Technology in Greenery Management
My previous post discussed different factors like education, cyber security etc that can contribute in New Zealand’s Digital Globalization journey. In this blog post I am going to cover the third factor i.e. use of technology in greenery management as part of digital transformation.
New Zealand is a tourism hot-spot because of its green cover and natural splendor and the Department of Conservation spends a lot to monitor and maintain the national parks. New Zealand people and government are equally passionate about conserving the natural reserve. Good news is that technology can now play a bigger role in protecting and maintaining the green cover.
Similar to New Zealand’s Department of conservation (DOC), Singapore also has National Parks Board (NParks) which is dedicated and committed to conserve and enhance the greenery of Singapore. Nparks is harnessing the technology in creative ways to manage around1.5 million trees, more than 350 parks and 2,300 hectares of public greenery across Singapore. This become possible by geo-tagging the trees and giving them an ID number. This way the trees are properly recorded in an inventory system and is given the necessary maintenance and inspection works. NParks has also provided its field officers with mobile map application. By using this app the tree inspection officers can access information on the locations which are scheduled for inspection, retrieve the relevant locality map and enter the inspection details as they examine each tree on site. This information is then synchronised with NPark’s operations system and Geospatial Information System (GIS) database.
Even when there is no network connectivity in the field, field officers continue performing these operations on the mobile app which then automatically synchronizes the updates to NParks main operation system once it gets hold of network.
Singapore’s NParks also uses LiDAR technology where distance is measured by illuminating a target with a laser and then analyzing the reflected light. LiDAR technology helps to estimates the height of the trees and the number of trees in a particular location, helping to improve both accuracy and efficiency of tree surveys.
Another interesting fact is that Singapore has developed a number of mobile apps so that users can access information about botanical garden, parks and natural reserve. For example visitor can download the app Singapore Botanic Gardens Navigator and it helps the visitors to explore the garden at their own pace. For two consecutive years the Singapore Botanic Gardens has been the top-ranked park in Asia for the Tripadvisor® Travellers’ Choice™ award.
To provide seamless services to its citizens, the OneService mobile app was launched by the Municipal Services Office (MSO) to provide a common public platform where in they can submit feedback on different categories such as animals, pests, cleanliness, water supply/drains, trees/greenery and roads/footpaths.
Citizens can click photos and share the information with the Municipal office through this app by selecting the most relevant category which then alerts the Municipal office to take necessary action to fix the problem.
Not only this, the app is also used to share information with users in case some vicinity gets effected with some fatal viral infection etc. The Mobile App will alert users if they are near dengue clusters and users can also see the number of cases in the neighborhood, and the blocks where these cases are located as shown in picture below.
These are just few example how technology can help provide better greenery management and municipal services. I am sure there are many more ways the technology can be used in this area. Can you think of other path breaking way we can use technology in this area ?
