Infoterra to develop Land Administration Valuation & Information Management System for the Island of Mauritius

18th June 2009 - Infoterra Ltd, a leader in the provision of geographic information products and services, has today announced it has been appointed to deliver a new Land Administration, Valuation & Information Management System (LAVIMS) for the Government of Mauritius, Ministry of Housing & Lands.

The LAVIMS project will deliver a modern Land Administration, Valuation and Information Management System for the island of Mauritius. It is being carried out by Infoterra Ltd, which leads a consortium of highly-experienced companies and consultants to deliver this project over two years. The project includes:

(1) Automation of paper deeds - scanning, key data capture and indexing of several million pages of deeds and other records, which will permit online access to deeds and deed-history tracking.

(2) Development of a cadastral index map and a parcel-based deeds registration system - hundreds of thousand of polygons will be captured and transposed onto newly-acquired very high resolution aerial and satellite imagery, in order to form a topologically-correct cadastral index map of the whole island, on a newly-defined internationally-recognised map projection and datum (GDM2008/UTM40S). Every digitised parcel will be linked to a live deed.

(3) Delivery of a Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) Valuation system, consisting of over 350,000 residential and commercial properties, for which data will be collected from historic, remotely held data as well as in-field observation.

(4) Delivery of a powerful web-based Information Management System that will allow efficient interaction, retrieval and analysis of any of the LAVIMS data by any of the vast array of potential stakeholders of the system.

Dr. Giles D'Souza, Senior Account Manager of Infoterra Ltd said, "This project has developed from a fantastic vision, commitment and perseverance on the part of the Government of Mauritius, demonstrating its high regard for its citizens' land and property. LAVIMS is one of our biggest and most exciting projects, which relies on the significant skills and expertise built up over many years within our consortium, and we look forward to delivering it in close conjunction with our forward-thinking and dedicated customers."

The Hon Dr. Abu Twalib Kasenally, Minister of Housing and Lands, Government of Mauritius, commented, "It is also of significance to point out that, with the implementation of the LAVIMS project, our country is embarking on land management reforms that ascribe a value to land, and that provide for an essential mechanism for making rational decisions about liabilities, risks and State intervention in land uses and planning."

About Infoterra
Infoterra is a leading provider of geo-information products and services for managing the development, environment and security of our changing world. With entities in France, Germany, Hungary, Spain and the United Kingdom, its customers include international corporations, governments and authorities around the globe, and organisations such as the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Infoterra operates across a comprehensive range of markets - telecommunications, environment, security, agriculture, defence, oil & gas exploration and many more. Furthermore, Infoterra holds the exclusive commercial exploitation rights for the high-resolution radar satellite TerraSAR-X, and plays a leading role in geo-information services within the European GMES initiative of the EC and ESA.

Infoterra is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Europe's leading space company Astrium, and, together with Spot Image, forms the Earth Observation Division of Astrium Services.

www.infoterra-global.com