Smart Angat: a pioneering GIS solution by RASA and SuperMap

The town of Angat in the Philippines faces a number of urban management challenges. Thanks to the ‘Smart Angat’ solution developed by RASA Surveying and SuperMap, the Angat municipal government officials will benefit from more effective decision-making processes supporting taxation, planning, development and disaster preparedness, among other things.

The municipal government of Angat idenfitied a number of challenges with regards to managing the town, including:

1. Taxation: Land parcel information is not integrated into the cadastral map, creating difficulties when the land parcel database is updated (e.g. lands which were inundated by the river)
2. Business permits and licensing: Difficulty in monitoring business permit issuance and payment due to lack of integration in municipal map
3. Planning, development and disaster preparedness: The lack of an updated map makes it challenging to locate and assess critical assets in terms of hazard and risks for urban planning and development
4. Environment: The need to monitor households’ waste disposal/collection
5. Agriculture: The need to monitor livestock and crop production businesses throughout the municipality
6. Engineering: The lack of an up-to-date map of the topography and road networks makes it difficult to monitor the need for infrastructure improvements (e.g. road widening/expansion).

In order to address these challenges, the Angat municipal government acquired the services of RASA Surveying, a leading GIS and surveying company, to come up with a GIS solution. RASA Surveying is the main partner of SuperMap in the Philippines. 

Three-phase smart city project

To create more effective decision-making processes for the local government officials in Angat, RASA Surveying and SuperMap together initiated the Smart Angat project in early 2024. A platform-based smart city system forms the core of the Smart Angat project. The platform makes it possible to integrate and organize different types of data, including the updated building footprints from satellite imagery, field survey data, land-use maps, taxation maps and geohazard maps. 

The project is made up of three phases. Phase 1, which is now almost complete, has involved the establishment of basemaps and a digital twin system through the use of updated satellite imagery for mapping current road networks, integrating cadastral maps and other existing data from the local government. Phase 1 also jumpstarted the digital connectivity with the citizens. 

Phase 2 will entail the updating of the Comprehensive Land-use Plan (CLUP) using the digital twin. The CLUP is mandated by the national government for all cities and municipalities in the Philippines. They are required to conduct new studies for land development and assessing hazards and risks such as flooding, erosion, suitability studies and suchlike. Lastly, in Phase 3, the project team will integrate Internet of Things (IoT) data from sources such as CCTV, flood sensors and air-quality sensors into the digital twin.

Input, processing and output

The three different components of Smart Angat – input, processing and output – are being managed and utilized using the SuperMap GIS technology. The input component is a combination of existing data from the municipal government, and data newly acquired by RASA Surveying. Existing data from the government includes the cadastral map, information about existing business locations and hazard data. RASA Surveying acquired new satellite imagery covering the municipality of Angat, and conducted field surveys to update the various features of the municipality such as the road network.

In the processing stage, all existing and new data was compiled into different maps according to the needs of each department in the municipal government using the SuperMap iDesktopX. All those maps, along with the data, were then saved on the SuperMap iServer for central storage and management. 

To increase the utilization, all maps and data will be visualized online using SuperMap iPortal. This can be accessed by the municipal departments through various channels including PC workstations and mobile devices. The municipal government also plans to procure new LED dashboards to display the maps and information needed by the government officials and other stakeholders. Another part of the project is the creation of a web-based query application for taxpayers and business owners. This will allow them to access the Smart Angat system using a smartphone to check the payment status of their land parcels or business permits.

SuperMap and RASA Surveying conducted a training programme for the Angat municipal government staff in August 2024. The training focused on the software used for the Smart Angat project: SuperMap iDesktopX, SuperMap iPortal, SuperMap iServer, and the created web-based query application.
 

The Smart Angat project will provide an effective tool for decision-making processes for the various municipal departments, as follows:

1. Assessor’s Office: Accurate and updated tax maps for the whole municipality, and the ability to identify the land parcels with deficient tax payments. This will improve tax collection within the municipality
2. Business Permit and Licensing Office: Ability to locate businesses in the whole municipality for more effective business permit issuance and monitoring
3. Planning and Development Office: Integrated land-use and geohazard maps for the whole municipality, and the ability to identify suitable locations for urban development by analysing the maps and evaluating potential impacts
4. Engineering Office: Ability to identify suitable locations for infrastructure development and locate and classify the road networks within the municipality
5. Disaster Risk-Reduction and Management Office: Improved risk assessment, mapping and analysis of pre-disaster phase
6. Environment and Natural Resources Office: Visualization of waste collection via community survey data
7. Agriculture Office: Availability of maps and charts of livestock and crop production in the municipality.

Smart Angat will not only improve decision-making processes and resource management, but is also expected to contribute to raising revenue collection by the municipal government, thus improving its ability to provide more and better services for the town’s citizens.

About the town of Angat

Founded: 1683
Location: Province of Bulacan in the Philippines, approx. 50km north of Manila
Size: Approx. 65 hectares (according to the Land Management Bureau)
Population: Approx. 70,000 inhabitants (based on the 2023 municipal household survey)
Main industries: Agriculture (primarily rice and vegetables) and quarrying (sand and gravel for construction)