Integration of GIS and e-Government in Kuwait
Research Topic and Importance
This research revolves around the technological and information integration between GIS and e-Government. The importance of this research is indicated in the following points:
- The great distance between GIS and e-Government especially in Arab countries despite the presence of common aspects such as databases, information technology, operational systems, and computer technology.
- The spread slowness in executing the e-Government project in many Arab countries due to the lack of information and spatial infrastructure that contribute in accomplishing the e-Government project since it is a service systems that need spatial connection for different service patterns and its relation to other factors such as population, resources, housing, and others.
- The success of a number of Arab countries in establishing GIS, however, there are some obstacles the hinder the benefit flexibility because of the lack of data communication mechanism among different authorities due to its dependence on traditional systems.
- The success of a number of non-Arab countries in accomplishing integration between both technologies due to technological agreement between them and the need of people of flexibility in dealing and civilization in communication. In addition, the people’s awareness level is increasing when dealing with information technology especially the internet; therefore, it is necessary that Arab countries follow applicable and technological levels so that they reach civilization and development.
Study Methodology
The study depends on the descriptive approach and the comparative analytical approach for a number of applied systems to integrate between both GIS technology and e-Government, reflecting its advantages and disadvantages, presenting an applied model to deal with disadvantages, and making full benefit of international models.
Discussion and Analysis
First: reasons of integration between GIS and e-Government technologies:
Integration is the dependence of each technology on the other to fill in any shortages in data or reach flexibility in data processing. If the e-Government task is to set bi-communication networks among governmental and private authorities and citizens to process administrative and service data and to do the daily correspondences, the task of GIS is to provide spatial databases to all the state’s natural, human, and economical resources needed by the different service systems in the e-Government. This is to provide services that go in line with its real not default spatial properties which will facilitate a direct benefit for the citizen and supports national projects decision makers. In other words, if the above two tasks were gathered, we will have what is called Integrated GIS or Open GIS.
Integration purposes can be elaborated as follows:
- The Geographic Location represents the natural spatial reference of the areas in which the natural, human and economic resources that form the backbone in GIS and that is needed by e-Government systems especially the services systems.
- The geographical location has an important function in prompting Public Information Databases as one of the e-Government requirements. It is called in this field the Geographical Address.
- The integration process among public databases and among administrative systems an important requirement of the e-Government systems.
- The Spatial Information represents the success key for the e-Government due to its role in supporting methods of gathering field data through communication channels in the e-Government.
- If the e-Government systems included the geographical locations of commercial malls and public service centres with their coverage areas, it becomes easy to present commercial and other services in a way that agrees with the reality and reaches the sought benefits.
Second: Integration patterns between both technologies
Integration between both technologies differs from one country to another. Some technologies follow State-wide Integrated GIS and e-Government, and the German model which depends Open-GIS Web Services that represents an applied model for all electronic services in Real Estate. The model has been applied in Munich to serve all users in Germany. The Province-wide Integrated GIS and e-Government is like the Finnish model which focuses on applying integration between the GIS and e-Government in Kouvola province in south east Finland. Some are still limited in ambition and operate on one level in the state especially Municipality Integrated GIS and e-Government which displays a personal and distinguished effort in Kuwait Municipality for Parcels Information Systems in the form of a service page for citizens so that they can refer for information regarding their real estate properties, obtaining ownership certificate and other related data automatically and from any place without a need to refer to the municipality. Another model of a limited cooperating authorities is the Applied Circle Integrated GIS and e-Government among which the model of Los Angeles city in the State of California. It is a model of cooperation between the Traffic Department and the City Municipality since it offers Real-time Traffic Maps along with citizens’ services concerning all city affairs such as electricity, telephones, delivery services, security services, and others.
While we anticipate to have the first model in the Arab World and even more to reach a new pattern that can be called Arab Integrated GIS and e-Government to include all the natural, human, and economic resources, besides public services and daily correspondences systems, it is clear that the second and third patterns are the most common in Arab countries that accomplished giant steps in the field of e-Government and GIS.
In studying the different patterns, their differences can be concluded based on the following criteria:
- The availability of spatial data infrastructure.
