Lagos gets N3 billion digital mapping project

I have been following the Lagos GIS project with keen interest. I could not almost believe it when I heard that Fashola’s administration was considering a serious investment in GIS, it sounded almost too good to be true.

I have always held the view that every state government in Nigeria owes its citizens the duty of moving away from those methods that limit possibilities to more innovative methods.

You could then understand why I had this rueful smile on my face when I read in Vanguard newspaper that the project had been launched, I told myself –with this project , Fashola had undoubtedly placed Lagos State on the shoulders of giants above other states in Nigeria.

Geographic Information System (GIS) is one powerful tool that can help place the government in the driving seat when it comes to understanding issues affecting citizens. GIS allows the government to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. Examples abound around the world about how developing countries like India, South Africa, Dubai, Singapore, China, etc have been able to transform their countries by using modern methodologies like location based technologies that produce results

Although I am excited I cannot help being concerned at the same time. I am particularly concerned about how this project would be deployed and managed so that it does not join the list of failed GIS projects implemented in the past by Lagos state. govt

There are so many private companies within Lagos State that would be interested in the map data from this project for their own operational use. Banks such as UBA are currently investing huge capital in geographic intelligence solutions. My company - Spatial Technologies Ltd (STL) recently completed a Business optimization solution powered by GIS for UBA PLC as part of a N9billion expansion project.

By making some aspects of the map data from the LAGIS available to the general public for a fee, private businesses like Banks, insurance companies, telecom, electricity companies, retailers and a host of other huge companies within the state will therefore benefit greatly from this project and could be encouraged to invest in it.

I believe that the project could turn into a huge commercial success when LAGIS supplies all the map data required by the private sector within the state.
The project would then be self sustaining, self-financing and could potentially eliminate the need for the mangers of LAGIS approaching the govt in the future with cap in hand begging for more operational fund

The most important factor is to ensure that LAGIS outlives even the coming administration. This model had worked successfully for Ordnance Survey (OS) –UK mapping agency. OS as a trade fund company is financially independent of the British govt. OS is run like a proper business with all the elements of a big successful company.

OS map database contains over 400million features updated very regularly. In addition to the usual technical experts producing the map data that the British govt and private companies depend on, OS also has several Sales and Marketing experts that engage with both govt agencies and private companies to further help them to leverage on what is now known as the most intelligent map data in the world.

OS makes over £110million (N2.5Billion) annually from the sales of its map data to both govt and private companies in UK.

It is therefore not surprising to know that OS recently celebrated its 220 years of operation

I have no doubt that the LAGIS will meet international standards in terms of positional accuracy and completeness judging by the calibre of map experts involved, however the state govt needs to look at a wider picture here especially on how to turn this project into a lasting legacy that other future administration of the state can building on without re-inventing the wheel.

Entrusting this N3billion (£120million) baby to the Lagos State Lands Bureau would be a great disaster!! It would simply go the way of previous failed GIS projects in Lagos State and we’ll be back at square one. The Lagos State Lands Bureau runs like a typical civil service with all the familiar red tapes, managed by civil servants who are used to depending on the govt for budgets and other operational funds. Getting them to manage LAGIS means they’ll be back for more budget in about 7years from now

I could not help but noticed that there is actually very little information on how the general public can have access to the data. What are the technical specifications of the data, how much will it cost, how is it priced anyway? How often will it be updated? Is there a website where GIS experts within the state can go to get more technical information about LAGIS and its map products data, or do we have to depend on the press to provide this level of details?

By rushing to the press to announce that LAGIS is operational without giving definite answers to questions like these in a wider context is a sign that the project is already showing classic symptoms of failure. Is there anything we have learned from previous failed GIS projects e.g. PIE. If the govt does not come up with the efective business use cases that will sell the project to the private sector, then I can predict that LAGIS will undergo a natural death in the next 10years or another administration will need to invest over N3billion again to start a fresh project.

One specific thing that the managers of the project can do to get the private sector to buy into it is to provide an online interactive access to the data allowing the public to play with the data, to evaluate the data and most importantly to appreciate the complexity modelled into the data. I am convinced that this will definitely excite the general public and will also give them that sense of belonging.

Again, it is important that this project runs as a profitable business entity –financially independent of the state govt. I am particularly interested in knowing the projected sales figure for LAGIS after year 1 of operation. If nobody is thinking of this, then we have started on a wrong foot.

I am therefore suggesting that the state govt needs to invite world-class reputable business consulting companies like KPMG, Accenture, etc to advice the government on how to market the project and turn it to a huge commercial success.