Planning Digital Conference28 & 29 March 2000

Shangri-La Hotel, Penang

Local Authority NetworkedDevelopment Approval System

Lee Lik Meng, Ph. D.Associate Professor

School of HBP, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Mohamed Jamil AhmadDirector

Penang State Town and Country Planning Department

Introduction

Electronic government (e-govt) is a flagship application of the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project, propositioned to reinvent government and bring about fundamental changes to the fabric of society in order to propel us into the information era. E-govt goes beyond mere computerisation or transfer of the manual system into an IT-based electronic system for carrying out the duties and responsbilities of government. It requires that services should be more efficient and effective. It also envisages that “new services, new information, new service channels and improved service levels” should be the primary products of this reinvention.

While the Federal Government has undertaken various projects to introduce e-govt at its new offices at Putrajaya (such as the Pilot Project to develop an electronic planning approval system with expertise from Singapore), various efforts are also being undertaken or implemented at the State and Local Authority levels to integrate elements of e-govt into their work-processes. Most of these projects are ad hoc and piecemeal, carried out at departmental or sub-departmental level. Many have failed and have even tried again (sometimes, to fail in subsequent attempts as well). Just as many are waiting in the wings eager to develop their own system to move their manual processes into the electronic media. While it is agreed that failures are many in the IT world and that it could take several attempts before success is achieved, failure also creates fatigue and fear amongst the officers and will lead to disillusionment and disinterest or total “shutting out” from further participation or leadership in pushing the electronic frontier in government. Some of the reasons for the failures have been discussed by Lee, et al (1996a) but the most critical problem for most government departments is that its officers are generally unfamiliar with cutting-edge technology and are therefore unable to clearly and precisely specify the type of system to be

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developed by their consultants or contractors undertaking the development of their application systems.

This paper relies on some of the experiences with the development of electronic approval systems to propose some basic guidelines and framework for interlinked multi-departmental development approval systems for the local authorities.

The Development Approval Process

A major responsibility of local authorities is to plan and to enforce laws for managed and orderly growth, especially of urban activities. The control of development is carried out through numerous instruments of development approval spread over several stages, each stage requiring input from multiple departments. Nevertheless, many local authorities lack technical and professional staff to perform the required investigation and have to rely on external departments (such as State Town and Country Planning Departments) for professional or technical advice. Failing that, they perform only rudimentary examinations of development proposals. The discussion in this paper focusses on local authorities which are structured into well-defined professional responsibilities and staffed by in-house technical expertise.

Types of Approval and Departments Involved

The development approval process involves numerous steps (Lee, 1986) and very often starts outside of the jurisdiction of the local authority. In particular, agriculture land must first have their status changed through a process commonly referred to as “conversion” (legally called “change of category of land use”) under the land law (National Land Code 1965). This approval is sought through the District Land Office or the State Land and Mines Department. The views of the local authority is customarily sought but the State Authority is not bound by the views or advice from the local authority. Notwithstanding this, any decision by the State Authority binds the local authority even if it contradicts the development policies and advice of the local authority. This decision thus becomes the starting point for most applications for development approval at the local authority level.

When the issue of category of land use under the land law has been resolved, the developer or owner must then proceed to obtain several other types of approval from the local authority. The first stop is the Town Planning Department to obtain planning permission. Planning permission refines in further detail the type and intensity of various permitted developments on the proposed site as well as provisions for community facilities and amenities and traffic flow. In most local authorities, the planning permission is granted based on a layout plan and development brief prepared by consultants to the project proponent. But in the process of evaluating compliance, the application is also referred to various departments for comments and requirements. These departments may include the building, engineering and health departments within the local authority as well as external departments responsible for schools, drainage and irrigation, sewerage, roads, environment, civil aviation, telecommunications and others. Aggrieved parties to the application for planning permission may appeal the decision of the local authority. The planning appeal is determined by an independent Planning Appeals Board with its secretariate located at the State Town and Country Planning Department (STCPD). In such cases, information must flow from the local authority to the Appeals Board through STCPD. The

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decision of the Board binds all parties and must then flow back to the local authority for implementation.

