The Surveyor General has undertaken a number of projects to capture digital data in a variety of methods:

1. Images - the diagrams, general plans and sectional title plans have been scanned.

2. Alphanumeric - the attribute data pertaining to diagrams and general plans has been captured.

3. Spatial - the spatial data pertaining to diagrams and general plans (land parcels, etc) has been captured.

How the Cadastral Information System (CIS) is put together

The Cadastral Information System has the Oracle 8i database at its core with a variety of specially developed software, GIS software and imaging software connected to it. The alphanumeric (attribute) information has been captured in MS-Access databases and imported into standard object-relational tables.

The spatial information was captured in ReGIS and is currently being imported into Oracle's spatial object-relational tables. The spatial data is currently maintained using Autodesk GIS software.

The image information was scanned using Altris Software and saved in TIF format. The indicators to the image data are stored in Oracle.

All data stored in Oracle is linked together via the unique Surveyor-General key (SG number) and/or the region, parcel and portion of a particular land parcel.

The focus of the CIS up until now has very much been the 'getting' of data into the system. It is now that the Surveyor General office staff can begin to see the benefits of access to realtime integrated information to assist with decision-making and information services.

Automating the system

The Cadastral Information System has automated many tasks that were previously undertaken manually for the more than 400 employees, thus increasing efficiency within the Surveyor-General offices.

The portal by which employees or users of the Cadastral Information System gain entry is commonly known as the 'CIS Launcher'. This is software that has specifically been developed to monitor access rights to the system, enables a variety of systems for use and facilitates the communication between users.

Document tracking

All documents that are lodged in each Surveyor-General office are immediately entered into the CIS system for tracking purposes. The system generates task lists which distribute work to employees in a section/division as the document moves through the Surveyor General office. The system also tracks the period of time a document is in an office before it has been approved. A Surveyor who has lodged documents can thus query where his/her document is in the system at any given point in time.

Capturing of document information

When documents have been lodged for examination, one of the processes before approval of the document is to capture the information contained on the document into the CIS system. The attribute data and numeric (coordinate) data is captured. Consistency checks are then run on the numeric data to ensure the consistency of the data.

Approving of documents

When documents have been examined for correctness they are approved by Professional Land Surveyors within the Surveyor General offices. The Approval System automatically notifies a surveyor via e-mail that documents have been approved or rejected. This means that the surveyor does not have to wait for the postal system to deliver notification.

Scanning of documents

When documents have been approved they are scanned into the Cadastral Information System. The paper copies are filed away and archived. The office staff use the CIS to query the digital images rather than using the paper documents.

Spatial enhancement of data

When documents have been approved the previously captured numeric (coordinate) data is integrated into the core spatial database. The data is then published on the Internet for viewing.

Conclusion

The offices of the Surveyors General now has the ability to ensure that information pertaining to land parcels and other surveyed real rights are in sync in all three components (images, alphanumeric and spatial) of the Cadastral Information System.

Says Louis Fivaz, Director: Cadastral Spatial Information, "The embracing of the digital age by the Surveyor-General puts the South African cadastre at the forefront of cadastral systems."

Computer Foundation at (012) 672 0100 ( www.cf.co.za) or the Chief Surveyor General at (012) 322 5400 ( www.csg.org.za) for more information.

About Computer Foundation:

An Ariel Technologies subsidiary, Computer Foundation is a South African market leader in the supply of spatial solutions, with offices in Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Maseru and Gaberone.

It is the largest supplier of the Autodesk range of GIS products, which include AutoCAD Map, Autodesk World and Autodesk MapGuide, and the first Autodesk Authorised System Centre in this country, in the GIS and mapping applications arena.

Adding to its capabilities in the GIS arena in South Africa, Computer Foundation is also a reseller of MapInfo Professional, the most widely used GIS software for commercial applications. Computer Foundation alsos upplies and supports ER Mapper.

The company has unmatched capabilities in the development of a large range of mapping software based on the products in its portfolio. One of its major achievements is the development of the world's first Autodesk interface to Oracle's spatial capability, which complies with Open GIS (OGIS) Consortium standards for SQL at database level.

Computer Foundation also supplies a wide range of support services including technical support, training, project management, consulting and data brokering.