In a bid to promote proper management of land across the country, the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA) has completed the digitalisation of 3.3 million plots.

This was disclosed yesterday by Didier Sagashya, the Deputy Director General in charge of Lands and Mapping at RNRA, during a workshop on Geographic Information System (GIS).

The workshop was organised by RNRA in partnership with ITC, a learning institution in the Netherlands and Esri, one of the world’s leading GIS software materials manufacturers.

"The promotion of GIS will enable Rwanda to get the optimal information concerning infrastructure and business planning and this will best position the country to deal with land management issues,” Sagashya said.

He said that RNRA has also completed digitising land in the three districts within Kigali City and in Kirehe District, saying that the process is on going in other parts of the country. 

 
"This workshop brought together public and private institutions to discuss various issues on GIS data with respect to ICT and the challenges that the private sector still faces to venture into GEO-ICT business,” Sagashya said.

He highlighted lack of knowledge on the use of GIS among Rwandans, saying that RNRA will carry out training programmes across the country, to ensure that people clearly understand the importance of GIS in national development.

"This workshop is very important because it has enabled us to share our experiences and expertise on how best we can develop a more friendly environment regarding the use of GIS and ICT in the country,” Daniel Urimubenshi, one of the participants, commented.

Dr Rolf DE BY, from the University of Twente in the Netherlands, said; "Basing on my observation, I think the Rwandan government has a great potential in creating the next generation workforce that can do the things that we are currently just dreaming of regarding GIS and ICT.”

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