- The degree of coordination among governmental authorities.
- The degree of coordination between governmental authorities and the private sector.
- The technical standard of the private sector in the field of both technologies.
- Clear vision and future requirements.
- Nature of dealing with decision makers.
Third: integration mechanism between both technologies:
Some might wonder about the starting point of integration? Should GIS start first, and then they are followed by the e-Government? Which is considered a part of the other? And when integration is complete, what should it be called? Is there a name that can join both technologies in an integrated image while reflecting their roles?
- All these questions and more can form the bases for integration mechanism between both technologies. Ahnon (2004) confirms that governmental firms that succeeded in establishing geographical information system are closer than other firms to accomplishing the e-Government project. In other words, he believes that the geographical information system comes first, and then the e-Government can be accomplished. This is true because geographical information systems are service systems that provide the spatial information infrastructure needed by all the different governmental services. Teege (2004) clarifies that both the geographical information system and the e-Government system are to be designed in parallel so that each system considers the other system’s requirements during designing phase, and when they integrate in providing the sought services. He views the geographical information system as the blood bank and e-Government is the blood circulation that benefit from the contents of the blood bank to spread it all over the body. If the blood circulation stops, which is the e-Government in this case, the blood bank will be useless.
- It is noticed that both technologies go in line from the start since the e-Government represent an executive mechanism to facilitate all the state’s affairs especially services. This cannot be reached with dependence on the spatial information infrastructure provided by geographical information systems. Therefore, the e-Government must not be limited on administrative operational systems of the state, but it must go further to connect all functional and operational services in both time and place factors so that it provides citizens what is called Total e-Government through Web-enabled Services.
Hence, the ideal mechanism between both the geographical information system and the e-Government can be explained as follows:
- Preparing a spatial database that include all human, natural, and economic resources in the country which depend on a National Data Directory, Unified Geographical Coordinates, and Geocoding of different Spatial Phenomena through Local Addressing.
- Setting a mechanism for information upgrading that agrees with different majors so that each department upgrades its spatial information related to its tasks depending on the Data Directory.
- Providing a Real-Time Communication Network between the Spatial Information Databases and other authorities to facilitate spatial information databases and allow continuous upgrading of data.
- Designing Ministry Homepage for each ministry that include administrative, service, and daily correspondences systems among governmental authorities to merge linking functions for these subsystems to be linked with spatial information databases. For example, real estate record system must include not only descriptive data such as name of owner, land area, registration date, and etc. but it must include spatial linkage of the property so that near by properties can be inquired, nature of usage, and similar properties in terms of specifications and contents.
- Setting constant web-pages for all authorities on highly efficient servers so that it will not get slow or might stop working due to the high number of users in peak times. Such web-pages are to be Citizen-Friendly Access Web Services.
It is clear that the services offered by the geographical information systems for the e-Government focus on providing a reliable, accurate, and up to date spatial information databases that goes along with different applications in the state.
Fourth: the current status of integration between the e-Government project and the National GIS Centre in the State of Kuwait.
The State of Kuwait is not different from most of the other Arab countries which are keen to reach e-Government status. Many high decrees have been issued regarding establishing a central executive body of the e-Government project in the early 2001. Many national awareness debates and conferences have been held directed to both governmental authorities and the private sector based on different fields, how far it is useful, some were allocated for the educational system of the country, and other were allocated to make through integration and cooperation channels between both the government and private sectors.
However, the real accomplishments were made by many governmental authorities on individual basis to reach the e-Government, especially in providing services. One of the most important ministries in this field is the Ministry of Interior, Public Authority of Civil Information, and Kuwait Municipality, while other authorities are still revolving around the real starting point.
Although there are three authorities that applied e-Government on different levels, the authority that makes good use of the geographical information system and accompanied databases is the Information Systems department at Kuwait Municipality represented in the plot system which joins the mechanism of the e-Government, the nature of the provided services for citizens, the mechanism of the geographical information system in the form of spatial information databases of plots along with printing of maps and answering inquiries. In addition, there is a comprehensive and public system that provides touristic information about the State of Kuwait, its civil and modern aspects by depending of public geographical maps through the small legend and the limitedness of spatial details.