Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Implementing spatially enabled government (SEG) concept in Indonesian local government, challenges and opportunities
    SUTANTA, HERI ; RAJABIFARD, ABBAS ; Aditya, Trias (Aura, 2010)
    Most government decisions and action at national and local levels have a spatial component. Local government activities with spatial components include, but are not limited to, spatial planning, land management, taxation, and the issue of building and site permits. A framework for governing spatially related activities needs to be formulated. An emerging concept of Spatially Enabled Government (SEG) is currently being developed, refined and implemented in many countries. SEG will increase efficiency, transparency and accountability of government activities. This paper will discuss the SEG concept, its prospects and challenges when implemented in the context of Indonesian local government. Local government in this paper refers only to district (kabupaten/kota) level. The following data were used: survey on local government’s website and questionnaire. Of the 479 districts in Indonesia, official websites of 442 districts established after 2006 were surveyed. Questionnaires were sent out to 71 districts, with 34 responses being received. The questionnaire covered areas of organization, human resources and spatial data infrastructures (SDIs). It was designed to investigate the existing capacity and understanding of local government spatial governance, specifically at the local planning agency. Website surveys revealed that local government had limited interest in exploiting the virtually unlimited potential of internet for spatially-related government activities. SDI, as an enabling platform for data sharing and exchange among government agencies, has not been considered important. Comprehensive policies on spatially-related government programmes were limited. Finding from the questionnaires indicates that funding and qualification of human resources were the main responsible factors for this situation. Local governments have limited staffs with expertise in spatial data handling. Some recommendations to overcome the challenges and impediments are presented. Although there are challenges and impediments, SEG may still be implemented in local government provided some necessary conditions are met. Recent central government initiatives on national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI) and telecommunication infrastructure, which will be implemented in the near future, are essential to speed up the process of creating better spatial data governance in local government.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Seamless SDI model: bridging the gap between land and marine environments
    Vaez, Sheelan S. ; RAJABIFARD, ABBAS ; WILLIAMSON, IAN (Netherlands Geodetic Commission, 2009)
    With climate change, rising sea levels pressing harder year on year and the need to manage our resources more carefully in this dynamic environment, the inability to integrate land and marine base information is an increasing problem in many countries. The absence of a seamless spatial data framework prevents the execution of standard practice of locating and referencing spatial data across the land-marine interface where so much pressure and development is taking place. There is a growing and urgent need to create a seamless SDI model that bridges the gap between the terrestrial and marine environments, creating a spatially enabled land-sea interface to more effectively meet sustainable development objectives. This article discusses drivers for integrating land and marine environments and proposes a seamless SDI model as an abstract level SDI and its associated components. This is followed by issues and challenges that must be overcome in developing an overarching architecture for a seamless SDI that allows access to and interoperability of data from marine, coastal and terrestrial environments.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Local government and SDI: understanding their capacity to share data
    MCDOUGALL, KEVIN ; RAJABIFARD, ABBAS ; WILLIAMSON, IAN (Netherlands Geodetic Commission, 2009)
    Local government has been recognised as an early leader in the development, deployment and innovation in spatial information systems. The introduction of corporate wide spatial data portals within local government was as significant as the release of Google Earth to the wider public. Although these information systems continue to expand and mature, the potential for these local spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) to contribute to higher level SDI initiatives remain largely unrealised. This article explores local government SDI within Australia to assess its capacity to contribute to higher level SDI initiatives. A comprehensive survey of over 100 local government authorities was undertaken to assess their SDI capacity and collaborative initiatives. The results were analysed to identify factors that contribute to their successful local SDI development and, more widely, to the development of higher level SDI initiatives through data sharing partnerships. The findings from the analysis indicate that suitable policy frameworks, an understanding of business needs, organisational support and ability to access data through equitable sharing arrangements are critical drivers in building and developing SDI from the local level.