Information Systems for Multi-Tenure Jurisdictions

Abstract

Technologies that are being developed according to the needs of a particular society depend largely on the level of skills, available materials, economy, requirements and cultural traits of that society. If such technologies are proved to work successfully within a given society, cultural differences may not allow those technologies to operate effectively in other societies. Therefore, when transferring a new technology cross-culturally, several factors must be considered so that it is beneficial to the receiving societies. Land Information Systems have been developed to serve the growing needs of developed societies for complete, current and reliable information in a timely. They are also engaged to evaluate long-term policies on land management combining economic, social and environmental issues. Faced with compelling arguments for the adoption of such technology in developed countries, it is tempting to simply translate and impose this experience on the situation in developing countries. The authors have been asked to develop an information system to assist Tonga's Estate Holders (Nobles) in managing the country's land under their care. Accordingly, in endeavouring to explore ways in which the tools and techniques offered by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to collect, use and preserve relevant information about lands which are still held under various customary land tenure systems this paper presents a brief overview of culture, land tenure, Land Information Systems (LIS) development and proposes an extension to the classical LIS development models in order that information about customary held lands is dealt with effectively.