Geospatial information plays an important role in the everyday lives of Malaysian. Everytime Malaysian watches a weather forecast on TV and uses a roadmap, they use geospatial data. Major advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the last decade combined with the rapid growth of global information networks such as the Internet, have transformed businesses and markets in Malaysia. These trends have revolutionized learning and knowledge sharing, generated global information flows, empowered citizens and communities in new ways that have redefined governance and created significant wealth and economic growth. The developments have exponentially expanded both the need for geospatial information and the access to this information. 

Geospatial information is now recognised by the government of Malaysia as an essential resource that supports the economic, social and environmental interests of the nation. Demand for accurate, up-to-date, relevant and accessible geospatial information at the various levels of government in Malaysia is critical to the delivery of many government services. Recognising this new environment, in December 2002, MaCGDI was established under the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS) to replace the Secretariat for National Infrastructure for Land Information System (NaLIS). It is responsible for the development of the Malaysia Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MyGDI) as the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The underlying goal of the infrastructure was to improve access to geospatial information over the Internet.

The MyGDI today makes it easy for people to discover, share and use Malaysian geospatial information and services. The ability to share information is leading to innovations and unforeseen applications that increasingly add social and economic values. Over the years, tremendous progress has been made on the development of GIS application and usage of geospatial data among the government agencies. In order to streamline and further enhance the development of GIS in this country, Malaysian Centre for Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MaCGDI), under the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS) , has embarked in the development of Malaysian Geospatial Data Centre, namely the National Geospatial Data Centre (NGDC), the State Geospatial Data Centre (SGDC) and the Local Geospatial Data Centre (LGDC).

Pembangunan Malaysia Geospatial Data Infrastructure (MyGDI) pada masa ini menumpukan kepada usaha menyelaras perkongsian maklumat geospatial dalam sektor awam. Bagi tujuan ini MaCGDI bertangjawab dalam:

 Menyediakan mekanisme bagi memudahkan penggunaan dan perkongsian maklumat geospatial di kalangan agensi pembekal data dan pengguna;

 Menggalakkan penggunaan maklumat geospatial yang lebih meluas di peringkat negeri dan nasional; dan

 Merangsang dan mempertingkatkan kesedaran terhadap nilai maklumat geospatial dan teknologi berkaitan.

Antara faedah yang akan dinikmati melalui pelaksanaan MyGDI adalah seperti berikut:

 Memudahkan capaian pelbagai maklumat geospatial yang amat diperlukan dalam perancangan dan pembangunan;

 Mengelakkan pertindihan usaha pengumpulan maklumat geospatial yang akan merugikan kerajaan;

 Pembangunan maklumat geospatial yang standard bagi memudahkan perkongsian data khususnya penyeragaman penggunaan kod dan atribut data berkaitan geospatial dan kod sempadan pentadbiran tanah;

 Peningkatan penggunaan maklumat geospatial dan penghasilan lebih banyak produk geospatial tambah nilai; dan

 Perkembangan industri geospatial tempatan yang lebih inovatif dan penjanaan pendapatan negara daripada sumber berkaitan aktiviti geospatial.

Pembangunan MyGDI dibahagikan kepada beberapa komponen utama seperti berikut:

 Pembangunan Geodata;

 Pembangunan Standard;

 Pembangunan Polisi dan Garis Panduan;

 Pembangunan Infrastruktur Perkongsian;

 Pembangunan Modal Insan; dan

 Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan. 

Links that may interest you:

 Geospatial Initiatives