The real value of digital cartography in Panamá - Geocensos english version more

The real value of digital cartography in Panamá (and most underdeveloped countries) Managing and producing territorial information for an underdeveloped country is neither a simple nor an economical task. When it comes to operations of national scope, such as the coverage for a census operation or homeland security, various resources and processes are needed; starting with satellite images and reference maps, their conversion according to needs including digitalization, the organization of outcomes in a geo database, the necessary software, hardware for processing and draft printing images, among many other considerations. It is a well known fact in these days that the Ministry of Public Works in Panama has hired the services of a private company to produce digital cartography in a nationwide coverage. Beyond the controversy of a bulky contract of 22 million dollars for the assignment, the occasion offers itself encouraging to discuss the true value of a map for the country. A "standard" estimate of the budget that this type of operation requires is somehow variable, depending on the volume of the generated geoinformation, the number, scale and quality of needed satellite images, the number of layers including diverse observations from fieldwork, staff affected to the field and many other variables. However, some clues can be found: a recent study funded by the Inter American Development Bank in Honduras - based on the 2010 census round of Central American and the Caribbean countries - estimates that to produce a sq Km of cartography in a census can cost between 50 U$ S and 150 U$ S. Of course, not all countries have the same census cartographic quality, nor their censuses have been successful in the same degree. The "unofficial"price of a satellite orthophoto per km2 is USD 30. Of course that there are many other variable costs depending on the situation of each country. Among other arguments, many believe that these figures are still too high. Skeptics argue that people with internet access have currently available abundant applications such as Google Earth, Bing or ARCGis.com and can use in this way geographical information free of charge. However, these web pages only allow the displaying of information, not its management or analysis. Additionally, these applications face a strong constraint about the quality and quantity of the layers of usable geo information. The most powerful advantage of Governments that have geographic integrated information systems is the possibility to handle thousands of variables on a same map, enabling them to take complex decisions. When Governments decide to invest in geo information technologies efficiently, its value exceeds several times the cost of its acquisition. The proper use of these technologies allows them to unify the management of key data for decision taking from ministries, organisations and agencies in such a way that all geographical data can be accessed from a single window of an articulated network of databases, clearly benefiting both investors and citizenship. Many countries are thus responding to the demand for a real "information society" and going further, offering open data in a context of enriched knowledge. In the panamenian case, the national Authority for Governmental Innovation (Spanish for Autoridad de Innovación Gubernamental, AIG) is developing an ambitious project for the integration of all geographical systems at local and national levels in a single system named GeoREd (Geo network, in English). This effort, saver and integrator of similar projects in several agencies, includes all stocks of hardware, software, networks and communications dedicated to geo information. These initiative includes the implementation of data centers and other services, such as the integration of geospatial data from different sources and the development of geographic portals, similar to Google Earth but with more precise information. Despite this promising project it is not certain that the national producers of geoinformation have sufficient local resources in order to ensure the implementation of what is called a real " spatial data infrastructure" or IDE. Resistance to implement these kinds of projects is generally based on the skepticism to overcome the traditional practice of many government officials to keep jealous custody of public information, in particular the geographical one. To achieve an efficient use of public information, geographical or not, it is necessary to learn how to share and make available the entire volume of generated data. In this way, officials will be willing to promote the value of good projects and may also be ready to take lessons from international experiences in this area. It will always be good also to know what neighboring and more developed countries are doing in this area. This will favor the foundation of a national system of reliable geographic information and will strengthen transparence in national institutions, ensuring at the same time a superior quality of the geographical information of the country and therefore territorial decisions. Copyright © 2012 - Javier Carranza Tresoldi - All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, or translation without written permission is prohibited. Todos los Derechos Reservados. Prohibida su reproducción total o parcial, así como su traducción a cualquier idioma sin autorización escrita de su titular.