Non-Technical Aspects Hampering Implementation of GIS in Developing Countriesby Colonel Khalifa Mohamed Thani Al-Romaithi, Director of Military Surveying, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
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K. Al-Romaithi |
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Abstract : |
Considering GIS from a purely technological perspective is unlikely to be a particularly successful approach. Therefore, the institutional issues and other issues resulting from adopting the developed world's model are to be closely examined with respect to their culture. Developing countries, often tend to use the industrialized countries production of the GIS systems, and apply them the way they were designed, thus, they do not achieve the positive results anticipated. This happens especially because they often buy systems from different sources which results in heterogeneous systems. The introduction of a GIS system in an organization often mandates alterations in the chain of command which, in turn, affect the whole organization. Geoinformation standards are a major aspect, the main role of standards in GIS is to facilitate the integration of data sets from various distributed sources. The format and structure for holding geographic information is likely to differ between computer systems. There is a lack of standardized data processing in most developing countries. On the other hand the legal aspect is lagging behind where existing legislation may or may not cope with every aspect of the information revolution in an appropriate manner and it may be that the inadequacies of the system take time to be recognized, particularly where legal precedents need to be established. Recently, no legal case clearly addresses the issue of which information is to be released. The human resources aspect is also highlighted. The problem of the preparation of human cadres in GIS technology clearly appears in all the organizations throughout the developing countries. However, when GIS programs are established a high cost of training is involved. Practical experience has shown that about 40% of the total cost of GIS programs is dedicated to training. On the other hand GIS vendors are requested to not only introducing the GIS technology but also to share the responsibilities of educating society and to play a major role in making the GIS a useful tool for total development.
K. Mohamed Thani Al-Romaithi - Profile :
Mr. Al-Romaithi is the head of Military Survey Department since 1985, he is acting as adviser in GIS to higher authorities. He has a degree in Administrative science and photogrammetry. He received M.Sc. degree in GIS from ITC the Netherlands. Mr. Al-Romaithi has gained extensive experience as project leader for many projects in digital mapping, GIS and bathymetric surveying. At present he is engaged in finalizing the designing of the National Topographic Database.
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