The next major step in the development approval process is the building plan approval coordinated by the Building Department. Provisions in the Uniform Building By-Law (UBBL) is the basis for investigating compliance (e.g. minimum floor area for bedrooms, thickness of party walls, natural ventilation and lighting, etc.). A site plan indicating the exact location of the building or buildings and their footprints accompanies the building plan. In housing schemes, the original approved layout plan is redrawn to provide more precise and accurate details on building shape, location, set-backs from property lines, distances between buildings, and road reserves. Since layout is deemed a town planning activity, building plans are referred to the Town Planning Department for confirmation of compliance with planning requirements. In the process, the Town Planning Department will have to retrieve the approved layout, compare it with the layout in the Building Plan, make appropriate recommendations and route back the building plan application to the Building Department, often weighed down by the attached approved planning permission (layout plan) file.

Once the second major approval has been obtained, the developer must proceed to secure several other approvals from the local authority including approval for earthworks, roads and drains, landscaping and structural drawings (sometimes submitted for record only). A typical flow of approvals and departments involved is shown in Figure 1.

Data and Information For Decision-Making

Throughout the entire process involving multiple departments and stages, information is the basis for all decision-making (figure 2). For instance, when a building plan is received by the Building Department, a crucial decision must be made whether the building plan complies with the approved planning permission. The more industrious amongst the Building Departments would have a master index or map-based system tracking all applications for planning permission referred to them by the Town Planning Department. A record on this master index or development pressure map would trigger a search for details of the planning application or cause the building plan application to be referred to the Town Planning Department for advice. Building Departments which are incapable of maintaining their own development pressure records would have to rely on the Town Planning Department to undertake the investigation. In some situations multiple copies of the duly endorsed approved layout plan are distributed to various technical departments for their own record and reference, presumably to provide better and more accurate information for the respective department’s future decision-making in relation to development control. In practice, this paper-based manual system results in major problems in maintaining multiple sets of records, requires substantial amount of manpower and effort, raises issues of data integrity, and is generally slow in response time.

Free-flow of information would be ideal but in reality there are numerous obstacles including dated technology (paper), rigid compartmentalisation of responsibilities, and perceived rights and authority resulting in each department protecting its traditional areas of jurisdiction (in particular data kept in departmental files).

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.Figure 1 : Stages and Departments in Development Approvals

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Unpleasant experience in centralised database systems have also discouraged further cooperation amongst government agencies. For instance, in the initial stages various government agencies may have enthusiastically participated by providing hardcopy data as well as manpower to digitise the information. Subsequently however, they face bureaucratic obstacles in retrieving even their own digital data from the central agency. The problem is worst if the data belongs to another department or agency even though they are all participants in the central system for information storage and retrieval.

Unlike the United States where tax-payers have the right of access to data collected through public funds (which means data collected by any government agency) and have to pay only the cost of reproduction, Malaysia follows the British model where government data is copyrighted and protected by various laws, notably the Official Secrets Act. Hence, government agencies are very protective of their data, especially data in digital format since the data is seen as a source of revenue.

The Agriculture Department for instance refuses to sell its land use map in the GIS format in which it is currently stored resulting in researchers and even compatriot government agencies having to re-digitise the maps for purposes of analysis or study. The Survey Department which plays a vital role in the development sector by providing cadastral (land ownership) maps are already well advance in their preparation of cadastral information in GIS format. However, when a local authority approached them for the digital copy of the cadastral map to provide the base for a proposed planning system, there was much resistance. This leads to duplication of effort (e.g. Syarikat Telekom had to spend a substantial sum of money to create the cadastral base for its GIS-enabled utility planning and management system) and problems with data integrity. The town planning administration is not spared from this preoccupation to generate revenue from data. The Penang State Town and Country Planning Department is a case in point with its complete set of Planning Appeals Board decision being sold only in printed format when it could show leadership in IT and planning practice by placing the word-processed documents for the benefit of the entire country (and even the world) using the World-Wide-Web for all to read, research and analyse.

Certainly there are many enlightened officers in the bureaucracy who realise that data and information must flow between departments for efficient and effective decision-making. Traditions, practices and the laws are hinderances but creative use of state-of-the-art information technology integrated into a well-designed development approval system can facilitate free-flow and access to accurate and timely information for decision-making and at the same time help to alleviate fears of lost of authority and responsibilities.

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Figure 2 : Flow of Information during various stages of Development Approvals

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Components of The Approval System

In designing and developing the multi-department development approval system, there are several key components including :

a) workflow applications; b) data model for information sharing; c) the network (LAN, WAN and WWW); and d) hardware and software to support the applications (client-server technology).

