The Singapore Land Authority’s (SLA, http://www.sla.gov.sg/ ) Land Information Network (LandNet) system has picked up two international Geographical Information System (GIS) awards for its innovative use of the technology.

SLA's LandNet system picked up the Distinguished Systems Award 2008 from URISA.

The Distinguished Systems Award 2008, presented by the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association’s (URISA) for Exemplary Systems in Governments (ESIG), gave recognition to LandNet for the outstanding use of information technology in a “multi-department environment”.

“LandNet helps emphasise the concept of ’integrated government’ by providing a common map and gateway to government services,” said Dr Gary J. Hunter, Chair of 2008 ESIG Awards Committee. “It is a very well thought out project, using a comprehensive project management approach which included conceptualising, design, maintenance and enhancement steps.”

LandNet beat 13 other international entries to win URISA’s ESIG Award, which was presented in October last year. The same month, the SLA system was also picked the winner out of 212 nominations from 14 countries for FutureGov magazine’s Government Technology Awards (GTA) for GIS.

Mr James Smith, managing editor of Alphabet Media, which publishes FutureGov, and one of the judges at the GTA, said: “SLA’s LandNet project demonstrated the most comprehensive example of the use of GIS. It was considered to be a ‘foundational’ project which delivered outcomes that could be leveraged in a pan-government services delivery context.”

LandNet was launched on 1 June 2007 after a successful Proof-of-Concept experimentation with several public agencies and leading industry partners to find the best way of sharing spatial data online among public agencies.

The system is the first in Asia Pacific to harness Enterprise GRID technology to facilitate online and up-to-date data sharing using high-speed government network. It supports most GIS formats to enable the transfer of intelligent graphic data, and contains more than 120 layers of information that can be searched, manipulated and buffered by users online. It is possibly the first web-based GIS in the world that allows users to personalise the look and feel of the maps. Since its inception, 15 agencies have hopped onto the bandwagon to share and access the spatial information.