A GIS-NSDI PROJECT ALLOWS DEPARTMENTS TO PRODUCE, SHARE AND ANALYZE DATA IN ORDER TO STREAMLINE PROCESSES.

The use of Geo-Spatial technology in the country’s development shows massive potential. It could provide, for example, a quicker response time from first responders; the ability for motorists to find faster or easier routes; more effective warning systems for natural disasters; and better planning for housing.

Christopher Williams, Technical Coordinator of Component Two of the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP) said this can be made possible with a Geographic Information System (GIS) and National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).

“The NSDI refers to all of the elements that allows persons to produce, share and analyze data,” he said. “This includes the usual components of NSDI—hardware, software, data, people and standards. Hardware consists of anything that we use: it could be a handheld GPS device, a phone, a laptop with software that displays maps. The software refers to the applications we use to access the geographic information and to collect geographic information.”

The GIS-NSDI project is a joint venture of the organisations Kadaster International and KU Leuven. The Government of Saint Lucia is responsible for design of the NSDI. Kadaster is a Land Registry and Mapping Agency from the Netherlands, while KU Leuven is a research facility from Belgium.

Marc Oljislaggers of Kadaster International said NSDI will facilitate data combining and sharing among all stakeholders, in some cases using drone images.

“One of the nice examples of this is for the drone images which are produced for the agricultural department. These images can also be used for the fire department and because they are high resolution, the fire department can see how they can access a building when there is a fire," he explained. "At this moment the fire department does not have direct access to these images. A spatial data infrastructure makes this possible. So, in the future all the departments will see areas flown by the drone and they will have direct access to these images.”

The public can view the technology in person, during the GIS-NSDI Showcase scheduled from Wednesday, Nov. 16 to Friday, Nov. 18 at the Baywalk Mall.