Workflow Applications

The term computerisation is often associated with the process of converting a manual paper-based process of work to an electronic or IT-driven workflow. While it generally captures the essence of the exercise it is a much-abused term with many such computerisation projects merely providing the means to record information but omit to integrate the workflow into the system. For instance, the system may be used to register applications received from consultants and developers. Then the entire process of evaluating the application is carried out the traditional way. The decision is then recorded in the computer system at the end of the process. In other situations the computer may be used to track the progress of an application as it goes through numerous stages and rounds of evaluations and amendments. Unfortunately, these tracking systems are also isolated from the workflow requiring hard-pressed staff to take on additional duties of filling up paper forms which are then sent for data entry by the systems section. Such piecemeal approaches creates a misinformed and disillusioned civil service, as far as IT is concerned. Their first and immediate reaction to computerisation projects are typically that of scepticism and disinterest.

Unlike systems for payroll and tax assessment which rely on batch-processing with very little need for prolonged end-user interactivity, systems for development approval must integrate the often complex process of evaluating development proposals.

The logical starting point for the development of the approval systems would appear to be the identification of the tasks required for undertaking the job.

Text-book models for systems development would require the systems analyst to trace the workflow through each stage of work, documenting the forms and information captured and generated and decisions made in order to be able to translate it into an electronic process. This requires the consultant to spend a considerable amount of time understanding and documenting the workflow (see figures 3 and 4).

Documenting the existing workflow is generally not complicated. The challenge lies in re-engineering the process to take advantage of capabilities and functionalities of various software. This is where the systems developer and consultant faces the greatest challenge because what works for a paper-based system may not be necessarily be appropriate in the electronic medium. On the other hand, there are many innovative features which can be introduced to replace paper-based systems and more importantly to provide more funtionalities in the system. Generally, the consultant can expect little or no assistance from the client since these government officers have

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generally not been exposed to the capabilities of IT and have not had the benefit of experience or exposure to computer-based development approval systems.

On the flip side, the consultants themselves may not have had the exposure or experience in the development of similar systems and are burdened by unfamiliarity with subject matters, i.e. town planning, architecture, engineering, land administration, government procedures, etc. There is a case where the consultant/contractor for the development of some local authority system eventually closed shop, unable to sustain the unexpected prolonged period of systems development, partly because the client was unable to provide specific requirements for the system. Numerous amendments to the system is the bane of the consultant/contractor.

The Selangor Electronic Planning Approval System (SEPAS) (for the Selangor State Town and Country Planning Department) went through several major changes over a period of 2 years mainly to comply with its re-engineering of the workflow to conform with ISO 9002 requirements. While the system has integrated the critical portions of the workflow, user feedback after using the system continue to demand for more and better functionalities. This year, when they are subjected to an ISO 9002 audit, it is expected that the system may require further fine-tuning. The Town Planning Department of the Municipal Council of Penang Island has had its Pilot completed in 1998 and expects to make revisions before it is fully satisfied. The Building Department in the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai has made two attempts by engaging consultants to develop a building plan approval system but both have been declared to have failed to meet the expectations of the department. An in-house effort to develop the system shows promising possibilities but the department lacks technical expertise in applications development and will again be turning to outside help to make a fourth attempt. Hopefully, with the two failures and the limited success from the in-house effort, the department will achieve its goal of integrating IT into its workflow.

The bottomline is that there is no single best or correct way to design and develop a workflow system. It is important for both the consultant and the local authorities to understand that the work will have to go through several rounds of redevelopment. The problem for the consultant is that of escalating cost. The concern for local authority is a system which satisfies their needs but the problem is that they are not able to exactly tell you what is required. However, now that many departments have achieved some measures of success, others will have less growing pains.

In the electronic workflow, we must rethink many of the practices in the paper-based systems. A critical issue to be examined in the multi-department development approval system is that the workflow crosses departmental boundaries. In the manual paper-based system, files and papers physically travel from one desk to another and across departments. This notion of physical movement seems ingrained in our mindsets as demonstrated in discussions with government officers to develop a multi-department approval system in which issues were raised on how the information say from planning approval would be transferred (electronically) to the building department server because it will be required for processing of building plans later; or how information on building plan approvals could be transferred to the valuation department for purposes of assessment. This is a carry-over from the days when governments have to manually tabulate data and send copies out to other departments and higher authorities to keep them informed of development pressures. Alternatively, files must be physcally transported between departments if information from the file is to be accessed. Government officers must get used the idea that access to information does not require it to be moved and permanently stored in their respective departments (see later discussion on data model and network).

