BY : Igihe.com Reporter
Rwanda’s land registrar Dr William Nkurunziza has said the use of Geographic Information System(GIS) that provide geo-solutions needs to be privatized.
Nkurunziza said there is an untapped opportunity for businesses in geo-solutions that needs to be explored.
According to Nkurunziza Geo-solutions or geographic information system (GIS) products don’t have to be provided by the government.
Nkurunziza says the National Land Center which has been renamed to Rwanda Natural resources Authority is looking at how an entrepreneur element can be added to potential GIS expected business personalities.
“For me I see a lot of business potential in geo-solutions, here we get extremely high demands for maps of all kinds everybody wanting to carry out a project comes here, so they overwhelm us despite the other work we have every day,” he added.
He said that visitors to his office needing maps of all sorts like those carry out projects after winning tenders, others from energy sector for hydro power scheme, road constructors and from security.
“Sometimes we tell them we are giving you the information but we are not a commercial entity that will do the printing of these large format maps, people out there should be able to do this and sell the Geo-information,” Nkurunziza emphasized.
Nkurunziza noted that several meetings await and a first meeting scheduled August with a Netherlands based geo-service company to see how Geo-solutions can be taken away from the public sector for private entities.
Previously, Rwanda introduced GIS to help in land demarcation and registration that was also seen as away of solving land wrangles.
He said GIS should be seen beyond land registration process currently in Rwanda, but as a strong tool in a spatial analysis where it helps in decision-making because it can easily show location of schools, hospitals,thus helpful in urban planning.
In cases of any epidemics and pandemic outbreak, Nkurunziza said it can also indicate and map which area the outbreak is most susceptible.
“For me much as we are using it, I am really hoping that it’s a tool that can be taken on by all sectors, basically every sector needs it,” Nkurunziza emphasised.
Mid July, the National Land Center before changing to Rwanda Natural Resources Authority received a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award at the ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, California.
The award acknowledged vision, leadership, hard work, and innovative use of geographic information system (GIS) technology.
The National Land Use Master plan developed using GIS spatial analysis capabilities will ensure rational and optimal use of land across the country.
Organizations from around the world honored for outstanding achievement in GIS use span industries including agriculture, defense and intelligence, economic development, education, health and human services, and utilities.
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