The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is pleased to award Location Based Services (LBS) Map Content Provision Licences to 3 consortia. This is a result of a Call for Business Collaboration [CFC(B)] initiated on 17 May 02. Starvision Information Technology Pte Ltd, Wheresoft Geocommerce Pte Ltd and V3 Teletech Pte Ltd will lead the 3 consortia. A signing ceremony to award the licences will be held on 28 August 02.
The consortia were evaluated based on their experience, expertise and commitment required for the successful implementation and operation of the map content provisioning services for LBS.
Previously, the growth of local LBS industry was affected by the high cost of producing quality map information. To overcome this, SLA is licensing its map content to the private sector, through these consortia. SLA's maps are authoritative, reliable and used extensively throughout Government. This public-private collaboration effectively moves our local LBS Industry up a higher gear. With the licence, each consortium can now concentrate their resources to develop LBS services that will benefit end-users. The public will be able to feel the impact of this collaboration by 1 January 2003 or maybe earlier depending on the consortia.
LBS services can best be described by what it can do. For example, it can provide answers to location specific questions such as "Has my child reached home safely?" or "Where is the nearest shopping centre and how do I get there?" All the subscriber has to do is to initiate a request through a mobile phone. The LBS will then send the map to the mobile phone showing the location of his child or the nearest shopping centre respectively. (Please see Annex A for more information on LBS applications and services)
Ms Tan Kar Joo, a member of the evaluation committee, says, "We are very pleased that the CFC(B) attracted so many prominent companies such as Microsoft, KPMG, Sysdeco, Infodesk Manipal, SingTel Yellow Pages and eGuide. We hope to pave the way for the proliferation and mass adoption of quality LBS applications by Singaporeans in their everyday lives." The evaluation committee comprised members from the SLA, IDA, EDB and ICR (Institute for Communications Research).
In conjunction with this signing ceremony, Siemens, with the support of SLA and IDA will announce the setting up of the Siemens Location Enabling Centre (SLEC). This centre will attract LBS professionals from the region to Singapore to be trained in the latest LBS technologies. This is the first LBS training centre in this region, and is critical to the growth of the local LBS industry. SLA will be contributing its map content to SLEC for its training courses, development work and trials.
Singapore Land Authority
28 August 2002
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