LIS Development Project and Measures Proposed to Enhance Trust in the Land Administration System in Uganda

Transcription

1 LIS Development Project and Measures Proposed to Enhance Trust in the Land Administration System in Uganda by Land Administration Expert/Project Manager IGN France International, France, Land Administration Expert / Project Manager IGN France International 8 rue du sentier PARIS - tel/fax: /51 or P.O. Box 7096 MLHUD DeSILISoR Project Kampala Uganda tel.: sgil@ignfi.fr

2 Key words: Africa, Cadastre, Geospatial technology, Land Administration, Land Information System, Land Registration, Land Tenure, Title, Uganda ABSTRACT The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development of Uganda 1 needs an effecient, effective and reliable land information application in order to manage land administration workflows and automatically produce secured titles. IGN France International is currently implementing the DeSILISoR 2 project launched by the Government of Uganda jointly with the World Bank and aiming to rehabilitate existing land records and to secure existing titles, registrable instruments and cadastral maps from continuous degradation by converting them into digital form. This project is led by IGN France International-IGN France Consortium and involves several international and Ugandan subcontractors. The project also aims to achieve an optimisation of land administration business processes through a modernisation of the registry and cadastral offices including changing of the organisational culture, training and capacity building, introduction of the systematic use of computers at the workplaces and implementation of the LIS 3 at the Survey and Mapping Department, Central Registration Office in Kampala and 6 pilot districts in order to prepare for further roll-out for the entire country. This paper describes the project, gives information on its current progress and proposes a discussion on some of the land administration issues and challenges met during the project implementation and how these issues, challenges and associated problems are planned to be resolved or mitigated once the LIS is implemented in Republic of Uganda. The article is concluded by discussion on how implementation of the LIS will contribute to the enhancement of trust in Land Information System in Uganda. 1 MLHUD: Lands, Housing and Urban Development of Uganda 2 DeSILISoR : Design, Supply, Installation and Implementation of the Land Information System and Securing of Land Records 3 LIS: Land Information System 2/18

3 INTRODUCTION Today s communities are in a constant state of change and growth. All over the world, Land Administration departments must continuously provide accurate and consistent information on the status of property rights while facing challenges such as increasing number of properties with sometimes fraudulent titles, complex tax laws and exemptions, and the need for public access to records. In order to provide more accurate information and higher level of customer services, the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development of Uganda (MLHUD) needs an effecient, effective and reliable land information application in order to manage land administration workflows and automatically produce secured titles. Therefore it has been decided to develop a dedicated application, known as LIS (Land Information System) which is designed to simplify information-sharing between the stakeholders and integrates registration documents with cadastral data through the modules of Cadastral and Registration Management software based on the Geographic Information System (GIS). An LIS is intended to be used to perform a number of tasks - including land registration, creation and maintenance of the cadastral records, collection of the registration fee; it is also intended to be used in the future for physical planning and real estate valuation and taxation. This project is a Government of Uganda initiative, which is funded by the World Bank, through the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) under the Second Private Sector Competitiveness Project (PSCP II). The Land component of the PSCP II includes among others the development of the Land Information System (LIS), Modernisation of the land legislation in Uganda, MLHUD zonal offices buildings renovation etc. The preliminary design of the LIS, completed in 2007, provided the proposals for the land records rehabilitation and preliminary technical specifications for the LIS and the parcel information management system (PIMS). This preliminary design of the system took into account the recommendations of the baseline evaluation report. This project to Design, Supply, Installation, Implementation of the Lands Information System and Securing of Land Records (DeSILISoR) is one of the most important initiatives under the Land Sector Strategic Plan (LSSP). During the last decade, MLHUD has undertaken efforts and initiatives to modernize land administration and to support institutional reform. The focus is to computerize the manual land registration records (Mailo, Freehold and Leasehold titles) managed by the MLHUD. 3/18

