Sharon See Channel NewsAsia 13 Mar 10;
The Nature Society of Singapore is also using the platform to show where various types of wild birds can be found in Singapore, complete with information about the habitats.
SINGAPORE: The government on Wednesday launched a common map platform for public agencies to publish information and deliver map-based services.
Moreover, Law Minister K Shanmugam said OneMap can also be a platform for innovative applications by businesses and the general public.
OneMap is part of the larger "Singapore Geospatial Collaborative Environment" initiative driven by the Singapore Land Authority and the Infocomm Development Authority.
The initiative brings together multiple public agencies to establish common standards and policies, so that there can be greater sharing and usage of geospatial information among the public agencies.
Mr Shanmugam said it would not only make it more efficient but also increase the effectiveness of the public agencies' policy planning and operations, as well as in the delivery of services to the public.
"A local community can create say, its own "My Kampong" web portal," said K Shanmugam, Singapore’s Law and Second Home Affairs Minister.
"Using the OneMap platform, they can encourage residents to contribute information about the people, food, shops, recreation and landmarks in and around their community. They can even build on this information and create heritage or food trails in their own portal for use by residents or even tourists."
OneMap is an intelligent map system where users can look up services under six broad themes - Culture, Environment, Family and Community, Health, Recreation and Sports.
For instance, under the Health category, users can find updates on dengue clusters, while Recreation carries a list of wireless hotspots.
Another service offered under OneMap is SchoolQuery. Parents can use this service to find out if their homes are within one or two kilometres of a certain primary school.
The Nature Society of Singapore is also using the platform to show where various types of wild birds can be found in Singapore, complete with information about the habitats.
Several companies have also become OneMap pioneer users, using it to display search results for users of location-based services.
The service can be accessed at www.onemap.sg.
- CNA/sc/yb
Forget Google, check out OneMap
Plot out schools or find volunteer options with SLA's interactive map
Tan Weizhen, Straits Times 1 Apr 10;
OneMap can also help businesses choose where to set up shop with demographics from a certain area. -- PHOTO: LTA
CHOOSING which primary school to send your child to or looking out for volunteer activities close by just got easier, thanks to a new online interactive map.
The OneMap, launched yesterday by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), is touted as Singapore's very own version of Google Maps - but with a difference.
It includes content and services offered by 16 government agencies, going beyond basic information such as the location of popular services such as hotels and sports centres.
For example, a look at the latest dengue clusters islandwide is just a click of a mouse away, thanks to updates from the National Environment Agency (NEA).
Other agencies which are involved in the new initiative include the Singapore Tourism Board, National Heritage Board and Ministry of Law.
'We were looking for a common platform to deliver public information and services,' said Mr Ng Siau Yong, SLA's director of geospatial and land asset management services.
'People are very savvy and familiar with the usage of maps.'
Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam, who was the guest of honour at yesterday's launch, added that the map could help bring a community together.
He said: 'Using the OneMap platform, they can encourage residents to contribute information about the people, food, shops, recreation and landmarks in and around their community.'
An application which developers expect to be widely used is a Ministry of Education feature which allows anxious parents to plot out schools within a 1km-2km radius.
Parents who want to register their children at their chosen primary school usually get higher priority if they live within a 1km-2km radius from the school.
Those looking to help out with the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) can also expect an easier time when looking for opportunities near their homes or offices.
'They want what is convenient - what is nearest to them, and the latest activities - by date and by type. They can get it all on this map,' said Ms Jocelyn Ang, NVPC's manager of operations and portal administration.
This map could also be beneficial to tourists, as they could 'navigate' through Singapore to find out where the hotels, tourist attractions, theatres and even wireless hot spots are.
This new type of map does not just benefit individual users, but also businesses - OneMap will feature a new location intelligence service by popular interactive map service ShowNearby which helps businesses make decisions based on the type of demographics in a particular area of Singapore.
'A childcare centre may want to find an area with the most number of children up to nine years old, to set up shop. Businesses may also want to go for areas which have other complementary services. They can find out, using this tool on the map,' said Mr Douglas Gan, chief executive officer of ShowNearby.
OneMap is available online and also on all smartphones with browsers, said SLA. It is also open to private developers, and the developer kit is free.
Internet developers, users set to gain from OneMap
Business Times 1 Apr 10;
It's expected to spur flurry of location-based information applications, services, reports JASLENE PANG
DEVELOPERS and Internet users in Singapore are set to benefit from a new intelligent map information system that is expected to kick-start a flurry of location-based information applications and services.
Dubbed OneMap, this system is driven by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA).
Anyone can use OneMap for business, social, community and personal purposes for free, said Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam at the launch event yesterday.
OneMap took about a year to develop on a budget of $2.2 million, and is the first major application under a larger initiative called Singapore Geospatial Collaborative Environment (SG-Space). Sixteen government agencies are involved in providing data to the OneMap platform.
Powered by Web 2.0 technologies, OneMap aims to spur innovation among businesses and individuals by serving as a foundation on which public agencies, private and people sectors can use to create applications.
For instance, there is an application that lets parents easily survey which schools are within their vicinity, while another application lets individuals and organisations easily find out about public land ownership information.
'OneMap is an example of how the public sector continues to evolve in delivering services to the public in an era where 'facebooking' and 'crowd-sourcing' are daily occurrences,' Mr Shanmugam said.
The launch yesterday showcased several applications that tap on the platform.
One of them, the Ministry of Education's SchoolQuery application, promises to take a load off Singapore parents' mind. Available on the OneMap website, it lets parents survey schools which fall within a radius of one kilometre and 2km from their house, hence helping parents select the available schools for their children.
ShowNearby demonstrated its ShowNearby Analytics application. It packages information - including those gathered from the Singapore Department of Statistics - to let businesses and property buyers check out important investment information, such as demographics and nearby amenities.
'OneMap's structure provides consistent reliability and accuracy which enhances ShowNearby Analystics' capabilities to provide users with push-map accessibility to public amenities and facilities,' said Douglas Gan, chief executive officer and founder of ShowNearby. He added that the company had previously used Google Maps for this application but has now switched to OneMap.
DP Information Group is tapping OneMap for its business information and online marketing Web portals. MapKing showed a mobile application that guides mobile phone users to their destinations using an augmented reality technology. Other OneMap-powered applications included those from the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre and Quantum Inventions.
Mr Shanmugam said that there is a huge potential for the use of geospatial data by the private sector and the community. The term geospatial refers to the combination of spatial software and analytical methods with terrestrial or geographic datasets.
'OneMap is not intended to be the sole provider of geospatial information and services. It cannot be and should not be so,' Mr Shanmugam said. 'We have designed it to provide the basic platform which the public agencies and the private and people sectors can leverage to create their own applications, especially businesses and individuals.'
The public can also chip in to enhance the OneMap platform. For instance, residents can contribute information about the people, food, shops, recreation and landmarks in and around their community. They can even build on this information and create heritage or food trails in their own portals for use by residents and tourists.
To drum up awareness for the new platform, SLA will be launching a competition for business and communities to develop creative and innovative applications using OneMap soon.
'The OneMap portal and applications that you see today is only the start. There will be more public agencies coming on board to add new geospatial information and services,' Mr Shanmugam said.