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Another critical issue, and hopefully one which will not persist for a prolonged period is the legacy of the hierarchical system of administration with its many layers of superiors and sub-ordinates. Fear of redundancy, lost of jobs and even lost of authority may result in this multi-layer administrative structure being transferred into the electronic system thereby negating the benefits of IT in terms of efficiency through reduced manpower needs as well as time required to complete a task. In the short term, the consultant will have to put aside professional commitment towards a more efficient electronic based system but there is the danger that unless government departments are prepared to re-engineer their workflow to reduce the pyramidal structure required to complete a task then the bureaucracy will continue to be bloated but still suffer from manpower shortages in their professional group because because of greener pastures in the private sector. Workers who are made redundant should be retrained for other sectors while others may have reduced workloads presenting the opportunity for greater job-satisfaction and pursuit of non-routine professional projects and advancement.

Data Model For Sharing Information

For a multi-department development approval system where each department will apparently maintain its own server or servers, it is vital that a model for data sharing be agreed upon. In the model, key information which are used by more than one department or for more than one task will be identified. The custodian for that information must then be assigned. The custodian will be responsible for its maintenance and updates while all other departments will have read access or restricted ability to edit or update. As an example, the local authorities usually has numerous locations where names of people and companies are kept. The first location is of course the personnel section with its staff records for the entire organisation while the finance department has another set for payroll processing. At the department level, each would have its own records of its department’s personnel, possibly used for leave record-keeping or used in assigning officers to specific task such as applications for approval of development or projects. Other sources where names are kept include list of developers and consultants kept by the planning, building and engineering departments separately, the list of owners of properties subjected to local assessment taxes (valuation list) which is then duplicated in the finance department’s assessment list tracking payment history by property owners.

Another major category of information critical for development approval is land and building ownership and its cadastral base. As local authorities, they most likely already have the complete records of all properties in its locality. Many local authorities already have these individual records in databases and this should form the basis for a GIS-enabled land records system which can be accessed by the other technical departments, that is, as the focal point where all land-related information are linked. In other words, a search of this land records system will lead to information concerning assessment, planning permissions, building plans approvals, licenses as well as information related to council policies on such land.

The other major categories of information related to development approval would logically be stored and maintained by the respective departments given the mandate and responsibility for each of the types of approval, namely, planning permission, building plan approval, certificate of fitness for occupation, earthworks, streets and drainage, landscaping, structures, business licensing and change of use.

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Figure 3 : Workflow For Processing of Applications for Planning Approvals,Selangor State Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD)

Source : Based on workflow for ISO 9002 certification awarded to Selangor TCPD

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Figure 4 : Workflow For Processing of Applications for Planning Permission,Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang. Source : Lee, et al, 1996b.

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Applicant

SubmitsPLAN

PRELIMINARY CHECK(Basic Compliance)

DOCUMENTATION

Yes

DETAILEDCHECK

FULLCOMPLIANCE

FINAL DECISIONBY COUNCIL

File Closed

No Return to Applicant

. Create File

. Tracking Logs

Technician (Area). Statistics Form. Devt Pres Maps

Technician (Stats)

. Extracts Policies

. Checks Plan

. Compute Density

. Comments

Technician (DC)

. Confirms

. Comments

Asst Town Planner

. Re-Confirms

. Comments

Town Planner

. Makes Decision

Director of Plg

Comments &Requirements forAMENDMENTS &

COMPLIANCE

AMEN

DED

PLA

N

. Prep. Draft Paper

Asst Town Planner

. Types Paper

Typist

. Approves paper

Director of Plg

. PreparesAgenda

Steno

. CompilesAgenda

SECRETARIAT

. ApprovesAgenda

President

. Prepares Letters

Steno

. Cops Approval

. Extract Minutes

Technician (Area)

. Signs Grant ofPM

President

. Signs Plan

Director of Plg

. Send Documents toApplicant. Circulate forinformation

Technician (Area)

. Update Stats &Maps

Technician (Stats)

COMPLIED

There is no single prescription for which department should be the custodian of the various categories and types of data since each local authority is likely to be structured a little differently from one another. A general rule should be that whichever department is responsible for a particular task should maintain and update data required to perform that task. Obviously, the Planning Department as the starting pointing for most development approvals will not only store data related to applications for planning permission but also information on council policies and guidelines such as zoning, density and road-widening lines. And the Building Department will be responsible for information on buildings (prosposed, approved and constructed) while the engineering will keep and maintain information on approved roads, roads under construction, completed roads and their associated maintenance records and names. The less obvious in terms of clear responsibility relates to names of clients since each of the department will require read and write privileges concurrently but this can be resolved by consensus by the various departments.

