Questions/Answers
Question 1
Please provide a brief summary of the initiative including the problems/challenges it addressed and the solutions that the initiative introduced (300 words maximum)
Penang is a state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Strait of Malacca. It is the second smallest Malaysian state by land mass of 1,048 sq km (405 sq mi). In spite of its tiny size, it has one of the largest economies among the states of Malaysia. With a population of 1.72 million, GDP growth of 5.5%, it is one of the major economic powerhouses of Malaysia. As an island with limited land and potential area for development, planning and development is very crucial and have to be done properly and in a smarter way. To support a smart planning and development, accurate and reliable data from a valid source is very critical.
Penang Geographic Information System Centre (PeGIS) was established in 1992, to lead collaboration and sharing of geospatial information from and with various government department and agencies and also private sector in Penang. PeGIS holds an important role of establishing the state geospatial framework and roadmap in Smart Mapping and serve as the State Geospatial Hub, known as PENANG GIS, especially in planning, implementation and monitoring of the state social & economic development projects. Apart from development and planning, conservation and preservation is also part of Penang vision and Penang GIS has become a tool to support both area.
More than 800 users from 40 government department, agencies and public citizen; sharing, creating, and using geospatial information in their day-to-day activities. Penang GIS received more than 5000 hits per month and now serve as the main and mission critical geospatial hub in Penang. At present there are more than 500 layers of geospatial information from various sectors stored and maintained in the Penang GIS database. Data is updated periodically and regularly by the department involved and by dedicated PeGIS team. Data is then disseminated and published through various applications that have been specifically designed for the use of departments as well as public at large.
a. What are the overall objectives of the initiative?
Please describe the overall objectives of the initiative (200 words maximum)
Penang GIS promotes collaborative partnership and data sharing for sustainable development. especially in planning, implementation and monitoring of the state social & economic development projects, conserving and preserving heritage dan nature, mobilise resources to the right place at the right time, and effectively support existing social development projects. All kind of parties including government departments, agencies and private sector involves in this smart partnership.
b. How does the initiative fit within the selected category?
Please describe how the initiative is linked to the criteria of the category (200 words maximum)
Data shared through this initiative are collected from various sources such as government department and agency, private sector and public and community. These data are used by various departments and agencies in it’s operational and decision-making process.
Question 2
The initiative should improve people’s lives, notably by enhancing the contribution of public services to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the realization of the SDGs
a. Please explain how the initiative improves the delivery of public services (200 words maximum)
Penang GIS improves the delivery of public services by :
a. Cost savings – Sharing of data reduces duplication and redundancy of data collection.
b. Time savings - Information can be accessed and disseminate easily through multiple devices at any time.
c. Decision making process is more accurate, easy and fast with diverse data utilization from multiple sources;
d. The projects provide users convenience, especially departments and technical agencies to get and use geospatial information faster and easier;
e. Save government departments and agencies in terms of procurement of geographic information system (GIS) software;
f. Enhanced data sharing and service collaboration among government departments and agencies thus eliminate duplication of data collection;
Question 3
The initiative must impact positively a group or groups of the population (i.e. children, women, elderly, people with disability, etc) and address a significant issue of public service delivery within the context of a given country or region.
a. Please explain how the initiative has addressed a significant issue related to the delivery of public services (200 words maximum)
Part of data collected are childcare center, parking for disable and care center for elderly.
a. For children, parent will be able to identify the best center for their kid.
b. For elderly, nearest care center will be identified easily
c. Parking for disable helps disable person to identify the nearest parking available for them and also will help the government to identify the best location that is need to create more services
b. Please explain how the initiative has impacted positively a group or groups of the population within the context of your country or region (200 words maximum)
The initiative helps decision makers and government to provide a better planning and a better living including to the above mentioned group
Question 4
The initiative must present an innovative idea, a distinctively new approach, or a unique policy or approach implemented in order to realize the SDGs in the context of a given country or region.
a. Please explain in which way the initiative is innovative in the context of your country or region (200 words maximum)
Penang is the first state in Malaysia to develop and implement a state-wide geospatial data program. As the second smallest state in Malaysia, land is very scarce and needs to be managed in such a way as to ensure that the resources can be used optimally and sustainably. The use of geospatial data and geographic information systems technology helps the state government achieve these objectives. Various data collected are shared for common use. This data is used to design, plan and implement physical and social development program as well as to conserve natural resources such as forests and hill land, beaches, heritage areas and water resources.
