Keith Clifford Bell The World Bank - East Asia and the Pacific Region WASHINGTON D.C., USA

1. The Spatially Enabled Society Versus the Spatially Dependent Society: What Can We Afford and What Risk is Acceptable? Keith Clifford Bell The World Bank - East Asia and the Pacific Region WASHINGTON D.C., USA June 22, 2011 11th South East Asian Survey Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2. Outline of Presentation • What do we mean by Spatially Enabled Society • Issues and Concerns • Risks • Considerations for Land Professionals and Government • Conclusions

3. Spatially Enabled Society A DEFINITION: Spatially Enabled Society is the evolving concept where location, place and geospatial information provide the primary means for governments, business, communities, families and individuals to conduct their affairs and lead their lives. AGREED: Spatial enablement has enormous potential to reform and revolutionize the ways governments do business and engage with society, and also for the private sector to deliver services and for community engagement. BUT: There is alarmingly escalation of risk exposure, as societies become too dependent on geospatial technologies and complacent about the operation and integrity of these systems.

4. GPS: No Substitute For Brains http://blog.cardomain.com/2008/01/03/gps-no-substitu/ GPS: No Substitute For Brains: January 3, 2008 “…….But while the new systems are really accurate, they aren’t autopilot devices, and they will expect you pay attention to the road. Unfortunately, California computer consultant Bai Bo was mistaken about the capabilities of his GPS, and followed its directions straight into the path of a speeding locomotive. Bo’s car was destroyed in the subsequent collision, but he did manage to escape with his life. The state of his pride has not be released.”

5. “Hammers and Nails -Some Pragmatic Views of the Spatial Information Industry” FIG 2010 – a refreshingly, frank and candid paper, Bruce Douglas: “Spatial technology has been used by a number of government agencies for many years – but has it helped them meet their business goals, or has it been an over-rated and over-priced technology that has not delivered on promises of better management of assets, improvement in customer service and assistance to meet business goals?  In this technology-led industry, does a schism exist between users, particularly government, and technology providers? Have the major government agencies really embraced spatial technologies and achieved the benefits, or is the technology all just hyperbole?” “But because the spatial industry has a lot of really great and sexy looking tools, and because the industry is largely vendor-driven, a lot of people focus on the technology issues and forget about addressing the really “hard bits” that will make GIS successful. That is, the focus is on the hammers again with the assumption that everything else is a nail, whereas in fact this completely misses the point.”

6. What We Already Know? • Satellite positioning system failures have led to a growing stream of transportation-related disasters & tragedies. • The reliability of data, of unverified data, being used & merged with data from traditional sources such as national mapping agencies is being degraded. • Decades of experience with spatial data truth-in-labeling, spatial accuracy & precision, interoperability of data & systems, calibration or legal traceability of measurement, coordinate systems & datums, are often not considered, in the mistaken belief that the technology is just now so reliable and the GPS-enabled cell phone can do everything. • The earth is not flat and we live on a spheroidal earth. Do people understand the difference? • The cadastre has a much broader definition than spatial. Coordinates carry the least weight of legal evidence.

7. Some Key Concerns • Many institutions including governments, universities, international development & even professional bodies often blindly advocate geospatial investment in the belief that the technology is bullet-proof, & technical experts are now less important. • Good governance is being increasingly undermined through poor decision-making and/or manipulation and misrepresentation of the data. • Public safety, the environment & national security are being increasingly endangered • Public funds are being sub-optimally used or even wasted!

8. Risks of Spatial Dependence • Systems failures and outages • Security of systems • Reliability of unverified data from Crowd-sourcing • Failure to calibrate geospatial investments against specific country/state requirements, including capacity & sustainability • Over-engineered geospatial solutions that are not fit for purpose • Seduction by the Gee Whiz Hype leading to poor investment decisions • Sustainability • Human error • Down right stupidity • De-regulation of land surveyors and/or surveying standards • Professional turf protection

9. Googling on Spatially Enabled Accidents and Errors • GPS error – motor vehicle accidents - > 4 million hits • Motor vehicle collisions with trains – due to following In car GPS navigation directions – hundreds of hits from many countries • GPS error Shipping accidents - >16.5 million • GPS error Aviation accidents - >400,000 hits • GPS navigation error - > 6.3 million hits • Wrong target identification - > 700,000 hits

10. Cannot see any risk to spatial enablement?

11. For Surveyors, Spatial Information Scientists& Land-related Professionals • Professional engagement should be based on the prudent and balanced application of new technologies and appropriate levels of spatial accuracies. • Over-engineered data bases, requiring unnecessary data fields and unnecessary high levels of spatial accuracy, are costly to develop and maintain. • These professionals must also recognize the broader social, cultural, political, economic and financial factors that shape the cadastres– not highly accurate coordinates. • The focus of thinking and investment should be on good governance and completeness, reliability, fitness-for-use and cost-effectiveness of land-related data rather than spatial accuracy

12. For GovernmentRegulators • The focus of the cadastre should be on good governance and completeness, reliability, fitness-for-use and cost-effectiveness of land-related data rather than spatial accuracy. • The accuracy of surveys must be fit-for-purpose • Cadastral systems can be incrementally upgraded as required over time • Investments need to be calibrated for the specific country/state requirements, including capacity, budget & sustainability.

13. Conclusions • Spatial Enablement has enormous potential to reform and revolutionize government & society. • An alarming level of risk exposure as we become too dependent on the technology and complacent about the operation & integrity of the systems. • Spatial cognizance is something we develop as children - Let’s not lose those basic skills through spatial over-dependence. • Focus on fitness-for-purpose of spatial technologies and accuracy of outputs. • What can we afford – depends on country’s economic status – High, Medium or Low • Good governance and peoples’ rights and well-being should not be acceptable risks. Terima kasih!

14. The End Terima kasih!