Manitoba Land Initiative (MLI) is a
cross-departmental partnership project and corporate approach to Land Information
Systems and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the Government of Manitoba. Its
goals are to:
1.Harmonize
and share government's land related information from different departmentsand make them available on Intranet and
Internet;
2.Integrate
and provide access to existing information to decision-makers in areas such as resource management, environmental impact analysis,
public safety, sustainable development and encouraging investment in the province.
Its activities address business needs
of participating departments and agencies: Agriculture; Growth,
Enterprise and Trade; Sustainable Development; Infrastructure;
Indigenous and Municipal Relations; Crown Lands and Property
Agency; The Property Registry.
In
June 1999, the Deputy Ministers of departments involved in land-related information
systems formed the cross-departmental working group led by the Office of Information
Technology. The group was tasked to develop and
recommend a structure for a government wide framework for the management of land
related information. This working group reports to the MLI Steering Committee,
comprised of Deputy Ministers from all departments involved in land management.
The
Manitoba Land Initiative became the first initiative to develop and deliver an
integrated Intranet site. By respecting the differences in departmental land-related
information needs and taking advantage of areas of common interest, the first step in
a shared network has been completed. Through this cooperative effort the
first cross-departmental land-related information page has been launched. The system
is now available to all provincial government workers on Intranet and to general
public on the Internet.
The
MLI page and its database represent an important starting point for sharing of
governmental land-related knowledge and information.This site is a part of an ongoing process, not a fixed or final product. GIS
users and decision-makers will now guide future evolvement of this tool based upon
their business needs.
Governments
around the world have recognized the benefits of an effective framework for land
information management.In Canada, the
federal government and most provincial governments are building land information
frameworks. This approach is also being developed in federal and state governments in
the United States, western European countries, Australia and New Zealand.