United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

In recent years, the emphasis on location-based information has been apparent as an increasing number of websites are using illustrations and maps to show their audiences where their organizations and related facilities are situated and how one might get there. Today many government agencies too are offering location-based information such as facilities and activities e.g. parks, museums, libraries etc on their portals. The widespread use of the Internet and the increasing popularity of online maps have led to greater demand for geographical information on public services, facilities and amenities. The way in which people search for information on the web has advanced such that major search providers like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft etc, are offering map-based applications for corporations and individuals to consume and incorporate on their websites. Government agencies have not been left behind and are also incorporating these on their websites for the public to search for facilities and amenities under their purview.

Currently there is no common map interface adopted by the various government agencies. One agency may be using maps provided by Google, another agency may be using maps provided by Microsoft, and another might be using maps drawn by their own staff. The way these maps are navigated and the way that information is searched also vary from agency to agency. As a result, the public have to re-learn the use and navigation of different map interfaces on different agency portals. In addition, different agencies tap on disparate spatial data sources or map providers. This presents a challenge in which the information delivered to the public may be inconsistent.

In the case of an emergency planning exercise, where various agencies come together to plan scenarios, a spatial approach is often used. Agencies present their layers of information and overlay it over a base-map. A common problem exists when one agency uses a different base map or projection system. When this happens the different layers from different agencies do not align when they are placed over a different base map. This creates confusion especially when roads run into buildings, or some agencies have more updated roads that others do not. It is a tactical disaster when this happens.