4 Uganda is rich in land resources with a high percentage of customary land and has strong cultural and traditional values. Most families have access to land, however the impediments in the present system restrict the full economic use of land resources. The present system of land administration does not provide a stable platform for meeting the development objectives of private sector led growth. The land registration is currently managed on exclusively manual manner. Currently, less than 18% of all land in the country is registered. The goal of the project is to provide a technology for full and comprehensive registration of land ownership; this is expected to encourage international and local investments and therefore contribute to the achievement of national development goals. Therefore, the proposed system goes beyond the simple computerization of the existing data. It is aimed to provide efficient, cost-effective and secure update of the land registry information system. This multi-purpose and cross-sector project involves many stakeholders. Land sector stakeholders include the overwhelming majority of the rural citizens who depend on land resources and products for their subsistence, those working in the employment sectors such as agriculture, nature conservation, land administration professionals, the wider national and international public who depend on the life support provided by Uganda s land resources. This project is concentrated in six cadastral districts (among 21 for all the country): Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono, Jinja, Masaka and Mbarara and has to be achieved at the beginning of 2013, providing thereafter a one year of maintenance. The project is being implemented by the Consortium IGN France International/IGN France with the involvement of the several international and local subcontractors. Organization of this paper: This paper starts by the presentation of the project background including the overview, the goals and the objectives. The second part presents the main targets with the results and achievements of the project up to now, with some details on the analysis of the project activities completion to the date and, the project progress and the essential results of the project and proposed solutions with description of the outputs and the deliverables. The third part presents the main project risks management, their analysis, mitigation and unsolved risks along with their implications for the project. The fourth and final part of the paper presents the measures proposed to enhance trust in Land Administration system in Uganda. 4/18

5 1. BACKGROUND This first part presents a background of the project including the overview, the goals and the objectives. 1.1 Project overview The DeSILSoR Project is an initiative of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD), its goal being the development of LIS software, integrating the data converted from the Land Registry (LR) and Survey and Mapping (SM) in order to secure current land registry records into a unified database. The DeSILISoR Project has been undertaken for designing, supplying, installing a Land Information System (LIS) and securing land records in the context of a World Bank Loan for the implementation of the LIS within the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. This project is implemented for a period of three (3) years with effect from February, 15th 2010 and is planned to finish in February The project will cover six districts (named MLHUD Zonal Offices): Kampala City Council, Wakiso, Mukono, Jinja, Mbarara and Masaka. The land information system (LIS) aims to integrate spatial and literal aspects of land administration data managed by district offices. The land tenure in Uganda is mainly composed of the Mailo, Leasehold and Freehold Titles. Customary ownership pevails in the Northern regions, not involved into the project perimeter; therefore it is not considered within the present scope of the assignment. The objective of the assignment is to contribute to the establishment of the efficient land administration system in Uganda,to facilitate and improve the delivery of basic land services to the population and improve land tenure security. According to the terms of references, the project specific objectives, are the following: - rehabilitate existing land records and save the existing titles, registrable instruments and other registration documents and cadastral maps from continuous degradation by transferring them into digital form; 5/18

6 - achieve a re-engineering of business processes and modernisation of registry offices including change of organisational culture, substantial upgrade of human resources, working environment and supporting system tools; - test the approach and land information system design and architecture on pilot districts and prepare for further roll-out for the entire country. The project scope covers the following areas: Detailed design of the land information system including the proposal for re-engineering and modernisation of the registry and its procedures Data conversion: cadastral maps and titles together with and registration instruments Establishment of a Digital Base Map for pilot area of square kilometers (up-to-date orthophoto for cadastral mapping) Organisation of public information and awareness campaign and capacity building and training of personnel (i.e. sustainability through training and maintenance) Preparation of the strategy and implementation plan for the nationwide roll-out. 1.2 Land administration challenges in Uganda The land is at the heart of agricultural policies, rural development, territorial planning and the management of natural resources. Republic of Uganda, a landlocked country in East Africa, has on its turn become aware of stakes and problems resulted from cumbersome and inefficient land policies and business practices within its land administration and thus of the necessity to perform the reforms in the land sector aiming to remedy to the situation. The main aspects encountered in Uganda when talking about land are the following: The need for the completion of a geographic data set Considering a trustable land administration is a transparent land administration for all, the land administration must be based on georeferenced data. The need to secure land tenure and the importance of a land title A land title aimed at securing the property rights of its owner. In many emerging countries they simply do not exist, and when they exist such as in Uganda, the land records are in poor conditions. It generates distortions, loss, damages, leading to fraud, disputes or delays in the transactions. The importance of the preparation phase 6/18

