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OAS SUPPORTS LATIN AMERICAN MUNICIPALITIES
WITH TECHNOLOGY TO MODERNIZE PROPERTY REGISTRATION

The Organization of American States (OAS) will step up its support for municipal modernization and development through the use of donated software that can create precision maps based on geospatial technology. This technology will help improve land registry and cadastre databases, and improve urban planning and development.

The U.S.-based Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), which specializes in geographic information systems technology, has donated software worth $1.4 million to support this and other initiatives of the OAS Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI). Through its partnership with ESRI, the OAS/SEDI has obtained the necessary licenses to incorporate this technology into its efforts to help municipalities modernize their services.

“Thanks to this partnership, we will have the tools to help municipalities update their property registry databases, and this in turn will facilitate a more comprehensive tax collection system and better municipal planning,” said Alfonso Quiñónez, OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Development. “Besides,” he added, “this modern system will deliver more efficient, transparent and reliable property registration services to citizens. This is another example of the benefits of partnerships between the OAS and the private sector, and it also demonstrates our commitment to development.”

Through a competitive process, SEDI evaluated proposals submitted by municipalities in several countries of the region. Based on consideration of the technical merit and feasibility of the proposals, the following municipalities have been selected as the first to benefit from the donation: Alajuela, Costa Rica; San José, Costa Rica; San Miguel de Ibarra, Ecuador; Loja, Ecuador; Asunción, Paraguay; and the Urban Dwelling System of the Bío Bío region of Chile, which serves a variety of municipalities.

Each beneficiary will receive a software package that allows it to use a geographic information system to improve property identification and registration. Four scholarships will also be awarded for officials to take an online technical course on how to use the system. The total cost is about $60,000 per municipality.

Through a parallel competitive selection process, four other municipalities—Belén, Costa Rica; Cojutepeque, El Salvador; Azogues, Ecuador; and Colón, Venezuela—were chosen to participate in a program that will use the same ESRI technology. Additional funds will be allocated to carry out related work on cadastre and property registry. This second project is being carried out as part of the MuNet Program (Efficient and Transparent Municipalities) coordinated by the OAS/SEDI with sponsorship from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Under this program, each municipality selected will receive support worth around $115,000.

Reference: E-047/07