Prospect of GIS in Nigeria.

Background Information.

Nigeria Road Network Map

Facts Nigeria has approximately 194,000 kilometers of existing road, the shocking revelation is not more than 40% of the roads have been mapped by different institution put together.
Although different components of the society are yet to be mapped in Nigeria, the road according to research proved to be the most important to start with.

confidential (under development)

Geographic Information System (GIS) Imagine a society where a tool describes accurately what is happening and also predicts what will happen in a geographic space. Imagine a technology for making better decisions about location. Common examples include real estate site selection, route/corridor selection, evacuation planning, conservation, natural resource extraction, etc. Imagine a system that saves 10 to 50 percent in operational cost, reduce expenses through reduction in fuel use and staff time, improved customer service, and more efficient scheduling. The good news is we don't have to subject our imagination to distant future where science fictions make things possible. The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a paradisiacal tool that turns all imagination to reality. Economic slowdowns in Nigeria are forcing organizations to rethink how they operate. Many are realizing they need to find a way to do business smarter using in-house resources. Now is the time to invest in GIS, a solution that has helped many organizations around the world overcome their operational challenges and deliver improved profitability. Retailers, insurers, asset managers, and others seeking to understand markets better than ever before find that GIS assists in many ways: marketing, optimizing business openings and closings, segmenting consumer data, and managing fleets. GIS can visualize, manage, and analyze any business asset (employees, customers, and facilities, all the way to the supply chain network) because it has a place in the world.

Problem Statement The bedrock of any meaningful planning as an Individual, Organization or Nation is to have a fore knowledge of the situation (in form of basic information), in other words no Nation or individual can plan properly without a form of Data. The questions are; Do we have any base data in Nigeria? If we do, how current is it, how effective/efficient do we put the data to use in Nigeria? Do we have a robust GIS to feed the data with? Without mincing words the answers to the above is NO. What we have currently in the country can only be likened to automation of map production by pockets of governmental and non government organization.

confidential (under development)

A nation with a growing population of about 160 million people should have a robust GIS database on which planning and all other environmental development can be built. Opportunities Although the government of Nigeria is not investing heavily in GIS like other economies of the world, the chances are high that private or non-governmental organization that goes into massive data development and acquisition programs in Nigeria (using international best practice) will have value for investment. Not only will such position herself for the inevitable, there are also lots of opportunities to recoup back money on investment through; collection of royalties (on products), direct sales of product (to user agencies) and deployment of bespoke solutions to Industries.

Mappable components 1 Street Network (Vector Data): A Street network data is a map of a town or city, showing the positions and names of all the streets as well as the Points of interests (POIs) / landmarks.

Street Network Overlaid on Satellite imagery

confidential (under development)

Clutter Data (Vector or Raster Data): Also referred to as Landuse/landcover map. This generally refers to the categorization or classification of human activities and natural elements on the landscape within a specific time frame based on established scientific and statistical methods of analysis of appropriate source materials e.g.

Urban, Residential, way in state/federal

Commercial, Industrial e.t.c. and this classification goes a long planning (taxation inclusive), NGOs, social co-operate

responsibility from the private sector amongst other things

landuse map overlaid with road network data

Digital Terrain Model (DTM) data: Digital Terrain Model is a topographic model of the bare earth terrain relief - that can be manipulated by computer programs. The data files contain the spatial elevation data of the terrain in a digital format which usually

confidential (under development)

presented as a rectangular grid. Vegetation, buildings and other man-made (artificial) features are removed digitally - leaving just the underlying terrain.

Other Social Mappable Components Map Where Things Are Mapping where things are lets you find places that have the features you're looking for and to see patterns. Map Quantities People map quantities to find places that meet their criteria and take action. A children's clothing company might want to find Cities/LGA(s) with many young families with relatively high income. Public health officials might want to map the numbers of physicians per 1,000 people in each census tract to identify which areas are adequately served, and which are not.