7 The review of official existing documents from a legal point of view such as a title vetting activity is an essential stage that must not be underestimated. The importance of having the staff trained and well informed The aspects in relation with capacity building, communication and public awareness are too often neglected. For instance, the capacity building and training plan must take into consideration the actual level of the participants; the stakeholders have, indeed, to be very well informed on the project s progress. The need for a strong political will A strong policy is compulsory to provide the impetus of change at the highest level of government, to make the improvement of the land administration legal framework, to reduce the case of frauds or bribes, and eventually to make the land transactions easier, more secure and affordable for all. General lack of information such as - General lack of information about the importance of land - General lack of information about what the reform is about - Lack of information about the rights provided according to each land tenure system - Lack of information about the importance of land titles/certificates of ownership - and the offices able to deliver these titles - Lack of relevant information about the requirements and useful information to follow the procedures - General lack of relevant information about the role of the land-related structures (DLOs, NLIC ) - Poor quality of service/ no engagement of service quality from DLOs The implementation of a land information system should significantly reduce the number of complaints or land conflicts in Uganda and should enhance the land title registration process as the transactions are performed in easier, faster and decentralized way. The establishment of land policies is a fundamental element in the reduction of poverty and in the controlled development of territories. In addition to securing investments, it is a potentially important source of income. Modernising land administration is a long-lasting and complex process. It can also be the starting point to the completion of global spatial information infrastructures. 7/18

8 2. Project progress The second part of the paper presents the main targets with the results and achievements of the project up to now, with some details on the analysis of the project activities completion to the date and, the project progress and the essential results of the project and proposed solutions with the description of outputs and the deliverables. 2.1 Description of the main components of the project The project is divided into 5 components listed below with their respective progression: Component 1: Detailed design of LIS Software = this phase is completed. Component 2: Data Conversion (maps, orthophotos, titles, Job Records Jackets) = this phase is still ongoing. However, the following products within this component have already finalized and delivered: Base Map production including aerial photographs acquisition, Ground Control Points (GCP s) measurement and calculation, orthophoto production, The elaboration and delivery of the Data Conversion Methodology. Scanning of the map sheets and their digitizing Component 3: Data Integration (linkage of titles with corresponding parcels) is Ongoing. This phase has already started by the methodology elaboration. Component 4: LIS implementation (Installation of LIS and IT equipment, Public Awareness Campaign, Trainings and Capacity Building) is ongoing: Public Information and Awareness Campaign (PIAC) plan has been prepared and delivered. Study tours have been completed in Sweden in June 2010, France in July 2010, Scotland in September 2010 and Botswana in November 2010 respectively; Several public information awareness events for the project have been organized: the Inception Workshop on July 30th, 2010, the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the National Land Information Centre (NLIC) on October 22nd, 2010 and the Detailed Design Presentation workshop on January 21st, Component 5: Review of the design and preparation of the roll out strategy are planned to start in January /18

9 2.2 Ongoing and upcoming activities While the detailed design of the LIS software is already completed, the data conversion phase and the data integration phase are still on-going, before the effective beginning of LIS application within pilot MZOs. The preparation and performance of the base map related activities has been completed and resulted in provision of : 9 geodetic points of order 0 Acquisition of aerial photography over 17,362 sq.km with 50 cm resolution Production of orthophotography and a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) 4 over the whole pilot area (17,362 km²). The cadastral, historical and topographical maps previously stored most of the time in poor conditions needed to be rehabilitated and scanned. This activity has been completed during the last year (2011). More than of paper maps have been rehabilitated and scanned in order to secure their content and to provide a basis for creation of digital vectorised cadastral maps for the pilot area. For this purpose 11,500 cadastral map sheets will be georeferenced, vectorised and integrated into the parcel fabric databases of LIS by the end of Currently more than 100,000 land titles out of 500,000 have been vetted and converted (i.e. indexed, bar-coded, rehabilitated, scanned and reviewed). The LIS architecture document defining the IT infrastructure necessary for the implementation of the LIS at the pilot sites has been completed by mid-2011 and the process of procurement, installation and operational implementation of the equipment within the sites involved into the project is ongoing and scheduled to be completed by July PROJECT RISKS This part presents a list of the main risks for the LIS implementation process and mitigating actions envisioned. In summary these main risks, identified during the project execution, fall into two main categories: organizational and technical. 4 DTM : Digital Terrain Model 9/18

