's national land information system (LIS) strategy and the major land and geographic information systems (LIS/GIS) initiatives that have been under way in the major government organisations in Fiji up to April 1994. It also describes and attempts to examine the impact that these initiatives have had on the people who continue to live under Fiji's customary land tenure systems.
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ItemImplications of incorporating Customary Land Tenure Data into a Land Information System( 1995)Land Information Systems (LIS) have been primarily developed to serve the needs of countries that use a 'western' style land market where individual land rights are the norm. However many countries that have a large proportion of lands held under customary land tenures where communally held land rights are common, are also wishing to establish LIS. For these countries LIS is a tool to facilitate the management and administration of their land resources, preserve their customs and traditions and promote the development of a market economy. In order to be effective, the LIS introduced into these countries will need to incorporate customary land tenure data. This paper considers the implications of incorporating such customary land tenure data into a LIS.Firstly the attributes of western land tenures that are currently used in Land Information Systems are reviewed; then drawing examples from Fiji, the paper examines some of the attributes of customary tenure that could be entered into a LIS. This is followed by a discussion of some of the major issues associated with including customary tenure data into a LIS.
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ItemTraditional land tenure issues for LIS in Fiji( 1995)With the help of the New Zealand Government, a national LIS is currently being implemented in Fiji, under the auspices of the Department of Lands. Like many other Pacific Island countries, Fiji has a complex land tenure system. This is the first of two papers that aims at examining the implications of LIS for traditional land tenures. Since LIS is a product of the industrialised world, attributes of the conventional `western' land tenures can easily be incorporated into any LIS. However, attributes of traditional land tenures are yet to be identified and incorporated into an LIS. Unless traditional land tenure issues are considered and taken into account when implementing an LIS, the LIS will not be fully accepted and utilised by the traditional peoples, and will therefore not be truly successful. The emphasis in these papers therefore will be on the traditional aspects of land tenure. This paper reviews Fiji's dual land tenure systems, with particular emphasis on it's traditional land tenure system, and raises some issues and problems of it for an LIS.
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ItemAppropriate cadastral systems( 1995)This paper discusses the role of cadastres in developing countries, reviews why cadastral systems have become much more important in the eyes of policy makers over the last ten years, particularly in the developing world, and finally highlights some important lessons arising from establishing cadastral systems in developing countries over the past decade.
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ItemCultural issues in land information systems( 1995)This paper considers the cultural dimension of applying the land information (LIS) concept to lands held under customary land tenure. The paper recognises that the LIS concept has been primarily developed to serve the needs of countries using a Western-styled land market where individual land rights are the norm. However, many countries where customary land holdings exist, or predominate, are also wishing to establish LIS to better manage their land resources. The paper has three main parts. In the first part, Western LIS concepts are reviewed, placing their development in a historical perspective. This includes a sample of the main attributes of land that would be stored in a typical LIS. The paper then reviews the main features of customary land tenure systems which distinguish them from the western systems. Drawing examples from Fiji, where one of the authors is involved in establishing an LIS, the paper compares the rights in land under Western tenure to those under customary tenure, and discusses the cultural implications of including these attributes in an LIS.
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ItemJustification of GIS as an infrastructure investment: some observations regarding GIS management in Victoria( 1995)It is pointed out that there are two components in the GIS investment by the State Government of Victoria; infrastructure investment and business system investment. Owing to inadequate funding up-front, so far, the emphasis of GIS development in Victoria is still on establishing the infrastructure. Development of business systems is lagging behind. The nature of GIS infrastructure investment is such that it relies on benefits derived from business systems developed from it to substantiate it. If Victoria's GIS investment is evaluated within a relatively short time frame, say four to five years from now, the infrastructure may not be mature enough. There may not be sufficient business systems implemented then to justify the GIS investment, the main bulk of which has been in infrastructure. It is recommended that while business systems can be evaluated in a short time frame like other financial investments, GIS infrastructure should be assessed at the end of the actual life cycle of the project when the business systems planned have been implemented. There are three main management implications. First, State Departments should be assessed of their readiness to implement GIS. Second, there should be an agreed program of development and monitoring for both GIS infrastructure and business systems. Third, there should be an agreed mechanism by which, the costs and benefits of developing the GIS infrastructures and business systems can be shared in an equitable manner among the State Government and its Departments.
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ItemA review of the GIS planning methodology for Victoria: its relevance to real life situations( 1995)The Victorian Government spent nearly $1 million in 1991-94 on international consultants undertaking one of the largest cost-benefit and strategic planning initiatives worldwide for the development of GIS. The objective was to review the GIS needs of state agencies in terms of management, finance, data and technology. The consultants developed a broad strategic plan for generating 61 information products to meet the information needs of five key programmatic areas of the State Government. A cumulative benefit of up to $312 million was forecast for an investment of $56 million over a six year period. The State accepted the review and decided to implement the strategy in a commercial manner, under the coordination of the Office of Geographic Data Coordination. Due to the size and success of the study, many valuable lessons can be learnt from a critical review of the process involved and the events that made it possible. This paper will summarise the events that led up to the study, its methodology and outcomes, to be followed by an analysis of its merits and any limitation.