As more and more agencies plan to roll out location-based information on a map interface, there is a need to provide a consistent and common map platform and spatial database which can be used by all government agencies to deliver map based services and information to the public. In 2007, the Singapore Land Authority took the lead in delivering a comprehensive map platform for all agencies to share spatial data, and published them on a map portal named www.map.gov.sg and promoted it as the common platform for all government maps, such that any agency would be able to use the base maps for any location-based services that agency wanted to provide to its users.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Planned on a whole-of-government approach, www.map.gov.sg was developed as a common integrated map service for government agencies. Started as a pilot project by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), www.map.gov.sg provides a detailed “base map” that other agencies could use to mash up their own data and publish on their websites through the use of Application Programming Interface (API). These APIs are a set of functions where one can include in any webpage and they can be used to call spatial data from the SLA servers and display them on a map on the calling webpage. Tapping from a wealth of spatial information contributed by various government agencies, www.map.gov.sg provides the most up-to-date and authoritative information on public facilities and amenities. The benefits are: Central Storage It draws from a central spatial repository called the Land Data Hub, which is also managed by the SLA. The hub enables any agency to contribute spatial information such as road networks, demographic information, building outlines etc. The information is deemed as authoritative because it is published by the agency that owns the data. Common Projection System The hub acts as a central storage for this information and contains the base map surveyed using consistent national projection system. All Singapore government agencies were requested to comply with this projection system such that any information that is created from a Geographical Information System (GIS) using this projection system would automatically be aligned. Consistent Map Interface The base maps on www.map.gov.sg were created with visualization in mind, giving the maps a nicer look. This would appeal to users when they navigated the maps. Common search, panning and zooming features were provided as APIs such that users could easily take these maps and have them appear on their websites having the same user interface as the one found on www.map.gov.sg. Within the 1st year, the Ministry of Communication, Information and the Arts, Jurong Town Hall Corporation, Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Education, People’s Association, Singapore Sports Council and the Housing Development Board all incorporated the maps through the use of these APIs on their websites. Since the official launch of www.map.gov.sg, the number of monthly hits on the portal has risen from an initial 12 million to an average of 60 million over the last year, garnering a peak of 113 million hits in July 2008. This attests to the usefulness and popularity of the service to the public. This system was also used as a benchmark of comparison for the more popular map portals in Singapore in the local press.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
As the national spatial data and mapping authority, SLA conceptualized www.map.gov.sg as a pilot initiative to bring convenience to the public. The project was architected, designed, implemented and led by SLA. Upon the success, an improved map service would be further developed to support more comprehensive services. The new focus would be the provision of APIs for the public and private sector to tap on the rich collective resource of non-sensitive government spatial information. This would be supported by constant requests by other government agencies for a common mapping resource portal, the encouraging number of hits to the portal and the possibility of allowing businesses in the private sector to mash up their own content to create innovative solutions to engage the community. Together with the seven other participating agencies, namely National Parks Board (NParks), Sports Council (SSC), People’s Association (PA), Singapore Tourism Board (STB), National Arts Council (NAC), National Heritage Board (NHB), National Library Board (NLB), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and led by SLA, the map service is enhanced. The idea of this new map service concept was propagated across the civil service, and in the last year, briefings and presentations were shared to various government agencies to invite them to participate in this program. The main goal was to inform them of the upcoming initiative of the intelligent map system so that they could align their strategies with ours; to identify the potential spatial information that could be shared; to discover what types of spatial applications they were intending to build. Essentially it was an educational road show to the various agencies to get them to understand the importance of a central map base resource and that this was a whole-of-government approach to delivering more timely and accurate spatial information to the public at large.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
In essence, www.map.gov.sg supports and implements the vision of the Integrated Government (iGov2010) initiative in which the public sees the Singapore Government as one entity instead of many individual agencies. One of the strategic thrusts of the iGov2010 vision is to create synergy amongst government agencies by integrating front-end and back-end services, processes and infrastructure. This is to allow government agencies to pull together their resources, share the IT infrastructure and minimise cost. www.map.gov.sg leverages on the use of infocomm technologies to delight customers and connect citizens. To this end, www.map.gov.sg serves as a common integrated map service for government agencies and allows the Singapore Government to project a common and consistent map identity on various agencies websites, making it clearer, user-friendly and convenient for the public to relate to the various agencies’ information and services. By providing a common map platform for government agencies to consume government spatial information, SLA can also encourage all agencies to participate by not only consuming the data, but also contributing to the collective government spatial database. Any form of spatial data is welcome as long as it is authoritative and accurate. The agencies will still own this information and manage it accordingly, but also sharing it for other agencies to use. Non-sensitive information will also be shared among the public and businesses. This initiative will eventually support Singapore’s aim to create a national spatial data infrastructure by making a wealth of spatial content available for a wide variety of application for the public sector, private sector and the public.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
www.map.gov.sg was launched on 22nd November 2007 with 3 services – StreetMap@Singapore, LandQuery and Wireless@SG. StreetMap@Singapore is an online street map service that provides the public with location-based information such as the location of buildings and road names. This service enables the user to search for any address point on the map, by providing either address, postal code, the building or road name. LandQuery is a service which offers information on land ownership on a particular piece of land. If the land is privately-owned, the public may purchase additional detailed information on title and ownership information for that land. If the land is state-owned, the public may find out which government is responsible for that piece of land. This service is useful for the public contact the right agency to report on illegal dumping, mosquito breeding etc on state lands for fast response. The 3rd service, Wireless@SG was a collaborative effort between the InfoComm Development Authority (IDA) and SLA. This service provides a coverage map showing all the Wi-Fi hotspots and hot zones with free Wi-fi access in the vicinity of a given location. To date, three other services are also available, GreenMap from National Parks Board (NParks), land use MasterPlan 2008 from Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Public Transport Portal from the Land Transport Authority (LTA). www.map.gov.sg is evolving. New services are constantly added to increase the number of services offerings to the public. It is also SLA’s corporate goal to promote the use of government maps as well as the proliferation of the use of spatial data among the public and to encourage public agencies to develop useful services which serve public needs using www.map.gov.sg as a shared infrastructure. The roll-out was delivered in relatively short order after the concept was approved. There was a soft launch made in April 2007 with two services. This was used to ‘test the waters’. There were no major fanfare and news announcements made at the soft launch, but it was used to showcase the effectiveness of a map platform across government agencies. The portal showcased an electronic street directory which provided a comprehensive search of all address points, points of interest and street names. Users are able to search by address, building name, street name or postal code. This was deemed the most updated and detailed directory of road maps on the local press “My Paper on April 10 2008”, and used as a comparison among the most preferred local map websites. In November 2007, the official launch took place and this was covered in the press. In the following 9 months, the popularity of the website grew from 12 million hits to 113mil hits and it was also rated as the top 100,000 sites in the world in terms of traffic (source: alexa.com). The servers were upgraded to handle the excessive load to alleviate congestion to the website.