MoBhaile is an ambitious local government initiative designed to provide a variety of information using digitised geographic data, writes John Collins

The introduction of e-government in the Republic has seen a variety of information and services go online and has transformed the way that many people interact with the State.

A limited number of services can be conducted entirely online but the ability to download and print out forms and access key information has also streamlined government-citizen interaction.

While the Reach portal initiative provides a central point for users to access government services, most citizens want to see what services are relevant to their local area - and whether or not they can be conducted electronically.

The key to making such information available is a rapidly growing category of software tools called Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS are computer programs that enable databases to be interrogated for spatial or geographic data and allow the results to be displayed graphically on a digitised map.

"It's not just about maps, although they are a part of it," says Peter Lyon, managing director of GIS software company ESRI Ireland. "GIS is a tool to visualise layers of information about a place and to give you a better understanding."

While practically every organisation holds data that has a geographic element to it, like the location of offices, the challenge lies in digitising that data or relating it to an X and Y co-ordinate on a map. While the cost of such an effort may be hard to justify in the private sector, in the public sector the ability to provide a better quality of service to citizens using GIS is easier to make a case for. The e-government project that is likely to have the biggest impact on citizens this year is the Local Government Computer Services Board's (LGCSB's) ambitious Mo Bhaile project (www.mobhaile.ie).

As it's Irish title might suggest, MoBhaile is designed to provide information on a user's area. Rather than providing text-based lists of services, users will be able to find information on services by simply clicking on their location on a map.

The county councils in South Dublin, Meath, Mayo, Offaly, Westmeath, north Tipperary and south Tipperary have all signed up for the initial introduction.

MoBhaile is also providing information on small businesses as well as community and voluntary groups as part of its wider remit to encourage the take up of information and communication technologies. Tim Willoughby, LCGSB assistant director, says the MoBhaile portal will begin in autumn, initially with data from the seven local authorities. However, in its quest to become the main GIS interface for citizens, it will add geospatial data from a range of other public agencies.

"If you are travelling from Dublin to Cork and want to know what facilities are on the route, you shouldn't have to visit seven different websites," he explains.

"MoBhaile will pull all that information together so that, if you are a wheelchair user, you can see if there is a toilet you can use en route and where the parking is nearby. There is no central agency with that information - the local authority may have responsibility for parking while the local chamber of commerce look after the toilets."

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is also investing in the development of spatial applications with the establishment of the National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG) at NUI Maynooth. It has funded a research professorship for Prof Stewart Fotheringham, who heads the NCG and has been involved in major GIS initiatives in the US, UK and Canada.

"SFI's funding is recognition of GIS as the future of technology in Ireland," says Fotheringham. "They have recognised that there is much going on in this field worldwide and Ireland needs to catch up."The NCG has a dual role - to carry out fundamental research into the field of geocomputation and GIS and to promote the use of the technology in the State. It has received funding from the Information Society Fund to work on a project with the Department of Environment to establish sub-divisions of electoral areas, currently the smallest spatial unit used for census analysis, which will allow for much more granular analysis.

It is also involved in a pilot project in Co Kildare to introduce GIS technologies to transition year school students with a view to adding GIS to the curriculum.

Although the Republic lags in Government adoption of GIS, on an agency-by-agency basis there are notable exceptions with some authorities having more than 10 years' experience using the tools.

Local authorities such as south Dublin, Laois and Donegal county councils have made GIS systems available on the internet so that residents can view planning applications and other relevant information on maps of their area. The release of spatial data and digital mapping by such pioneering agencies has highlighted the potential uses for such data.

An employee of Donegal County Council noticed that a PC in a local furniture store was consistently open on the council's GIS-based planning application service. When he inquired about its use, he was told that the shop used it so that customers could point out the location of their homes to make deliveries more efficient. Willoughby contests that the Republic is a laggard.

"The Compulsory Purchase Order system is a world leader and one of the most complex of GIS systems," he says. "It allows the land parcels around a route to be identified and is matched to the requirements of the Irish Road Acts. But because it is unique to our legislation, there is no international market for it. MoBhaile will bring all those different systems together."

In addition to providing easier access to Government services in a more intuitive manner, the use of GIS also encourages the more efficient deployment of Government resources and will enable trends to be spotted that might not otherwise be apparent.

For example, by taking all the data regarding crashes on a particular national route, which may cross the boundaries of several different local authorities and come under the remit of different central government agencies, patterns relating to crashes can be spotted. Such data can then be used to ensure the safe design of future roads.

"GIS becomes useful when it is embedded in a business process," says Lyon. He gives the example of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which has developed an internal system to track development applications. When a planning application is received, the system can automatically pinpoint if it is within a certain distance of an historical monument. Depending on the distance from the site, different rules are applied to the application.

While GIS in the State is having an impact on the public sector, private companies are also starting to see its potential.

"The private sector is not making huge investments but they have started to use GIS for tackling simple pragmatic problems," says Lyon. Amongst his clients are alternative energy company Eirtricity; TV, broadband and telephone provider Chorus; and waste management company Oxygen.