Question 4b
b. Please describe if the innovation is original or if it is an adaptation from other contexts (If it is known)? (200 words maximum)
This initiative is base on request from all level of users, stake holder, department, private and also public
Question 4c
c. What resources (i.e. financial, human , material or other resources, etc) were used to implement the initiative? (200 words maximum)
To implement this initiative, the state government has allocated budget to finance the operation and development of this program. On average, an amount of USD205,120.00 per anum was allocated to finance PeGIS operating budget which include staff emoluments, operations and maintenance of software and equipment. In addition, public, communities, non-governmental organizations, human resources in the departments and agencies involved also contribute to make initiative sucesfull.
Question 5
The initiative should be adaptable to other contexts (e.g. other cities, countries or regions). There may already be evidence that it has inspired similar innovations in other public-sector institutions within a given country, region or at the global level.
a. Has the initiative been transferred to other contexts?
Yes
Penang GIS has become a benchmark for other states in developing such programs. As a leader in this field at the state level, PeGIS was selected by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) as the GIS Center of Excellence for State Government in Malaysia. This selection makes PeGIS a reference site for the development of GIS. Other states in Malaysia such as State of Selangor (Darul Ehsan GIS – DEGIS), State of Perak (Perak GIS), State of Negeri Sembilan (GIS-9) and State of Johor (GeoJohor) to name a few, make PeGIS as a model in the development and implementation of state geospatial program.
Question 6
The initiative should be able to be sustained over a significant period of time.
a. Please describe whether and how the initiative is sustainable (covering the social, economic and environmental aspects) (300 words maximum)
Penang, as an island with limited land and potential area for development, Penang GIS serve as the main and mission critical Geospatial Hub in Penang, provides actionable information in planning for a sustainable future. GIS technology plays a bigger role in smart planning, development, preservation and conservation. Collaboration and data sharing helps stake holder and user get geospatial data as and when it is needed. Data custodians from various departments, agency and private sector will assure that data within their jurisdiction is up-to-date.
b. Please describe whether and how the initiative is sustainable in terms of durability in time (300 words maximum)
Since the starting of this project, number of users has increase, Same goes to number of request and partnership. GIS has become part of any project in Penang. Number of data also increase which makes this initiative is the main and critical to Penang
Question 7
The initiative should have gone through a formal evaluation, showing some evidence of impact on improving people’s lives.
a. Has the initiative been formally evaluated?
No
Question 8
The initiative must demonstrate that it has engaged various actors such as from other institutions, civil society, or the private sector, when possible.
a. The 2030 Development Agenda puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, coordination, partnerships, and inclusion. Please describe what stakeholders were engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative. Please also highlight their roles and contributions (300 words maximum)
Planning of GIS project is defined in ICT Strategic Planning (ISP) 2010-2015 and ICT Strategic Planning (ISP) 2016-2020. Workshops with stake holder and users were conducted in order to come out with 5 years planning for ICT and GIS project. Apart from that, all ICT and GIS project have to be presented in Electronic Good Governance Committee, chaired by Penang State Secretary and all head department in Penang as members. This committee will monitor the progress of each project and impact and outcome of the project.
Question 9
a. Please describe the key lessons learned, and any view you have on how to further improve the initiative (200 words maximum)
Collaboration and data sharing is one of the crucial part in this new era. Silo mentality will lead to failure. Promoting smart partnership and data sharing is a must to ensure a sustainable future. In order to improve further, public engagement is one of the area that has to be taken into consideration and Penang GIS is moving towards that