Mapping out a modern economy

Sunday, July 18, 2004

By BRIAN LAWSON

Times Business Writer brianl@htimes.com

Intergraph is helping Kosovo update property-record systems

Think it's tough to sell a house in neighborhood that's seen better days?

Try selling a house without a deed, or a safe courthouse, in a neighborhood that was recently a war zone and neighbors who forcibly removed the previous occupants.

That begins to describe the challenges facing the United Nations and the people of Kosovo. The region, a U.N. protectorate, is a few years removed from war but is still trying to resolve property disputes arising from hundreds of years of ethnic strife and two forcible displacements in the past 15 years.

That's where Huntsville-based Intergraph comes in.

Not as peacemaker, but as a technology provider who can help Kosovo update its official record of property holdings and, in the process, maybe improve the region's chances of developing its economy.

Intergraph was recently hired by the Kosovo Cadastral Agency, which is responsible for reconstructing the region's record of land and ownership. Intergraph's Mapping and Geospatial Solutions group's software will be used to develop a property rights register and related information. Kosovo has 2 million parcels in a 10.8-million-square-kilometer area (about 4.17 million square miles), according to Intergraph.

Intergraph is providing land information management system software and services in a number of countries around the world that are emerging from years of strife, limited development or state ownership of property.

Pierre le Roux, who works for Intergraph's Mapping and Geospatial Solutions group as land information management program manager, said the company is working to help governments and organizations like the World Bank develop modern systems for property ownership.

"The work is ongoing, trying re-establish the principle of private land ownership, of a transparent judicial system of good governance," le Roux said in an interview. "In reconstituting those principles, historical claims come into play."

He said developing modern property systems is essential for countries to help alleviate poverty, to attract business and improve land stewardship. A consistent property system can help address landlessness, a root cause of much of today's poverty, le Roux said.

Intergraph is working in former state-owned economies such as Russia and the Czech Republic, providing a modern land information record system that reflects not only ownership, but changes as property is bought and sold. Intergraph's role is not to oversee claims that in some cases date back to the czars, the Austro-Hungarian empire or the Nazis, but to provide a modern land information system for governments, courts, buyers and sellers to work within.

Intergraph is also assisting efforts in Brazil, Namibia and Uganda.

The challenges in Africa not only include traditional barriers to ownership and years of conflict, but the actual residue of the conflict in the form of land mines. In its development of maps and records, Intergraph is working with Canadian counter-mining agencies, using the company's software to record and upload the presence of mines for future elimination - and, le Roux said, to ensure that planned projects factor in a deadly presence.

Doing business

Land deals through history have been concentrated in quiet corners, with government dominance, family arrangements, migration and conquest or dense bureaucracy. A modern system faces competition from most of those corners, according to a number of development experts.

The World Bank is among those calling for modern real-property systems that encourage private ownership development and confidence in a national system. A dynamic property market is essential for a developing economy, said Lynn Holstein, a World Bank consultant.

A land information management system, open to all and with courts and related support systems, should enable investors and residents to buy and sell and borrow against land with the confidence that the transactions are on solid ground, Holstein said.

Intergraph's role is to develop maps of property, compile lists of ownership and land features and update them as the land changes hands.

Merrill Smith, an editor with the U.S. Committee for Refugees who has lived in Haiti, said an effective system of property records and ownership can provide major benefits for the poorest members of a society. For years in Haiti, Smith said, people have burned down fruit trees for charcoal, rather than harvest the fruit and sell it. With land ownership and a viable market, owners have reason to improve the property and protect it, Smith said.

If there is confidence the land can be owned, development experts contend, people have reason to save and invest for a place to live or to build a business, without fear that the terms will change without warning.

Absent that confidence, the World Bank's Holstein said, informal agreements emerge, land is leased at inflated prices, stripped of assets and effectively undervalued.

Intergraph's le Roux said that as newly emerging economies seek to attract direct foreign investment, a company's confidence is going to be bolstered or hampered by its confidence that the land it bought will remain its own, not subject to a system where title and ownership are permanently in dispute.

That it was a recent war zone clearly makes the task of resolving property disputes that much more difficult in Kosovo, with displaced residents continuing to return and dispute claims. But the U.N.'s Housing and Property Directorate in Kosovo reports it has resolved 26,000 claims and is resolving about 1,000 claims per month. The work is expected to be completed by year's end.

Smith said if a country's poor citizens see a property records system working, they will benefit from it.

"It helps put the notion in people's heads what property rights mean," Smith said. "It has educational value, that 'Hey, I own this land, I can get credit.' The poor pay exorbitant interest to loan sharks and those types because they don't have access to banks.

"If you don't have security of property, the rule of law, you don't have markets - just gangsters."




