South Sulawesi Provincial Government Partners with ITB to Strengthen Utilisation of Geospatial Data

Makassar (ANTARA) - The South Sulawesi Provincial Government (Sulsel) is collaborating with the Spatial Data Infrastructure Centre at the Institut Teknologi Bandung (PIDS-ITB) to strengthen the utilisation of geospatial data in smart development planning.

Acting Head of the Sulsel Planning, Research, and Development Agency, Irawan Dermayasamin, stated in Makassar on Friday that the use of Geo-AI has high relevance in regional development, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, spatial planning, environmental management, disaster mitigation, and smart city development.

“The geospatial approach is essential to support mapping, analysis of land use linkages with disaster risks, and the formulation of integrated mitigation strategies in regional development planning,” he said during a workshop with PIDS-ITB.

He explained that various regional development challenges, such as increasing flood risks, changes in land cover, and the reduction of water infiltration areas, further underscore the urgency of using accurate, up-to-date, and integrated geospatial data.

This utilisation is expected to improve the precision of handling disaster-prone areas in South Sulawesi.

Meanwhile, Head of the Spatial Data Infrastructure Centre at ITB, Dr. Budhy Soeksmantono, emphasised the principle of geospatial data utilisation promoted by the Geospatial Information Agency (BIG), namely “data is collected once and used multiple times,” as an efficient approach to development data management.

According to him, the optimisation of geospatial data depends on four main components: data, platforms, human resources, and regulations.

“Without these four elements, the utilisation of geospatial data will not be optimal,” he stressed.

He added that geospatial data plays a broad role, from the preparation of Detailed Spatial Planning Plans (RDTR), agriculture and mining sectors, to urban area management and disaster mitigation.

“Geospatial data becomes an important component that may not be visible (invisible layer), but contributes significantly to decision-making,” he said.

Furthermore, GM of Regional Center SuperMap GIS (Beijing, China), Evelyn Sun, conveyed that big data and 3D-based geospatial technology provides significant benefits to local governments, especially in disaster management and city planning.