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The Planning Department (PlanD)'s first self-developed Geographic Information System (GIS)-based Site Search Tool won a prize at the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2012 in the e-Government Category at a prize presentation ceremony held in Brunei on December 5.
One of the main roles of PlanD is to identify suitable sites for various types of land uses, such as residential, commercial or public facilities. This self-developed search tool is built on a GIS model and a specially designed algorithm. The aim is to help execute this complicated exercise in order to select potential sites that meet user requirements and specific geographic constraints.
Senior Town Planner/Information Systems, Dr Kenneth Tang, said, "There are 13 categories of selection criteria comprising over 45 data layers in the search tool. One can select the suitable criteria on the map and fine-tune the selection parameters for finalising an appropriate selection accurately."
PlanD started developing the GIS-based Site Search Tool last year and the tool has been widely used internally since early 2012. The tool was granted the Best Public Service Application Grand Award and the Best Public Service Application (Small Scale Project) Gold Medal in the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2012.
About the APICTA Awards
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The APICTA Awards is an international awards programme which aims to increase ICT awareness in the community and assist in bridging the digital divide. Participants in the awards programme comprise members of APICTA. APICTA's 16 member economies are Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. APICTA has chosen Hong Kong to be the host in 2013.
Ends/Thursday, December 13, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:01
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