Mapping out a modern economy Sunday, July 18, 2004 By BRIAN LAWSON Times Business Writer brianl@htimes.com Intergraph is helping Kosovo update property-record systems Think it's tough to sell a house in neighborhood that's seen better days? Try selling a house without a deed, or a safe courthouse, in a neighborhood that was recently a war zone and neighbors who forcibly removed the previous occupants. That begins to describe the challenges facing the United Nations and the people of Kosovo. The region, a U.N. protectorate, is a few years removed from war but is still trying to resolve property disputes arising from hundreds of years of ethnic strife and two forcible displacements in the past 15 years. That's where Huntsville-based Intergraph comes in. Not as peacemaker, but as a technology provider who can help Kosovo update its official record of property holdings and, in the process, maybe improve the region's chances of developing its economy. Intergraph was recently hired by the Kosovo Cadastral Agency, which is responsible for reconstructing the region's record of land and ownership. Intergraph's Mapping and Geospatial Solutions group's software will be used to develop a property rights register and related information. Kosovo has 2 million parcels in a 10.8-million-square-kilometer area (about 4.17 million square miles), according to Intergraph. Intergraph is providing land information management system software and services in a number of countries around the world that are emerging from years of strife, limited development or state ownership of property. Pierre le Roux, who works for Intergraph's Mapping and Geospatial Solutions group as land information management program manager, said the company is working to help governments and organizations like the World Bank develop modern systems for property ownership. "The work is ongoing, trying re-establish the principle of private land ownership, of a transparent judicial system of good governance," le Roux said in an interview. "In reconstituting those principles, historical claims come into play." He said developing modern property systems is essential for countries to help alleviate poverty, to attract business and improve land stewardship. A consistent property system can help address landlessness, a root cause of much of today's poverty, le Roux said. Intergraph is working in former state-owned economies such as Russia and the Czech Republic, providing a modern land information record system that reflects not only ownership, but changes as property is bought and sold. Intergraph's role is not to oversee claims that in some cases date back to the czars, the Austro-Hungarian empire or the Nazis, but to provide a modern land information system for governments, courts, buyers and sellers to work within. Intergraph is also assisting efforts in Brazil, Namibia and Uganda. The challenges in Africa not only include traditional barriers to ownership and years of conflict, but the actual residue of the conflict in the form of land mines. In its development of maps and records, Intergraph is working with Canadian counter-mining agencies, using the company's software to record and upload the presence of mines for future elimination - and, le Roux said, to ensure that planned projects factor in a deadly presence. Doing business Land deals through history have been concentrated in quiet corners, with government dominance, family arrangements, migration and conquest or dense bureaucracy. A modern system faces competition from most of those corners, according to a number of development experts. The World Bank is among those calling for modern real-property systems that encourage private ownership development and confidence in a national system. A dynamic property market is essential for a developing economy, said Lynn Holstein, a World Bank consultant. A land information management system, open to all and with courts and related support systems, should enable investors and residents to buy and sell and borrow against land with the confidence that the transactions are on solid ground, Holstein said. Intergraph's role is to develop maps of property, compile lists of ownership and land features and update them as the land changes hands. Merrill Smith, an editor with the U.S. Committee for Refugees who has lived in Haiti, said an effective system of property records and ownership can provide major benefits for the poorest members of a society. For years in Haiti, Smith said, people have burned down fruit trees for charcoal, rather than harvest the fruit and sell it. With land ownership and a viable market, owners have reason to improve the property and protect it, Smith said. If there is confidence the land can be owned, development experts contend, people have reason to save and invest for a place to live or to build a business, without fear that the terms will change without warning. Absent that confidence, the World Bank's Holstein said, informal agreements emerge, land is leased at inflated prices, stripped of assets and effectively undervalued. Intergraph's le Roux said that as newly emerging economies seek to attract direct foreign investment, a company's confidence is going to be bolstered or hampered by its confidence that the land it bought will remain its own, not subject to a system where title and ownership are permanently in dispute. That it was a recent war zone clearly makes the task of resolving property disputes that much more difficult in Kosovo, with displaced residents continuing to return and dispute claims. But the U.N.'s Housing and Property Directorate in Kosovo reports it has resolved 26,000 claims and is resolving about 1,000 claims per month. The work is expected to be completed by year's end. Smith said if a country's poor citizens see a property records system working, they will benefit from it. "It helps put the notion in people's heads what property rights mean," Smith said. "It has educational value, that 'Hey, I own this land, I can get credit.' The poor pay exorbitant interest to loan sharks and those types because they don't have access to banks. "If you don't have security of property, the rule of law, you don't have markets - just gangsters." Copyright 2004 al.com. All Rights Reserved.