10 3.1 Organisational risks During the project execution, the Consortium has encountered different organizational risks such as: -a non-transmission of verified title files to the Consortium by the MLHUD daily, in sufficient quantities. Indeed, only the Ministry staff and particularly the registrar experts can hand over the titles to the Consortium and to perform titles vetting in order to provide only valid and complete titles for further indexing, scanning and integration into the system. It seems to be really difficult for the Ministry to organise this hand over and vetting process in a smooth way due to the lack of available qualified staff (registrars, records management clerks or the staff with similar skills and background) and also, probably, the lack of budget. o Risk: currently the MLHUD has not enough persons dedicated for Mailo titles vetting activity and this results in delivery of insufficient quantities of vetted title files for intake into the data conversion activity. As the Consortium needs to receive at least 3000 files per day and as the current vetting staff can vet an average of 20 files per day it will be impossible for the MLHUD to provide the Consortium with a required minimum quantity of files. Thus the potential risk is a big delay or to non convertion of all the files and therefore negative impact on the following integration phase. o Mitigation proposed: the Consortium took up the dust-removal activity in order to help the vetting staff and speed up the process; reinforce the MLHUD vetting staff in order to achieve the current required 3000 files per day; otherwise, the Ministry has to revise the vetting checklist, reduce some items or organise the vetting of the files after their conversion and integration into the LIS. The Consortium has already provided the possible methodology and guidance on the subject. -a lack of working space setting up the constraints on the daily production capacity of the Consortium and therefore imposing more strict constraints on the organization process of the data conversion activities: indeed, the data conversion activities have to be performed in secured and controlled environment, thus it is fundamental to dedicate enough work space allowing to accommodate data conversion team and the MLHUD staff in charge of verifying (vetting) the titles prior to their intake by the Consortium; the Consortium identified a difficulty for the Ministry to find space within the Headquarters building. Due to this delicate issue (detection of the forged files by intermediate of the vetting activity performed by the MLHUD staff) it is strongly recommended by the Consortium in agreement with the MLHUD to keep this activity within the Ministry building. 10/18

11 o Risk: consequently to the previous mitigation risk, the new risk shall be the space to accommodate all the new vetting staff and temporary storage for files. o Mitigation proposed: the Consortium strongly recommends that MLHUD has to look for working space within the Ministry building for these new vetting staff. The Consortium proposes to give some working area within the scanning room. -a delay to adopt the relevant legislative texts: the relevant laws have to be enforced by the Parliament prior to the effective implementation the LIS and production of the titles using digital converted records and software modules instead of manual business process currently followed by the MLHUD staff. The necessary Regulations have been already elaborated and delivered to the MLHUD. -insufficient/absent staff (e.g. Valuer) in the MZOs means workflow stages cannot be completed by the appropriate user o The mitigating actions envisioned are: Staff in the MZOs are assigned to additional user groups to complete task assigned to other users; MLHUD power users granted permissions at respective workflow stages in which staff are absent. - MZOs are unable to finance the operation of the LIS/PIMS 5 following completion of the pilot project due to lack of funds o The mitigating actions envisioned is: Application and conveyancing fees should be channelled by local governments to fund MZO and LIS/PIMS operational costs. 3.2 Technical risks -Online communications between MZO and NLIC interrupted or not available meaning data cannot be transmitted to the NLIC or remote desktop connections are unavailable o The mitigating actions envisioned are: Replication to NLIC is achieved in offline mode (e.g. tape, DVD, external hard disks) with appropriate security measures; MLHUD staff make site visits to the MZOs to vet and approve transactions requiring their intervention. -Entry of parcel data into the LIS/PIMS that has not been vetted will adversely affect the integrity of the system. Entering data that turns out to be incorrect or fraudulent, only to be changed later is a waste of time and money and builds on a perception that the system is flawed 5 LIS/PIMS: Land Information System / Parcel Information Management System 11/18

