10 year Singapore Geospatial Master Plan outlines initiatives for geospatial solutions

Spearheaded by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the newly launched Singapore Geospatial Master Plan (2024 – 2033) will enable geospatial-enabled innovations to benefit more segments of society, while addressing the complex challenges Singapore faces as an island-nation. Building on the first masterplan, this second iteration integrates land and marine spatial data development and charts the trajectory of national geospatial development for the next decade across terrestrial and maritime domains, towards the vision of Singapore as “A Leading Global Geospatial Hub”.

2        At the Geo Connect Asia 2024 opening ceremony today, SLA and MPA unveiled several new strategic partnerships and key initiatives to expand the mainstream use of geospatial technology to benefit more citizens, enhance quality of lives and strengthen Singapore’s geospatial capabilities. Please refer to Annex A for the welcome remarks by Mr Yeoh Oon Jin, Chairman of SLA.

3        The new partnerships and initiatives by SLA and MPA were announced by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Second Minister for Law, who was the Guest-of-Honour at the event.

Mainstreaming Geospatial

(i)             Pioneering Preventive Healthcare for a Healthier Future

4        Mainstreaming geospatial can bring tangible benefits into our everyday lives, particularly in sectors such as social and healthcare. Through close collaborations with key partners in these sectors, geospatial tools and solutions can support national programmes such as HealthierSG and the Enabling Master Plan 2030.

5        Today, Mr Tong witnessed the signing ceremonies for two SLA collaborations - with SingHealth Community Hospitals (SCH) to co-develop a living asset map portal tailored for social prescribing, and with the Ministry of Health Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT) to expand the Digital Local Connect (DLC) initiative to benefit more neighbourhoods.  Please refer to Annex B for details of both partnerships.

(ii)           Barrier-Free Access Routing Function to Promote Inclusivity

6        Through collaborations with partners like SG Enable, SLA is making strides in mapping pathways towards a more inclusive society. SLA launched the barrier-free access routing function on OneMap today, as an additional mode of wayfinding, in support of the Enabling Master Plan 2030. This routing function will be initially available for selected areas and will be expanded over time. Please refer to Annex C for screenshots of the barrier-free access function on OneMap.

Deepening Singapore’s Geospatial Capabilitie

(i)             Leveraging Synergies Between Geospatial and Generative AI

7        Beyond extending the benefits of geospatial to a wider community, SLA is committed to deepening our core geospatial capabilities to keep pace with technological advancements and support the increasing demand for high quality geospatial data.

8        Following the successful launch of the SLA OneMap GPT Challenge, supported by IMDA, in October 2023 to explore ways to incorporate AI technologies for innovative solutions on OneMap, two winning teams revealed their prototypes at the opening event today. They were chosen out of 41 entries, from companies, academia and individual participants. The prototypes demonstrate the potential of integrating geospatial and generative AI technologies to develop interactive and smart solutions to offer users greater convenience and personalised map-based services. As one of the first in the world, and the first of its kind in Singapore, the prototypes showcase how the synergistic combination of artificial intelligence, location information and map visualisation can open limitless potential across industries. Please refer to Annex D for details of the prototypes.

(ii)           Using Marine Data to support Climate Change Protection and Adaptation Planning 

9        GeoSpace-Sea is an initiative by MPA to integrate and provide access to authoritative and consolidated marine and coastal geospatial data. The Centre for Climate Research Singapore, operating under the National Environment Agency (NEA), utilises tidal data from GeoSpace-Sea to analyse rising sea levels in Singapore. This includes an assessment of extreme sea levels as part of the National Sea Level Programme, contributing to the production of accurate sea level projections to support climate change adaptation plans. GeoSpace-Sea data is also used in the development of PUB’s Coastal-Inland Flood Model^[1] and analyses on the adequacy of coastal protection measures.

(iii)         Driving Geospatial Innovations Across Maritime Domains

10       MPA is building capabilities across various domains to establish comprehensive situational awareness of its operating environment to support operations planning and incident management.

11       In the subsea domain, MPA is collaborating with BeeX, a Singapore-based deep-tech engineering company, to map and provide a comprehensive view of the subsea environment. With the increasing use of underwater drones, the ability to better visualise the subsea environment will enable safe navigation and active management of underwater drone operations, such as seabed infrastructure and underwater inspections.

12       In the sea domain, MPA’s Active Anchorage Management System will utilise artificial intelligence and data from GeoSpace-Sea to allocate and optimise the use of limited anchorage space for vessel anchoring. This is a capability that will be increasingly important to ensure safety as the volume of vessels arriving at the Port of Singapore grows. 

Progressing towards A Leading Global Geospatial Hub

13       Singapore is represented in various key platforms at the United Nations (UN) to steer the development and application of geospatial data to help address global climate issues and support nations’ development. Key positions held include the Co-chair of the UN Expert Group on Land Administration & Management, Vice-President for the Regional Committee of UN Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), and Co-chair of the UN-GGIM Working Group on Marine Geospatial Information. 

14       Mr Colin Low, Chief Executive of SLA said, “As the national geospatial and mapping agency of Singapore, SLA plays an active role in spearheading national geospatial development. This second Singapore Geospatial Master Plan reflects our commitment to integrate and drive geospatial innovation in both the maritime and terrestrial domains. In land-scarce Singapore, we continue to overcome our urban challenges through the innovative use of geospatial technology and data, focusing our efforts on the mainstreaming and deepening of our geospatial capabilities to benefit end users, and enable a smarter, safer, and more sustainable Singapore. SLA is pleased to further our collaboration with MPA to propel Singapore to be a leading global geospatial hub.”

15       Mr Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of MPA said, “Having a more comprehensive geospatial awareness across the land and sea domains offers potential to optimise the use of our limited land and sea space, and helps develop new models to support maritime services, such as the bunkering of new marine fuels, as well as long-term coastal planning efforts. MPA looks forward to working with SLA to grow our geospatial capabilities as we upskill maritime professionals and hydrographers to co-develop new products and services with industry.”

16       The Singapore Geospatial Master Plan 2024 – 2033 is a living blueprint that will evolve in response to Singapore’s emerging needs, challenges, and opportunities. It will serve as a launch pad to build the suite of geospatial initiatives, working in collaborations with various users and research partners.

View the Singapore Geospatial Master Plan here: https://go.gov.sg/singapore-geospatial-master-plan-2024

Other highlights at Geo Connect Asia 2024 can be found in Annex E. For a full list of the event highlights, please refer to https://www.geoconnectasia.com/.

^[1] PUB’s Coastal-Inland Flood Model, first announced in 2021, is being developed with capabilities to simulate coastal and inland flooding scenarios in Singapore by considering factors such as intense rainfall and rising sea levels.

Issued by:

Singapore Land Authority

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

6 March 2024