Map Densities A density map lets you measure the number of features using a uniform real unit so you can clearly see the distribution. This is especially useful when mapping areas, such as census area or LGAs, which vary greatly in size. On maps showing the number of people per census area, the larger area might have more people than smaller ones. But some smaller area might have more people per square milea higher density. Find What's Inside Use GIS to monitor what's happening and to take specific action by mapping what's inside a specific area. For example, a state attorney would monitor drug-related arrests to find out if an arrest is within 1,000 feet of a school--if so, stiffer penalties apply. Find What's Nearby GIS can help you find out what's occurring within a set distance of a feature by mapping what's nearby.

confidential (under development)

Map Change (Change Detection) Map the change in an area to anticipate future conditions, decide on a course of action, or to evaluate the results of an action or policy. By mapping where and how things move over a period of time, you can gain insight into how they behave. For example, Lekki, Epe axis, wasnt so developed about 1-2 decades ago, but its developed & government can plan/make projections, for another 2 decade, same with the sporadic development taking place in ikorodu, Mowe-Ibafo axis, in 10-20 yrs, it will wear a different look.

Businesses that stand to benefit from GIS Health Industry Energy and Utility Industry Tourism Industry Telco Industry Agricultural Industry Advertisement Industry Disaster Management Industry Insurance and Asset Management Industry Real Estate Financial Industry

Health Industry GIS has emerged as an important component in facilitation of many projects in the domain of health. The application of GIS in the health sector has risen in prominence due to the fact that health surveillance practices and health service allocations have become more sensitive to the need of the people. GIS helps to determine prevalence of diseases and availability of health facilities to such areas

Energy and Utility Industry Utility and energy are two domains, which have now emerged as the nerve centre of nations. The effective management of such domains are a challenging task. A user defined GIS system goes a long way in providing effective solutions for effective management of such crucial

confidential (under development)

industries. GIS will also be useful in the siting of oil refineries in the face of the fuel subsidy as proposed by the Federal government. Tourism Industry Web based Geographic information systems (GIS) provide ideal platforms for the convergence of tourist information and their analysis in relation to population settlements, surrounding social conditions, spatial characteristics, location and the natural environment. Mapped tourist centres help tourist make choices easily on places of interest and also serves as revenue for private sectors /state/federal alike.

Telco Industry Geographical information system in telecom industry plays an important role. GIS is a great planning and decision-making tool for Field Engineers, Marketing, Customer Relations Radio Frequency (RF) Planner and Transmission (TX) planning unit in telecom industries. Agricultural Industry Efficiency in the agricultural sector can be augmented effectively by using Information Technology tools such as remote sensing and GIS. The database for the agriculture sector can ensure greater reliability of estimates and forecasting that will help in the process of planning and policymaking. Advertisement Industry A web based Geographical Information System, which would provide an ideal platform for the convergence of advertising information and their analysis in relation to sales by location and amount, surrounding social conditions, spatial characteristics, location and target customers. Disaster Management Industry The use of remote sensing and GIS has become an integrated, well developed and successful tool in disaster management. Remote sensing and GIS can be a very useful tool to complement conventional methods involved in Disaster Management Mitigation. Financial Industry GIS is a critical tool in todays banking environment where there is extensive competition due to technological advancement. The success in this industry largely depends on the ability of a bank

confidential (under development)

to provide more customer and market driven services. GIS plays an important role here by providing a platform for effective planning, organizing and decision-making.

Insurance and Asset Management Industry

Location information is a fundamental consideration in every insurance transaction. Location aware insurance services leverage the intrinsic relationship that geography has on risk, enabling and enhancing processes that drive operational effectiveness. GIS exposes geographic content important to: Analyzing data and planning business strategy Deploying geographic content on mobile devices Enhancing operational awareness and oversight through greater transparency Providing intuitive map enabled portal for engaging customers and delivering services that support their needs

GIS can be used to geographically enable key roles and workflows of an insurance organization: Sales and marketing Underwriting Claims handling Customer service Reinsurance management Corporate governance

confidential (under development)