KUCHING, Oct 13: Land and Survey Department (LSD) Sarawak has been awarded the global technology giant Esri’s prestigious Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award for its innovative use of geospatial technology through the Electronic Land and Survey Information System (eLASIS) to implement smart government practices and solutions.
According to a media release today, LSD Sarawak was among three Malaysian organisations announced as winners at the world’s largest geospatial technology event, the Esri User Conference, in San Diego, California recently.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and members of a Sarawak delegation including Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Len Talif Salleh received the SAG Award from Esri co-founder and president Jack Dangermond.
The two other Malaysian organisations were Sime Darby Plantation Research Sdn Bhd and Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP).
Annually presented to selected organisations handpicked from over 300,000 candidates worldwide, the SAG Awards recognises projects which offer sustainable solutions to real-world challenges using Esri’s world-leading Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.
LSD Sarawak was celebrated for its use of GIS in eLASIS, a digital platform which serves as a ‘virtual office’ for land management and administration.
The integration of GIS enables users to digitally view multiple layers of real-time information and 3D-rendered geospatial data on a particular plot of land, negating the need for physical site visits.
With eLASIS in place, planning workflows across the department are far more efficient, and both the public and private sectors can make smarter decisions around land management and land-use planning.
As for MBIP, it is the first local government in Malaysia to receive the SAG Award for its Dashboard SISPAA (Public Complaints Management System) development. The GIS-enabled dashboard displays geo-insights from an existing centralised complaint management portal.
All inbound complaints are collated and visualised in real-time and by locality. By better understanding locations and clusters, Dashboard SISPAA enables government resources to be deployed more efficiently, resolving citizen complaints faster.
Sime Darby Plantation Research Sdn Bhd received the award for its web and mobile-based application Spatial Data Management and Rapid Analytics (SMART) which is used to monitor the varied stages of palm oil production.
From plantation to mill, SMART captures and geo-locates real-time imagery of multiple production sites. Besides enabling easier identification of problem areas like hotspots, fires, or pest outbreaks, SMART also streamlines communication for seamless operational workflows and increased productivity.
Esri Malaysia’s chief executive officer CS Tan emphasised that the achievements of these organisations set an outstanding example for those across Malaysia looking to build resilience by digitally transforming their operations – making the most of their valuable data resources.
“World-over, we see the most progressive governments and commercial enterprises using GIS and location analytics to foster a heightened level of resilience.
“It makes us incredibly proud to work alongside organisations that embrace this forward-thinking mindset and who are setting new technological precedents throughout the region,” he said in the statement.
As part of Esri’s global network spanning 400,000 clients across 150 countries, Esri Malaysia aims to continue working alongside like-minded organisations to ensure they can harness the full potential of geospatial thinking. — DayakDaily
