Highway Africa News Agency

Report by Brenda Zulu

The promotion of information communication technologies (ICTs) should not be a substitute for the efforts to ensure the development and modernisation of basic sectors of the economy, but should compliment and enhance these efforts.

The potential of ICTs to foster sustainable development, empower people, including women and youth, build their capacities and skills, assist small and medium sized enterprises reduce poverty, reinforce popular participation and enhance informed decision making at all levels is enormous.

Andre Nonguierma a Geographic Information Systems Officer from the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said this required concerted efforts at national, regional and international levels to create conducive environments for the development, deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society.

"In this context special attention should be paid to those countries that lack the capacity to effectively participate in the Information Society."

Nonguirma said Geoinformation was becoming known worldwide as an Information Development tool in the economy that has now become a critical factor of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, as well as the management of natural resources, labour, capital and entrepreneurship.

He explained that Geoinfromation was an advanced technology which has recently gained visibility particularly in developing countries and that in the information systems for Africa, it goes beyond the cover of priority areas such as environment monitoring, water resource management and optimal site planning of human development, and particularly industrialisation.

Nonguierma added that satellite remote sensing has become a common tool of investigation, prediction and forecast of environmental change and scenarios through the development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based models and decision support instruments that have further enhanced and considerably supported decision making as part of information development.

He also pointed out that the integration of multi-source geo-referenced spatial data within a real spatial database, allows a synergistic processing of a considerable amount of information, the standardisation of data and elaboration of digital maps that are the basis of decision making.

He explained that the geo information in economic development have influenced decision support systems strongly in evaluating alternatives to enhance decisions and to achieve specific objectives. He added that Geo information technologies enable the collection and processing of land related data efficiently, rapidly and cost effectively using global positioning systems, computer mapping, remote sensing and GIS making it possible to relate economic and development decisions to specific locations or markets.

He observed that today there is increased awareness of African governments and other sectors of society on importance of Geoinformation in socio-economic development as a tool to facilitate spatial data collection, access and use in the decision making process, both nationally and regularly, through a participatory approach. Emphasis is therefore placed on the whole structure for the acquisition, management and use of spatial data and not only on the technology.

He pointed out that the main geoinformation technology components consist of hard and sort wares. Global Positioning System (GPS), Total station, photogrammetric workstations, satellite imagery, and software packages that are capable of integrating spatial and non spatial data to yield the spatial information that is used in decision making. They are computer based equipment, procedures and techniques for manipulating spatial or map data.

He explained that the role of government was to provide basic infrastructure for achieving up to date Geoinformation on the nations land area, including these surface and bottom and the relative positions, nature and status of all her natural and marine resources. He advised governments to set up a national mapping agency, create national topographical databases and fund surveying and mapping in accordance with the United Nations? of which they are signatories, that each member nation should set aside 2% of its annual budget for surveying and mapping.

He pointed out that e-Government introduces applications to support various dimensions and ramifications of government and has the delivery of public services, where there is an online, Internet-based, or electronic aspect to the delivery of the services.

Challenges include a major imperative in each African country to deliver relevant information that could promote and sustain economic growth and wide dissemination of data to collect and help to facilitate better government as communities have access to location and getting involved in decisions affecting them.