Singapore’s JTC taps GIS platform in Punggol Digital District

The planners behind Singapore’s upcoming Punggol Digital District are using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to develop better designs for buildings and facilities in a showcase of the city-state’s smart city prowess.

Developed by Esri Singapore, the GIS integrates, manages and analyses a variety of data including building information modelling (BIM) data to provide designers and architects with more insights on a structure’s location, orientation and even construction materials.

Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Esri Singapore, said the GIS will enable JTC, the planners behind the new district, to visualise the impact of their designs on existing surroundings and landscape on a 3D map.

This will ensure that the infrastructure and amenities in the district will support the needs of the community today and for generations to come, he added.

The role of the GIS platform is not limited to the planning phase. During construction, aerial scans can be taken by drones to track and monitor construction progress. The aerial scans can also be integrated into the platform to ensure works are in line with planned designs.

After the Punggol Digital District is completed, the GIS platform will continue to be used to manage the district’s day-to-day operations.

“The system will help JTC analyse consumer patterns, demographics as well as existing services and amenities in the larger Punggol town, to understand the market potential of the district in order to attract the right tenant mix,” said Pramotedham.

Beyond managing data on an estate level, Pramotedham said the system can ingest building asset data, in order to map and observe the conditions of a facility throughout its lifecycle.

“This capability will allow building managers to analyse patterns of use, make better decisions, and improve overall operational management,” he said.

Ryan Lee, director of JTC’s smart digital division, said the GIS platform will enable it to experiment with various planning configurations, provide a common platform for better communication across multiple disciplines and improve building management.

Punggol Digital District is a business park in Singapore’s Punggol town that will serve as a “living lab for cyber security, smart living and smart estates solutions”.

With 210,000m² of business and mixed-use spaces available from 2023, the district will provide businesses with “plug-and-play” infrastructure through the Open Digital Platform, a smart city platform co-developed by ST Engineering, JTC, the Government Technology Agency, Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority.