The World Bank and Singapore Land Authority Sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote Greater Use of Geospatial Information and Technology for Sustainable Urban Development

Director for the World Bank Singapore Hub Jyoti Shukla and Singapore Land Authority Chief Executive Tan Boon Khai signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) today to promote the greater use of geospatial information and technology in support of sustainable urban development in partner cities.

The MOU was signed in the presence of Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Law and Health, Mr Edwin Tong and the World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of the World Cities Summit 2018.

Under this MOU, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will provide its expertise in geospatial information and technology to the World Bank to facilitate the development of geospatial data infrastructures in the region for sustainable urban development. The collaborative areas would include the provision of deep-dive consultancy by SLA to the World Bank for its projects with partner cities, training workshops, advisory activities and mutual knowledge sharing. The World Bank will share its experiences in capacity building and urban development. Both parties will work together to promote the use of geospatial information and technology for better optimisation of land resources, land use planning and sustainable urban development.

“Singapore’s success in harnessing technology to overcome development challenges is an inspiration. The World Bank is pleased to partner with SLA in sharing expertise that will strengthen the planning and management of cities – the growth engines of the future,” said Jyoti Shukla, Director of the World Bank Singapore Hub for Infrastructure and Urban Development.

“SLA is driving geospatial transformation in Singapore, building geospatial competencies and capabilities to empower citizens in a geo-enabled city. Globally, we are also seeing increased geospatial interest, propelled by the greater need for locational intelligence in building smarter cities as well as improving urban and environmental management. This MOU will deepen our collaborative efforts to share our knowledge in harnessing the potential of geospatial information and technology for enhanced decision-making and analytics in various aspects of city planning and urban development in the region and beyond,” said SLA Chief Executive Tan Boon Khai.

SLA and the World Bank enjoy a strong partnership through the World Bank’s City Planning Lab initiative, a Technical Assistance programme in the Global Practice for Social, Urban Rural & Resilience for the East Asia Pacific Region.