Oracle SA and Tolken Technologies have teamed up to develop a spatially enabled database system capable of providing a wide range of information on properties, buildings and other municipal resources for the Northern MSS of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council.
"We needed to centralise, collate and segment the vast amount of information gathered on a daily basis from various Metropolitan Council departments located in a number of sites throughout the city," says Heather Fuller of the JHB Metro Council.
"Together with Oracle we designed a central repository for this information, which is now available for sharing among Council departments associated with the planning, development and upgrading of the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa," she says.
"Importantly, users will be security cleared before gaining access to information and they will be restricted to making changes to their own data."
A central Oracle database running on Windows NT 4.0 was implemented, and an Oracle Enterprise Server installed for the storage of data. Autodesk MapGuide software was installed at the Council`s IT department and linked to the Oracle database for the display of maps and related information across the Council`s intranet.
MunSys and AutoCAD Map systems were installed at the planning and technical departments and will be used for the capture and maintenance of data.
"What motivated the installation was the user friendliness of the products which has led to a reduction in training and support costs," adds Fuller.
"Using MunSys, for example, users do not require knowledge of GIS and databases to perform their day-to-day tasks. The complexities of the system are hidden."
Chris Tolken, MD of Tolken Technologies, the company that executed the Council`s installation, says MunSys is specifically designed for local government and it caters for each department`s needs.
"The Installation of a central database will result in improved administration and the sharing of information.
"The open system on which we work means that data is stored in an open format and that the client is not locked into one specific vendor`s solutions. The installation also provides high performance, even across slow network segments and gateways, for linking to other databases," he says.
According to Tolken, various challenges had to be met during the design and implementation phases: "Data sets had to be converted for storage in the Oracle database and we had to make larger data sets available to offices in different locations across slow network segments.
"This meant the network bandwidth had to be monitored to ensure that the demand could be handled across the Council`s wide area network. The coding systems and data standards were also addressed to allow the conversion of data from different data sources for storage in the central database."
Tolken adds that the system helps the council to offer a better, more efficient service, while management can make more effective decisions based on accurate information.
"The central administration of the database, together with the intranet application minimises time required by IT staff to access data and process their work," says Gatu Vasani, account manager at Oracle SA.
According to Vasani, future plans include the development of additional Intranet applications like a Data Warehouse utilising the Oracle Spatial Cartridge enabling a spatial representation of the core information of the Metropolitan Council.
"Oracle and Tolken Technologies were privileged to have been given the opportunity to participate in this exciting project and look forward to replicating the knowledge gained here for other local authorities with similar needs," he adds.
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