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PROCIG - Central American Geographic Informaction Project

"Central American institutions promoting the use of geographical information"

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Main > Introduction > PROCIG - Nicaragua
PROCIG - NICARAGUA
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION IN NICARAGUA
Geographic Information Systems in Nicaragua
Current State. A National Spatial Data Infrastructure has not yet been established in Nicaragua. However, institutional and legal conditions suggest that soon the NSDI will be established.
The most outstanding aspects that contribute to NSDI development include"
1 – Institutional and legal goals reached. The Land Use Planning policy established the following guidelines on this theme:
  1. As a basic contribution, study and research on the national territory, in all its aspects at regional, departmental, municipal and urban levels.
  2. Development and Maintenance of Geographic Information Systems in function of Land Use Planning y the mitigation and prevention of natural disasters.
2 – Organic Law of INETER. This is an important legal instrument for the creation of GIS and basic information management for the country. The most significant aspects of this law include:
  1. Development of the National System of Digital Cartography
  2. Promotion and coordination of multi-sector relations and GIS technology
  3. Maintenance of the National Catastral System
  4. Use of GIS in the management of meteorological, hydrological, natural disaster y land use planning information.
GIS Problems. We want to emphasize some difficulties that we have had in the management of basic information and GIS.
  1. There has been little inter-institutional coordination
  2. Difficulty in accessing data
  3. Private sector consulting firms want free data
  4. The institutions exercise too much control over their own data due to the commercialization of that same data by users for their own benefit.
  5. Local governments have poor access to information managed by government institutions.
  6. There is a tendency to us GIS to make pretty maps, without taking advantage of the full possibilities for analysis
3 – Other goals reached.
  1. Establishment of GIS for vulnerability analysis in areas affected by Hurricane Mitch. INETER with BID funds.
  2. Catastral modernization project. World Bank.
  3. National Cartography Relational Data Base. INETER Management Project to standardize base data and reduce database preparation costs.
History of GIS in Nicaragua
1990 – First GIS (ILWIS) in INETER and MARENA
1992 – Municipal and Electoral Mapping (Microstation)
1993 – SPOT Imagery – MARENA – Forestry Project
1995 – MAGFOR Information System
1996 – First workshop of GIS units – Diagnostic survey on GIS
1998 – First National Workshop of Geomatica
2000 – Organization of National Environmental Information System

2001- Organization of Agricultural and Forestry Information System
GIS Applications in Nicaragua
  • Natural Resources Biodiversity (MARENA)
  • Environmental Quality (MARENA)
  • Agriculture (MAGFOR)
  • Forestry (MAGFOR)
  • Electoral Cartography (CSE)
  • National Census (INEC)
  • Mining Concessions (MIFIC)
  • Infrastructure (MTI, Energy, Waster, Army, Finance)
  • Natural Disasters (INETER, SNPMDS)
  • Local Development (INIFOM-SIM)
  • Official Cartography, Base Maps (INETER)
  • University (UCA, UNA, UNI, UNAM)
  • Private Consulting Firms

METADATA IN NICARAGUA

Nicaragua Metadata Project
IABIN-PNUMA Project – An effort was made to contact those agencies that produce and use biodiversity data and encourage them generate metadata. The project included training and installation of a web server with more than 100 metadata records. MARENA, MAGFOR, Universities and NGO’s participated in the project, as well as agencies from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
MITCH CLEARINGHOUSE Project (USGS-USAID). This project came about in response to the heavy impact of Hurricane Mitch in October 1998. The disaster showed decision-makers and users in general the lack of integrated information related to natural disasters, in particular geographic information in manageable formats.
This system will provide access to existing data of the national participating organizations: MARENA, INETER, MAGFOR, ALISTAR.
This project will implement clearinghouse nodes in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

PROCIG PROJECT

CONCLUSIONS OF THE NICARAGUA GROUP

1 – NSDI initiatives in Nicaragua are not structured under a government policy. Nevertheless these efforts have been developed with success and today there is a good foundation of data at the national level (INETER, MAGFOR, MARENA, INEC, MIFIC, SAS)
2 – The lack of inter-institutional coordination to data has prevented work efficiency. However, projects such as PROCIG, Mitch Clearinghouse, CIAT-Hillsides, Food Security Project, SIA, SINIA show signals of change in attitude with respect to inter-institutional collaboration.
3 – PROCIG has contributed to the improvement of technical capacity en each country. However, a more important acheivement has been to raise regional awareness of National Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDI)
4 – PROCIG should not end, but rather continue to develop in the future.