New partnership seeks to promote GIS technology in Malta

The sixth vertical strategic alliance was signed between the IT Ministry and ESRI, which designs and develops the world's leading geographic information system (GIS) technology.

The partnership between the ministry and ESRI, a major player in the industry, would involve the promotion and knowledge of this important technology in the Maltese market, as well as an education programme.

It was considered to be the next step in the expansion of the country's e-government services, IT Minister Austin Gatt said.

The collaboration, he said, stemmed from the govern-ment's vision to boost the country's information society and build its expertise, inspired by the principle of "joining forces with world-class market movers that affected our way of life".

GIS was the way forward and would soon form part of mainstream information technology. In a couple of years, everyone would be using some sort of GIS system, the minister said, and Malta had to be geared up for it.

GIS is the software used, for example, in the navigational system of cars, which was destined to be a standard in every vehicle in the near future, Dr Gatt explained. Even mobile phones were already being installed with GIS.

Dr Gatt said the plan was to set up a National GIS Competency Centre next year, with the aim that every system would be integrated and that all entities used the same structure. The challenge would be to convince them to change their working methods to create a common database so they communicate, he added.

ESRI Europe regional director Aart van Wingerden said the company was founded about 40 years ago, with over one million people using the system in 120,000 organis-ations. Its aim was to advance GIS technology and develop a professional GIS workforce.

About 50 lecturers a year would be trained to teach GIS technology during geography lessons at secondary and tertiary level, while students would be provided with free software, as would the government.

ESRI is also providing five student work placements per year for the duration of the VSA.

GIS technology, Mr van Wingerden explained, could be applied to farmers, housing, tourism, planning (the Malta Environment and Planning Authority already used it), utilities management, trans-port and logistics, among others. It was also entering the area of healthcare, mapping the spread of HIV, for example.

The local distributors of GIS, GeoSYS Ltd, have been working on the initiative for a number of months and the idea was first discussed about three years ago.

Its managing director, Tim Camilleri, saw the partnership as an opportunity to create GIS awareness. It was a pervasive technology and he was convinced it would go far.