Rural Development Planning – A Case Study in Developing Geospatial Data Infrastructure with the help of GIS, Remote Sensing and GPS

Papua New Guinea (PNG) government has introduced the decentralised governance with the plan to improve service delivery and also to strengthen the implementation capacity of local administration. In order to realise this goal it is necessary for the local administration to be sourced with reliable baseline data to service the needs of district development authority (DDA) and sister planning organisations. Decision on the subject of appropriate locations and targeting the right people, monitoring activities, assessing constraints and mobilising resources for rural development demand computer-based geographically connected database, incorporating charts, maps and statistical reports to service the needs of planners and decision makers. The current research focuses on utilising geospatial technologies such as Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS to develop and analyse spatial data infrastructure in particular roads, bridges, health facilities and schools based on their conditions, availability, accessibility to the community and affordability at the local level Governments (LLGs) of Salt Nomane Karimui District, Simbu province of Papua New Guinea. Village based geospatial database is created by integrating spatial and non-spatial database under GIS environment for decentralised planning at local administration. The results emanating from this analysis will serve as District information tool to help improve planning, design and delivery of initiatives, particularly to address the needs of underprivileged groups and individuals at village level. The results were made public as a means of transparency in information communication for unbiased, scientific decision-making and efficient planning to achieve development objectives at the local administration level. A computer-based GIS database was generated at a micro administrative unit as output for decentralised planning and decision-making at the local administration.