The alternative the above proposed structure for a distributed database is to create a “super agency” responsible for all digital data in the local authority. Many local authorities and heads of departments have attempted such an approach but none have yet succeeded and are unlikely to succeed unless such a “super agency” was created from its infancy (this is the model adopted in Putrajaya).

LAN, WAN and WWW

To facilitate data-sharing and workflow in the electronic medium, a communications backbone is required. A very basic setup only requires 3 components : a HUB, network cables and network-ready computers running Windows 98 (or Mac OS). By connecting each computer to the HUB using CAT 5 UTP or coxial cables, we create a Local Area Network (LAN) in which resources can be shared. In particular, a development approval system would store the data in a database management system (DBMS) on one of the computers (even one running Windows 98) with all others connecting to the database, accessing the data on-line. All users will see the same up-to-date information as and when the data is edited or added. A set-up at this level requires very little technical skills. A technician can be easily trained to terminate suitable lengths of CAT 5 cables (called patch cords not exceeding 100 metres in length) with RJ 45 connectors. Connect one end of the patch cord to the network card and the other end to the HUB. Then switch on the HUB and boot up the computer. Windows 98 will auto-detect the network card and setup the necessary protocols for Windows Networking.

Across departments, a fibre-optic backbone connecting departmental HUBs would provide a campus-wide network where all computers connected to this network would be able to access shared resources throughout the organisation. In many organisations (including institutions of higher learning) however, the culture of sharing information has not taken root resulting in tens or hundreds of computers connected on the network but with very little collaborative effort over the network. It is not uncommon for users who have been on the network for months or years to suddenly discover that they could access files on their office PCs from another part of their building by the simple act of sharing out folders.

Extending the network beyond the physical boundaries of a building or campus would create a Wide Area Network (WAN). It requires a lease line from the telecommunications provider and a router at each end of the line. Workers separated by vast distances would be able to “see” their

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whole organisation’s network neighbourhood as though they were in the same building or campus. Hence, all local authorities could be connected to the State Administration through such a WAN allowing the State Government to access information on development approvals at each of the local authorities as and when required without having to direct the local authorities to compile regular reports for the State’s consumption.

WANs are expensive and dedicated to users for the same organisation (and its business partners). The World Wide Web (WWW) on the other hand offers the world-wide audience access to information published by local authorities. Developers and consultants would be able to investigate planning guidelines with map-enabled webs or searchable database-driven webs without having to travel long distances from their offices to the local authority’s office. They could also track the progress of their applications through restricted webs from the comfort of their office (anywhere in the world).

Driving the traffic across the network of course are the servers controlling access (security) to the resources, processing the request for data and then sending the data or file to the computer which sent the request. In a multi-department network with multiple servers and domains (groups) trust relationships would have to be established.

Figure 5 illustrates a conceptual framework for implementing a networked local authority approval system which is accessible also by other government agencies as well as the general public and the local authorities’ other clients.

Client-Server Technology

A database management system is required to serve as the storage facility as well as engine for retrieval of data captured during the process of evaluating development proposals. Popular DBMS software include high-performance Oracle, Sybase, MS SQL Server and mid-range products such as MS Access and Foxpro.

The mid-range products are deceptively simple to use and with perseverance officers in government departments have been able to develop small systems for registration of applications for approvals and partial implementation of the workflow for development approvals. These efforts are excellent as starting points for moving their departments in the direction of e-govt. However, a little knowledge is said to be a dangerous thing. On closer examination, the systems were improperly structured leading to problems with data integrity. And because of the limited nature of these applications users had refused to use the system complaining that the system actually added more work because they had to enter the data but could not carry out their work within the electronic system (the paper-based system being still intact).

In a client-server environment, there is a front-end (or a software application) where users interact with the computer to carry out the tasks related to the workflow. On the other end of the network is the back-end where the database engine seats on a server sending out data and files as requested from the front-end.