12 o The mitigating actions envisioned are: Property files to be vetted by MLHUD before indexing and scanning Scanned and indexed property files are vetted by MLHUD at a final review workflow stage in the indexing and scanning workflow Only approved scanned and indexed property files are committed to registry database -Lack of title files consolidation: o Risk: during the phase of analysis and field investigation, the Consortium found significant heterogeneity in the management of Titles and Map sheets, a disorder in the classification, difficulty to bring all the relevant documents within a title; the risk is to scan only a part of Title files i.e. some instruments could be missing. o Mitigation: The Consortium has sent their own staff to consolidate the Title files. -Interruption of the data conversion workflow due to the retreat of the titles by the Registers: o Risk: the Title files, in course of conversion, may have to be recovered by the Registrar for reasons of updates due to a new transaction. The risk is to stop the production line (in terms of conversion) for this title. o Mitigation: Once the file is updated, the Consortium proposes to store it in a dedicated area of the registration department together with the update form indicating the changes made. After the training phase and delivery of hardware and software, the Registrars will perform the update process for these files. -Implementation of a technical solution preceding the establishment a firm legal foundation. Aside from violating best practices, it involves the extreme risk of establishing an electronic system that quickly becomes out-dated if not authorized o The mitigating actions envisioned are: MLHUD should monitor the enforcement of the Registration of Titles Act and related acts by the Parliament to establish necessary foundation for the operation of a digital registry 4. Measures proposed to enhance trust in LA system in Uganda The land constitutes one of the most important assets for most households in Uganda, however, the value of this asset and its economic usefulness is jeopardized by insecurity of property rights. The problem of accessing land titles and related land information manifests itself in different ways like slowness and cumbersomness of manual operations, corruption, legal and regulatory constraints, poor attitude towards work, shortage of relevant skills and many others. The effort being made to put in place the LIS is intended to enhance accessibility of land information in a transparent and efficient 12/18

13 way, to encourage formalization and registration of land transactions, hence increase confidence of land buyers as well as to stimulate the economy by making land information available to the public as and when one needs to use it for any given purpose. Introduction of the LIS will allow to: Reduce the duration and cost involved in transferring property rights and in processing documents like mortgages. Increase confidence in real estate agents, mortgage finance organizations and private developers among others. Improve working relationship between the Land Registry, Banks and other financial intermediaries operating in the land market. The measures proposed to enhance a trust in land administration system in Uganda are divided in three main cathegories: organizational, technical and training & communication measures. 4.1 The organizational measures In summary, the main measures are: 1. Implementing a new modernized organisation capable of providing better public services; Modernization will be partially achieved through the implementation of an IT based registry/cadastral system; however, there are several institutional aspects which should also be addressed (e.g. salaries, functioning instruments of the land alienation process) over and above simply introducing IT. In addition, IT is also being introduced into MZOs with little or no prior experience of IT which presents a steep learning curve for end users, although this will be mitigated by the provision of training. 2. Having functional localities and working environment; The Detailed Design details the functional requirements of the LIS/PIMS; the Detailed Design Document describes the workflows and transactions to be configured in the LIS/PIMS to support day to day operations in the MZOs on the basis of a decentralized workflow environment with control from MLHUD HQ and the Department of Surveys and Mapping (DSM). Each user has roles and responsibilities in the land registration process which is reflected through workflow permissions. 3. Implementing a re-design of the organisation of the registry functions based on new functional model; During this project the Consortium elaborated a document which revised organizational structure, particularly with the NLIC providing technical and administrative support for the MZOs; registry and cadastral functions are devolved to the MZOs to minimize the need for customers to travel to/from Kampala; however, some functions are outside of MLHUD control 13/18

