WANT to let your fellow Singaporeans know exactly where you think they can find the best fishing spots here?
Or where the ideal and off-the-beaten-track places would be to bring a girl on your first date?
The possibilities are endless with user-generated content that is going to be a highlight of the Singapore Land Authority (SLA)'s intelligent map system which will be completed at the end of the year.
The SLA will be releasing free basic application tools together with the map system to allow the public to create custom programs to search for map information.
Singaporeans my paper spoke to were excited about the new map system.
Mr Ben Lee, 48, the founder and head of Nature Trekker Singapore that conducts outdoor nature trips, said: "We might consider charting vanished nature sites and trails now occupied by buildings and roads with the map system if it suits us."
Mr Luke Chua, 24, a Nanyang Technological University student, said the intelligent map system would definitely be useful as "other online map services lack active updates from government agencies, such as traffic conditions".
An SLA spokesman said the map system "brings the Singapore Government one step closer to achieving its vision of creating an integrated government".
In February, information- technology firm NIIT Technologies won the SLA contract to develop the system.
Searchable on the map system will be the latest information on public amenities and services that are linked to buildings and locations appearing on updated maps from the Government, said the SLA spokesman.
Singaporeans will also be able to add their own map information to complement data on the online map, such as user ratings of locales that can form the basis of custom searches.
Mr Kailash Agarwal, regional head for geographic information-system business at NIIT Technologies, said potential applications of the system include tracking Electronic Road Pricing rates along specific routes in real-time, as well as traffic updates, with live feeds from cameras, on road conditions.
The online map system is expected to be available on mobile phones, too. However, custom searches and map data from the public are unlikely to be hosted directly on the map system.
Commercial use of the application tools and the online map will require a paid subscription. More powerful tools may also be made available to companies and public agencies.
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