Spatially enabling governments: a new direction for land administration systems

Most decisions involve a spatial component, though few people realize its significance. Technology is about to bring the spatial component to the forefront. A place on earth can be defined with precision on the ground and in computers. Digital data can be attached to a location as never before. Spatial identification and location enablement applications are now available in every significant type of software (word processing, spread sheets, professional applications, Web systems, GIS and databases). Use of appropriate computers with interpretative software capacity now transforms computer language into understandable descriptions of places, Governments, business and communities can potentially use computers to identify “where” their policies and activities are happening. More significantly, the “where” component can be used as an organizing structure for most human activities and information. The challenge of these new technological and organizational opportunities is large. A nation’s ability to reap the benefits of the spatial enablement of information requires the highest level input from its government and private sectors. Land administration systems (LAS) are the traditional means of spatial organisation of information: they are the obvious starting point for assessing new technologies in the context of different demands for land information for modern governments. This potential to transform the ability of LAS to inform governments, business and citizens about their world led to the concept of iLand, a concept of spatially enabled information for modern government