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Figure 5 : Conceptual Framework for the Network-enabled Development Approval System

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Front-End

The front-end is typically a GUI-based (graphical user interface) application containing menus, buttons and easy to use facilities to access information. For the workflow applications, these front-end not only display data but can be configured to carry out routine as well as complex task including error-checking, automatic updates of related records or undertake sophisticated computations using the data input by the user or retrieved from the database. Text-based interfaces are out-dated and appropriate only for simple operations (e.g. retrieving assessment records by name of owners and updating the record of payment on-line).

Figure 6 shows an interface in which the user keys in information on permissible density and the system computes the entitlement in terms of various types of residential units based on land area proposed for development and the local authority’s guidelines. It even computes requirements for low cost housing quota.

The interface was developed using MS Access 97 as the front-end for the MPPP’s Town Planning Department Pilot Project to develop an planning permission system. Figure 7 shows the menu interface for SEPAS which was also developed using MS Access 97.

Other software are available for development of the front-end, including the popular Visual Basic. For WWW applications MS Access 2000 has new utilities for putting data on the web. Frontpage 2000 has also strongly support for developing browser-based access to data through the Internet using Active Server Pages (ASP).

These front-ends are installed on client machines, typically PCs running Windows 98. The configuration for such client machines have improved tremendously and new units are capable of undertaking the processing needs of the front-end applications. In many departments however, old PCs running on 486 architecture or even the early generation Pentiums with low RAM are constantly freezing up, especially when overzealous users load multiple programs and utilities into its memory. At a minimum, 64 MB RAM, at least 15 inch monitor and a reasonably recent Pentium processor (Pentium II) would perform well for workflow applications. If GIS applications or multiple programmes are to run concurrently, the more RAM the better while the latest Pentium III processor would tremendously improve performance. Departments purchasing machines for these workflow applications should realise that they are not for ordinary word-processing functions.

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Figure 6 : A GUI-Based Interface for computing density entitlementTown Planning Department, MPPP. Source : Lee, et al, 1996b.

Figure 7 : Menu Interface for User-friendly applicationsSEPAS, Selangor TCPD. Source : Panduan Guna SEPAS, 2000.

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Back-End

In the mid-range, the DBMS’s are accompanied by its own database engine. For example, MS Access 97 (and earlier versions) used the Microsoft Jet Engine. Even though MS Access 97 can be split up to a front-end and back-end, it is not a client-server but a file-server technology. When a front-end request data from the back-end, the Jet Engine will send the entire file to the front-end where all the processing will take place. This increases the load on the network and results in lower configuration client machines being sluggish in response.

With MS Access 2000, MSDE, a true client-server technology is now provided. It is totally compatible with and scalable to the high performance MS SQL Server.

The MPPP and Selangor TCPD planning approval systems as well as the MPSP in-house building plan systems were developed on the MS Jet Engine. As a cost-effective technology, MS Access satisfies government officers’ concern with seeing results for a reasonable sum of expenditure of tax-payer funds. In terms of technological limitation, the MS Jet Engine is able to handle up to 2 Gigabyte of data (which is enormous considering that a database for about 100,000 properties in a valuation list is known to occupy less than 100 Megabytes of storage space). A maximum of 255 concurrent users would satisfy any department’s needs. Nevertheless, as a mid-range technology performance could be sluggish for sophisticated or complex applications. In the world of computers, a few seconds waiting for the system to response usually seems like eternity and leaves the users perceiving that a lot of time is wasted “just waiting”. Disaster recovery for the MS Jet Engine is also notoriously non-existent. Recovery in the event of data-corruption is usually as good as the last successful back-up. Users have found out the hard way the need to design and stringently implement a back-up strategy which will allow the department to back-track several generations of back-up in the event of a failure or corruption of the database. Apparently some locations are more prone to disasters either because of improper user practices (typically improper shut-down) or the vagaries in unstable power supply or even defective infrastructure which could lead to processes being constantly terminated mid-way when networks connections are dropped.

Proper procedures will mitigate most of the problems discussed above but once a department has had sufficient exposure to the system and is satisfied that further investment would bring further benefits to the department and its clients, then it is strongly recommended that they migrate to a high performance database engine such as MS SQL Server or even Oracle. MS Access 2000 now comes with an easy to use wizard to upgrade and migrate the MS Jet Engine database to either MSDE or MS SQL Server. Modifications may be required to the front-end applications system. MS SQL Server will improve performance because it is a true client-server technology allowing for part of the processing to carried out at the back-end thereby reducing network traffic as well as reducing the computing resources required at the front end. It is also fault tolerant with a transaction log which allows recovery up to the last update before the failure occurred.

