a) Projects

Many of the region's municipalities are in need of technical knowledge, human resources, technological tools and/or financial resources to adequately fulfill its new and increased role of providing services and finding sources of funding in the context of decentralization. In this sense, improving cadastre and registry systems is essential for municipal governments to take full advantage of property tax collection, on of the most important sources of income for the municipality.

The SEDI's OSE, as part of the MuNet Program currently supports several cadastre and registry projects based on geographic information systems (GIS). Due to the many benefits of having a geo-referenced alphanumeric data base, in addition to being able to see maps, pictures and cartography to update cadastre and land property records, GIS systems enable this information to be used for urban planning, determine the value of the land, sewage, power lines, and even emergency and access routes, for instance.

OSE supports cadastre GIS projects in Antigua y Barbuda, Costa Rica , El Salvador , Ecuador , and Venezuela , through direct support, technical assistance and/or training, as well as with in-kind donations resulting from our alliances with the private sector. ( ESRI , Stewart International ).

b) Training and capacity building

The OSE offers a self-study CD based course in cadastre GIS management as well as a more general on line course on electronic government. It also, independently or in collaboration with partner institutions, the OSE organizes international training workshop and seminars for the exchange of successful experiences and dissemination of results. Organizations like the United Nation's International Center for Local Authorities Training ( CIFAL -Atlanta) or the Lincoln Land Policy Institute ( LILP ) are OSE's partners in capacity building activities and we periodically organize seminars and workshops with them. We are currently planning a cadastre GIS seminar and land property for Januay or February 2007 in El Salvador .

c) on-line support

The OSE, in collaboration with the Institute for connectivity in the Americas (ICA) has created a cadastre virtual discussion group to share experiences and information, announce events, make questions and respond to them with over 150 professionals as members.
To register please visit http://www.dgroups.org/groups/ica/Grupo-Catastro/index.cfm?op=dsp_info

Likewise, the OAS participates in the LandNetAmericas initiative to promote the integrity of the cadastre and registry systems in the countries of the Western Hemisphere .
Visit http://www.landnetamericas.org/