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Ennoble Consultancy in Melbourne and Telekom Malaysia (TM) have entered into a partnership under which Ennoble will develop and improve the TM map base for utilities, businesses and web and mobile application. The availability of a readily useable map base will revolutionise land information in Malaysia.

The business is being conducted through Ennoble Consultancy Malaysia (ECM) in Kota Damansara. ECM already has a strong relationship with TM, providing geospatial solutions to existing TM clients. The relationship will be further developed through work on the map base.

Sam Majid, the chief executive of Ennoble, said the TM database was the best available in Malaysia. It covers the whole country and has many data sets that are relevant for consumer and business use.

Majid says that there is currently plenty of data available however, there are huge disconnects between suppliers and users of data.

'Most people just don't know what's available. Those who do know don't know who supplies it,’ he says.

The result is data duplication and mapping that is more expensive than it needs to be.

There is enormous pressure on map providers in Malaysia to remedy this situation. Much of this is driven by the strong demand for consumer applications such as in-car and internet map applications. Other pressure comes from business-to-business software suppliers, especially suppliers of applications for forestry, tracking and utilities.

There is also considerable demand from government agencies, particularly local government.

Part of the problem lies with the government itself; map data is seen as central to national security and access is tightly controlled. The government has been especially cautious about the internet because of its potential to cross national boundaries.

However, change may be on the horizon. At senior levels of government there is now also a view that the advantages of efficient gathering and widespread use of map data outweighs the military benefits of restricted access.

ASM Newsletter is distributed by e-mail every two weeks. It reports on events in the spatial industry in Asia and events outside the region which will impact on Asia.