MS Access 2000 as a front-end is able to access data from not only MSDE, MS SQL Server but also Oracle and other commercial databases through ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) technology.

In addition to the DBMS, various other software would be required on the back-end. In particular a web engine will permit the publication of data for access through the WWW. In a Windows NT (Win 2000) setup, the web engine would likely be Internet Information Server (IIS)

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together with Transactions Server to support database-driven web sites providing dynamic data. IIS and Transaction Server comes free with the Windows NT (2000) licence.

Browser access to GIS maps would require an Internet Map Server engine but these systems may require immense computing resources if a world-wide audience is to be accommodated. Several Internet Map websites set up by GIS vendors are in the order of terabytes of storage space with gigabytes of RAM and clusters of servers responding to requests for maps and related information. Nevertheless, it is a technology which will become indispensable for greater public access to development control guidelines (e.g. zoning, density, road reserves) and development pressure data. Access to these data will allow for better informed decision on investment by developers to curtail over-supply in the property industry. Local authorities can start with an Intranet whereby information and data required for development control tasks can be accessed by officers in all the departments through web-browsers reducing cost in terms of maintenance of multiple copies of the information or “paper-databases”. Use of web browsers also removes the costs for development of the client applications to access the GIS maps. Typically, a single commercial GIS standalone license is about RM7,000 or more with numerous functionalities which are not used for routine access to GIS maps. For the well-endowed local authorities, the start-up cost is not prohibitive costing about RM100,000 for the web-based map engine and a mid-range server (excluding cost of acquiring the GIS maps) to setup an Intranet for interactive maps using web technology. With a lease line to the Internet, these maps will provide value-added services to its clients (public, developers, consultants) as well as other government departments and agencies.

Controlling access to the back-end resources will be the Windows NT Security system through the creation of domains and groups allowing for a heirarchical structure of privileges from read only to the ability to add and delete data to specific tables and databases.

What will it take to succeed?

So far, the efforts at the development of local authority development approval systems have been isolated to single department efforts but there is growing interest to develop systems which are ultimately integrated in terms of data access and continuity in the workflow from one stage of approval to another. Dealing with several departments simultaneously however takes prolonged negotiations since not all departments are inclined to start at the same time. The total cost will also appear to be very high because of the combined cost of systems and infrastructure for various departments. Even the cash-rich local authorities in Penang have been slow in taking the decisive steps towards such an integrated system.

The migration to the e-govt will not be smooth nor will it be accomplished in a single master stroke. The local authorities’ in-house technical and systems staff are generally either not equipped with the knowledge and skills for systems development or are already heavily over-loaded taking care of critical systems such as payroll and taxation systems. On the other hand external consultants cannot sustain prolonged development cycles without an adequate financial package. At the Federal level, priority has been given to getting a kick-start for the e-govt at Putrajaya resulting in little or no funding to assist local authorities.

The Federal and State authorities must recognise that in the major towns and cities the local authorities play a vital role in sustaining the economic health of the nation in their response to the ups and downs of the economic cycle since the construction industry has more than 100 linkages

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to other sectors of the economy. Local authorities are usually blamed for being a major cause of the inability of the private sector to response to market changes because of the long period required to obtain numerous approvals. But with enlightened heads of department pushing for ISO 9002 certification such delays will be a thing of the past. Information technology will be in the forefront in achieving the ISO 9002 certification which will streamline the procedures and “guarantee” decision is obtained within the specified time period.

Much in the same way that the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC) and MSC project has been providing matching grants to IT companies to develop innovative products and services, a similar scheme should be actively pursued for the development of local authority development approval systems. The product and experience from one or two local authorities will provide a jumpstart to other local authorities which lack the funds to experiment or to sustain prolonged systems development cycles. The Ministry of Local Government should play a key role in putting forth this agenda to the Federal Government as well as serving as a resource centre for sharing of information and experiences. It is not expected that application systems can be directly implemented in all local authorities without modifications but lessons from successful ventures will shorten the development cycle as well as guaranteeing a high rate of success for other local authorities.