14 (such as paying stamp duty) which may still require customer travel from the district to Kampala to complete land transactions. 4.2 The technical measures The LIS/PIMS will be an enterprise computerized land and property registration system that will support first, subsequent and miscellaneous registration, searches and cadastral data management and ground rent collection initially for 6 pilot district land offices covered by the DeSILISoR project. One of the main technical measures proposed to enhance trust in LA system in Uganda is the implementation of the LIS/PIMS application, which will allow to: 1. Provide a set of technical processes and procedures for the registration of rights and interests in real estate units in Uganda by supporting the following MLHUD business workflows such as among others: - First Registration - Freehold/Leasehold - Survey Preparation - Leasehold to Freehold Conversion - Extension of Lease/Sublease - Subsequent Registration - Miscellaneous Registration - Search - Request for Copy of Deed Plan - Certificate of Customary Ownership - Certificate of Occupancy - Ground Rent Simplify and automate the procedures for land and real estate transactions (e.g. intake, cashiering, delivery); support the scanning of incoming and outgoing documents and provide pre-defined configurable fee schedules and stamp duty calculations; 3. Be the sole electronic source of land and real estate for mailo, freehold, leasehold and customary rights and interests held under unified registry for the 6 pilot districts until early 2013 and thereafter for the whole country (subject to a national roll out of the system); 4. Grant system privileges according to user role, that restricts a user s ability to tamper with the LIS/PIMS database and allow management oversight of all user activities including the vetting and approval of registrations by the Commissioner of Registration, the Assistant Commissioner 14/18

15 Land Inspectorate and Assistant Commissioner of Geodesy and Surveys or their designees using remote desktop connections; 5. Provide specific system administration tools to manage users, perform workflow management, security audits, system configuration and the configuration of charts of accounts and fee schedules; 6. Support the generation of ground rent demands; 7. Support parcel creation from JRJs 6 using standard cadastral editing tools and the ability to generate deed plans according to predefined template; 8. Generate reports on staff productivity, registry content, and financial information on revenue for services provided by the MZOs; 9. Generate standardized query and notification letters as well as other reports identified in the Detailed Design Document; 10. Provide a public access module that allows general enquiries by the public within the MZO customer service centre; for example, a user will be able to track the status of their lodged transaction. Public access can be restricted to control what members of the public can and cannot view; 11. Support decentralized business workflows in the 6 pilot MZOs to minimize the need for travel to/from Kampala; 12. Support the functions of a national land administration body called the National Land Information Centre; 13. Provide APIs 7 for the third party developers to configure applications to interact with the LIS/PIMS, the liability for these applications will reside with the third party developer. These overall measures directly impact the current activities of the MZOs, who will be tasked with processing land transactions using IT and move from a reliance on manual procedures to a fully automated work environment in short period of time. The MZOs will lead service deliver for Mailo, Freehold and Leasehold and Customary tenure, with all transactions being initiated and completed in the Districts. However, all these measures will be worked thanks the implementing computer system support for all vital registry operations; the Hardware/Software requirements report details the IT proposed for the MZOs, In addition to servers and workstations, MZOs will be equipped with scanners, printers and 6 JRJ: Job Records Jackets 7 API stands for application programming interface". An API is any interface that enables one program to use services or data provided by another, whether by calling that program, or by being called by it. 15/18

16 barcode readers. A preliminary IT Policy document which defines how data and systems are used by the MLHUD and the MZOs was also elaborated during this project. 4.3 The training and communication measures At the completion of the design phase, in April 2011, a short customization cycle will be ended with a final release of the LIS/PIMS in mid During this time staff will be informed and trained on the new processes and procedures being introduced by the LIS/PIMS. Internally, i.e. within the ministry staff, the configuration and structure of the MZOs should be reengineered to accommodate the LIS/PIMS by: 1. Committing and motivating staff through organisational and personal development; MLHUD should ensure that all staff inducted attends customer service skills training in addition to learning about the services offered by the Ministry. All staff should be fully conversant with the Ministry s customer service charter which is being prepared by the MLHUD. Training in the LIS/PIMS will be provided to all staff in the pilot districts. 2. Committing personnel to common vision, mission and development targets 3. Implementing re-designed job descriptions Job descriptions for existing and new MZO staff were also provided and described in a specific strategic document elaborated last year by the Consortium; additional staff roles were also identified. Comprehensive training will ensure that the staff are familiarised with the product and processes flowing from the introduction of the LIS/PIMS. The Ministry of Public Service Performance Agreements coupled with MLHUDs own Client Services Charter and the World Bank s Doing Business rankings offer a mechanism by which MZO personnel can be committed to a common vision offered by the introduction of the LIS/PIMS given improved tracking and reporting functionality being introduced. In terms of communication aspects, this is also a fundamental measure proposed and deployed in this project to enhance trust in LA system in Uganda. The measures taken about the public information and awareness campaign activity within this project are the following: - Increase the public awareness regarding the advantages of the formalisation of property rights (more secure, cheaper, faster); 16/18

