Philippines: Guimaras province in Philippines was amongst the top 20 poorest provinces of the country in May 1992 when it got full-fledged status of province. But, the large-scale GIS project such as ‘Real Property Tax Assessment’, worth approximately USD 638 000, completely changed the scenario, observed Governor of the province Felipe Hilan A. Nava.
According to Governor Nava, taxation system was one of the very first GIS projects of the province. It improved the taxation in the province by automating real property data and using aerial photos to establish land information as a basis of computing taxes.
Taking off from investing on a GIS-based real property tax assessment, the provincial government realised that GIS can be used in other government services. Henceforth, it brought about the investment on many other GIS applications on land-use planning, policing, environment management and public health among others.
One application that turned to be successful is on land use planning where the province created thematic maps to guide spatial analysis in determining the optimum utilisation of the land.
The province was able to provide GIS mapping services to municipal governments in crafting their own municipal land use plans that are spatially-integrated with the provincial plan. The resulting application paved the way for the formulation of land use policies that guided the development of the island-province.
Source: FutureGov