Even with adequate funding, the success of local authority development approval system will nevertheless require major changes to the government practices. For example, the Prime Minister (PM) of Malaysia has called for the doing away of the sulit syndrome (New Straits Times, March 9, 2000). This is common in the bureaucracy where government officers may routinely invoke confidentiality and secrecy laws to deny access to information in department files. For example, it is standard practice to stamp all technical reports for Structure Plans as ‘SULIT’. The PM further implored everyone (including companies and universities) to kill the great information hoard. Information, in particular digital information, must flow in the information age. Otherwise knowledge workers will have sophisticated software purring away in state-of-the-art computers connected to high-speed networks but will have no information to retrieve, manipulate or analyse and no where to go in cyberspace. The effort in data-sharing must be initiated within the government institutions, laws and practices. As a first step, copyright over government data must be relaxed, access to non-sensitve government data guaranteed (e.g. digital versions of cadastral maps, land use maps, census data, development approvals, etc) and made easy (e.g. made available for download over the Internet), and cost of access reduced. Data collected from research through government funding (e.g. Intensified Research in Priority Areas, IRPA grants) should be place on university servers for download.

For the public and stakeholders in the development industry we should see more innovative services which will make it easy for local authorities’ client to obtain approvals at reduced cost and speedier decisions. Without providing better services and products, the development of electronic approval systems will fail to tap the full potential of information technology.

Finally, we must not forget the so-called humanware. Only a small percentage of the civil service can be considered to be IT-ready. Applications systems can be designed to make them idiot-proof but then the users become mere robots clicking buttons without the ability to drill-down and mine the data to analyse abnormal patterns and behaviour in urban development which may call for appropriate response from the local authority to forestall a glut in certain sectors and location. Non-systems personnel in technical departments may also have to be retrained to maintain systems and perform surveillance duties to detect and troubleshoot problems. At the source of the manpower factory, the curriculum of technical and professional schools must be

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revamp to prepare them to be knowledge workers for the government departments as well as the private sector.

Conclusions

The road ahead for e-govt is exciting and holds much promise. However, the road is long and there will be many hurdles which could potentially stifle progress. It is not enough to transfer paper-based manual workflows into an IT-driven system. Successful e-govt will require re-invention of the concept of government. It demands that the government bureaucracy response in a way that promises efficient and innovative services and guarantees access to digital information which will help to promote the e- as well as the k-economy.

But as we move in that direction, we must also re-examine the modals of urban growth. Can or should local authorities continue to base their decisions on urban development using the central place theories predominantly used in most Structure Plans in Malaysia? Planners and futurists are divided on whether the hierachical structure of cities will persist in the information era or will die as distances become non-existent (Hall, 1999). That, however, is a topic for another seminar paper.

References

Ghani Salleh and Lee Lik Meng (1998). Pengurusan Perancangan Bandar dan Sistem Maklumat Perancangan. Seminar Kebangsaan Kerajaan Tempatan, 24 – 25 November 1998, INTAN Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

Hall, Peter. (1999). The Future of Cities. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 23, 173-185.

IslandPPM. (1997). Development Approval System for Town Planning Department, Municipal Council of Penang Island.

Lee Lik Meng, et al. (1996a). Development Of A Gis-Based Planning System for the Municipal Council of Penang Island. Proceedings of the 2nd Annual GIS Asia Pacific Conference, 18-20 September 1996, Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur

Lee Lik Meng, et al. (1996b). User Needs Report, “Pilot Project for the Development of a GIS-Based Planning System for MPPP”.

Lee Lik Meng. (1986). Financial Contributions Imposed on Housing Development in Penang State. Housing Developers Association, Penang Branch.

New Straits Times. (March 9, 2000). K-economy master plan by September. PM Outlines second bold step to reinvent society. p 1.

Panduan Guna SEPAS (SEPAS User Manual). (2000).Available at http://jpbd.selangor.gov.my/panduanguansepas/ (at the time of writing the lastest version of the manual 1.1b had not be published by the department yet)

SEPAS version 1.1b. (2000). Selangor Electronic Planning Approval System, Selangor State Town and Country Planning Department

EmailLee Lik Meng : lmlee@usm.myMohamed Jamil Ahmad : plan2@sukpp.gov.my

Web : http://www.hbp.usm.my/ITSupport/This paper is accompanied by a separate live demonstation of an electronic planning approval system.

Friday, May 26, 2023

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