17 - Inform the public about the advantages of a new system for land acquisition and registration; - Promote a new registration service to reach full acceptance and encourage the customer to formalise their property rights; - Get feedback from the public acceptance and evaluation of the registration services provided; - Inform the stakeholders about the progress of the project. IGN FI developed a dedicated project website: 5. Conclusion A strong policy is compulsory to provide the impetus of change at the highest level of government and to make the land transactions easier, more secure and affordable for all. Efficient land administration reassures both citizens and potential national and international investors. In that way, the added value of digitization of land records and implementation of LIS for the land administration is essential as it contributes to clearly define the rights of the owners and of the occupants, reduce the risks of fraud, reduce the risks of losses and avoid the delivery of distorted information. However, in reaching the overall objective of all the stakeholders - development of unified and easy, customer oriented land information system - some major prerequisites are to be considered, such as mainly: The exhaustive completion of diagnostics: this is how everything starts. When the projects begin, the review of existing documents (titles, transactions, workflows ) from a technical or legal point of view is sometimes underestimated. The phase of diagnostics is a crucial step. Indeed, modernising a land administration systems means reviewing not only the technical but also the legal aspects of the country, as well as its practices, gathering information on the existing land policies and legislation, studying their practical implementation, examining local procedures for development, approval, implementation of land use projects, and analysing the sources of tax income in detail. The understanding of the local situation is essential to making relevant improvements. Our detailed preliminary study within this project, also focused on the computer tools that are used, the local way of working and the most common weaknesses found within the recordings of documents. But the use of computer technology cannot stand alone. Many various examples over the world can clearly show that the use of IT can bring a lot to the professionals in charge of land 17/18

18 issues in emerging countries. Indeed, the use of LIS technology contributes to reduce the number of land disputes decreases and to improve the land administration legal framework (as for example, the implementation of LIS/PIMS system can easily demonstrate that several titles correspond to the same plot, which is of course more complicated to identify in a manually managed system; the simple fact of highlighting the disputed plots contributes to the improvement of the land administration legal framework that is an important step forward for the countries) as well as the case of corruption and bribes. Reassured (the superimposition of the existing land titles with the georeferenced parcels makes the land administration system more trustworthy and transparent), the local people start making investments and increase their productivity when they sell the products of their fields. The country meets economic growth and attracts new investors. Nevertheless, it is also very important not to limit the use of LIS technology to the purely technical aspects. The training sessions dedicated to the use of the technical tools are usually delivered, but most of the time they are delivered in a relatively short period of time and do not take into consideration the actual level of the participants. This means that sometimes some general training sessions must be given before the more technical ones can take place. The aspects related to the management of changes in work habits (some people can be reluctant to use computers and to change the way they work, or the way they deliver the information to the general public) are quite often neglected as well as the communication and public information activities. When they do exist, the activities consist mostly in giving information about the project s progress whereas the user s overall need to understand the added value of the modernisations and what is concretely going to change for them is omitted. The various levels of expectations from each category of population (professionals, local people in urban settings or in rural settings or administrative staff do not have the same level of understanding of the land situation ) are simply very often not considered. In terms of Land Administration strategy, never forget that the clarity, compatibility and security of registration legislation and technical procedures at maximum are considered as the best; simplicity and transparency of rapid and non-expensive registration procedures highly recommended due to eliminate corruption and be customer oriented. Finally, it is also very important to keep in mind that each solution has to be adaptable to each particular local context and able to give the country the means and the necessary skills to allow it to carry on the operations once the project has ended. 18/18