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The implementation of www.map.gov.sg was not without its challenges. The main challenge was to obtain buy-in and participation from the various agencies. Extensive meetings with the agencies at senior level were conducted to explain the benefits of the shared infrastructure and their participation to meet the larger objectives of the iGov2010 initiative. Most agencies were slow to embrace the platform as it meant changes in their routine. Data would need to be prepared differently, timeliness and accuracy of the data had to of high priority in order to avoid public dispute. Some agencies had also engaged other 3rd party vendors to develop map applications for them, but they were not using government maps. They were reluctant to make the switch, as that would mean a lost in their investment of the current system. These were the main obstacles in the adoption of this new map platform. There exists other issues such as the business models differing from agency to agency. Some agencies required the data to be of absolute accuracy in terms of placement on the maps, some were simply using the information to display locations of facilities and strictly for visualisation, in which placements were approximate and priority was given to aesthetics. Other obstacles were technical in nature. Extensive in-house experimentation and research were carried out to develop an efficient process of publishing cartographically aesthetic maps using raw vector data. The research and development resulted in a new map making process that was recognised as innovative by the international community. For this, SLA was awarded an ESRI’s Special Achievement in Geographic Information System (GIS) Award in Jun 2007. Other innovations include a process which automatically updates the published maps on a weekly basis to ensure accurate and up-to-date information whenever the source database is updated. While SLA was updating its maps on a weekly basis, some participating agencies were updating their data monthly or quarterly. It was also a challenge to get other agencies to upload their updated content more frequently.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The portal was developed at a cost of S$500,000 and would require $200,000 annually to maintain. Human resources included external developers, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Map consultants, a project manager, and internally, IT consultants and business users. In addition, a web usability study was conducted to design the website for maximum user-friendliness so that users with minimum IT knowledge could use. The SLA Information Technology division has trained GIS professionals, which contributed to the IT management of the projects. They had experience from past implementation of GIS applications and were considered specialists in their field. Apart from the development of the system, the resource required to maintain the maps form a large component of the system. The business users also consist of staff who maintained the data within the spatial database. Their tasks are to keep the database as updated as possible. Any new information that arrived is meticulously drawn into the base maps. Authoritative information comes from a variety of government sources which allow the maps to be as comprehensive, current and accurate as possible. Effort is also put in to proliferate the use of SLA maps, whether it be APIs from the www.map.gov.sg portal or if it is licensed to 3rd party developers for their business needs. Presentations are given to agencies to educate them about the common map system.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
There are constant efforts to promote the use of www.map.gov.sg to other government agencies as a platform to create and offer new map services. From an initial offering of 2 from SLA, this number has grown steadily to the current 6, including 4 from other agencies. Many more agencies are using the maps to show location information of their facilities, for a start. URA has published the Master Plan 2008, the statutory land use plan which guides the country’s development over the next 10 to 15 years, on the portal, allowing the public to view detailed land use plans on a map. The LTA has gone a step further to use the StreetMap@Singapore as the “base map” to provide public users with convenient access to static and live public transport information all in a single website; interactive maps on how to get around in Singapore, bus services information and bus services route maps, as well as real-time bus arrival times. Customer needs are constantly evolving. Therefore continuous improvement is essential to remain relevant and responsive to the public. Despite the initial success of the portal, SLA is not resting on its laurels. Improvements are constantly being made to enhance the functionality and performance of the portal to better serve users. Through public feedback, the map generation process was further fine-tuned to enhance the user experience with more timely delivery of maps. The mapping trend is catching on and spreading like wildfire. Maps are no longer just for locating places. Maps are being created for just about anything nowadays. From tracking housing prices to finding the best food, the mapping trend is unlikely to go away anytime soon. Currently, www.map.gov.sg is funded and operated wholly by SLA. In the near future, APIs will be accessible by the private sector. This represents a golden opportunity for private companies to draw from the wealth of the government’s authoritative and comprehensive data to create many more useful and innovative commercial applications customized to users’ lifestyle needs and preferences.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The key success factor was having good buy-in and active participation from the various government agencies. While some agencies still maintain their current systems using a variety of maps, many agencies have indicated interest in coming onboard when the new and more flexible map platform is available. Significant effort was spent on communicating with the various agencies to convince them of the benefits of a shared infrastructure. Only with a shared vision to delight customers and connect citizens through the use of infocomm technology could the success of www.map.gov.sg be possible. This is testimony to the willingness and dedication of all the participating public agencies to provide a seamless service experience to users in order to achieve the greater national initiative of an Integrated Government. As the national mapping authority, the ability to provide detailed and up-to-date maps made a significant difference. Links with other agencies ensured that any changes could be quickly incorporated and delivered to the public in a timely manner – within a week. SLA’s long history and reputation of producing the official street map represented credibility and was a guarantee of quality. A picture is worth a thousand words. Presenting information on a map is often more effective in disseminating information than just relying on textual data. Data-sharing maps provide a dynamic and instantly understandable representation of what might be. Engaging the public in the government’s decision-making process became easier and more rewarding as a result, evident by public response to URA’s map-based Masterplan 2008. Finally, another key element of success is the fact that the objectives of www.map.gov.sg are well-aligned with SLA’s core values of Always Delighting Customers and Innovation and Dynamism. SLA’s deep commitment to the initiative meant detailed planning and careful implementation which contributed greatly to its success.


Institution Name:		Singapore Land Authority
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Ming Khai Lim
Title:		Head, Land Information Centre
Telephone/ Fax:		64783612
Institution's / Project's Website:		63239937
E-mail:		lim_ming_khai@sla.gov.sg
Address:		55 Newton Road, #12-01
Postal Code:		307987
City:		Singapore
State/Province:
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information