Interview with John Kerr
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Editor's Note: John Kerr has been involved with GIS for more than 20 years. He retired as the Coordinator for Geographic Referencing Services for the Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario, Canada in 1986 and continues to work as a consultant. |
Al-Khabar: Tell us about your involvement in the development of GIS in Canada.
John Kerr: I first got involved in GIS in 1973 when Robert Code, Surveyor General for the Province of Ontario, appointed me to the Task Force on Geographical Referencing. The mandate to develop a comprehensive geographical referencing system for Ontario had been given by the Cabinet to the Minister of Natural Resources, who in turn delegated the authority to the Surveyor General. The task force was to develop a system that would permit rapid, visual geographic correlation of the physical properties, resources, legal status and use of all land in Ontario.
Since this kind of information is generally displayed on maps, we began a study of the existing mapping in Ontario and found that more than 200 different map scales were in use. To complicate matters many of those maps were structured on different map bases or projection systems. So, as a first step the Task Force designed the Ontario Basic Mapping System (OBMS). The OBMS provided a consistent series of base maps upon which all disciplines could superimpose their own themes and thereby more easily correlate data from different sources.
Al-Khabar: How did you develop the OBMS?
John Kerr: Everything that Ontario achieved in geographical referencing, or GIS as we now call it, was accomplished through teamwork. The task force designed the system, a technical production team developed the technical aspects of implementing it, and the technical advisory committee developed the digital mapping specifications in concert with industry.
Even though we realized the Ontario Base Maps (OBMs) in paper form would themselves be of great benefit, right from the beginning the idea was to develop electronic base maps, suitable for use in a variety of automated GIS type applications. Unfortunately, in the mid 1970s a worldwide search failed to uncover any existing system that could provide the type of digital map products we wanted. So, we began to develop our own digital mapping and GIS capabilities in concert with the University of Guelph, the federal government and subsequently the University of Waterloo.
Al-Khabar: How did the GIS standards evolve?
John Kerr: The Task Force saw its responsibility as developing geographical referencing standards that would stand the test of time and would provide a map base to which people would reference their data for many generations to come. To this end, we met with map users from a variety of disciplines, as well as universities, and many government agencies, to ensure that all the standards we put in place would be sound, useable, and appropriate.
Among the first standards adopted, prior to developing the OBMS, was the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid system. The province published a book on the UTM and designated it as Ontario's official geographical referencing grid. The UTM is the grid used on all OBMs, in fact UTM grid lines form the boundaries of the OBMs, which simplifies the joining of map sheets both manually and electronically. There were several reasons for choosing the UTM: it was widely used in Ontario and elsewhere, it had been thoroughly tested, and was a system for which the parameters were well documented and readily available to a wide range of users.
Ontario also developed a horizontal control survey databank that we called the Coordinate Survey Information Exchange or COSINE. It proved to be a real winner, for in its first year of operation, COSINE saved the Ministry of Natural Resources more than its total implementation cost. That's because, without a central repository for control survey data, a surveyor, faced with the compilation of horizontal control for an OBM project, had to go to many different sources and search their records to determine if they had established any control in the area to be mapped.
Al-Khabar: What were some of your early projects?
John Kerr: In the mid seventies, using some federal facilities at Ottawa, as well as our homegrown system, we had digitized about 20 OBM sheets, superimposed forest stands, and parcel boundaries on some of them and developed a series of capabilities to provide a variety of users with some idea of what they might expect from the technology. Our homegrown system, developed in concert with the Universities of Waterloo and Guelph, had the capability to do polygon overlays and limited queries on some of the associated attributes. In addition, there were a variety of GIS type capabilities developed for land use planning: to place text within polygons; to provide profiles and cross sections; to determine areas, volumes and perimeters of lakes; and so on.
In 1983 we carried out an extensive user needs study in three different municipalities and throughout the provincial government and defined a series of generic GIS type functions required to meet the needs identified. These were incorporated into a variety of pilot projects which were carried out over the next 3 or 4 years with varying degrees of success.
At the conclusion of these pilot projects, Ontario embarked on a full scale digital mapping program for the OBMS.
Al-Khabar: What are your impressions of our GIS here in Qatar?
John Kerr: From what I've seen of your GIS set up in Qatar, and I've looked at pretty well every component of it, I'd say its one of the finest GIS implementations in the world, possibly the very best. As I see it, there are several reasons for this. First of all the system is totally integrated, and is being used in a wide variety of day-to-day applications. Compatibility abounds, and data is rapidly transferred between many different agencies.
People in the various GIS units throughout government appear to be enjoying their work and fully cooperate with each other. I've seen the excitement and appreciation of the system in people associated with: emergency response, limousine dispatch, delivery services, utility construction and maintenance, and many other applications.
The top down approach, whereby your National GIS Steering Committee, on the one hand encourage the implementation of GIS, but on the other hand, ensures that anyone implementing GIS in Qatar does so in strict accordance with a common set of standards, has gone a long way to ensure the success of the overall system. So too, has the establishment of the Centre for GIS which ensures agencies getting involved in GIS are fully trained in the technology as it applies to their area.
You have good software and hardware and well trained staff, but perhaps most important of all you have a couple of individuals who have vision. They see the overall picture, and have the drive and vision to put all the pieces in place. I think of Zul Jiwani, the Head of the Centre for GIS, he understands the technology, knows what's needed and has provided outstanding leadership in developing the technical side of Qatar's GIS. Its obvious from the progress that has been made in the few short years CGIS has been in operation that the design and standards put in place in the beginning have paid off.
And you have Sheikh Ahmed, who understands the benefits GIS can bring to Qatar. He is a man of vision, with the dedication and authority necessary to make things happen. I liken Sheikh Ahmed to Robert Code, former Surveyor General of Ontario, under whom much progress was made in the development and implementation of Ontario's Geographical Referencing System. Sheikh Ahmed has the ability to convey his ideas and the benefits of GIS to his people, as well as a warm personality which, I think, enhances his ability to convince others of what path to follow. There is little question he has played a major role in the successful implementation of Qatar's GIS.
Al-Khabar: Would you comment on what you believe is the future direction of GIS technology.
John Kerr: There are such a wide range of GIS applications, that they appear to be never ending. The more it's used, the more valuable it becomes. One application seems to lead to the development of another. And, as systems become more functional and simultaneously more economical and digital map products become more available, more people will come on stream. GIS has gone way beyond the realm for which it was originally developed and is now used for inventory control, marketing, maintenance, as an educational tool, and for a host of other things; who knows where it might be used next.
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