IACS for Paying Agency (PA), Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Bulgaria

Integrated Administration and Control System for Bulgarian Agriculture

The Challenge:

Living and working conditions in Bulgaria during the next several years depend on the competitiveness of the agriculture and forestry industries. As a new member of the European Union (EU) the Bulgarian government places a high priority on restructuring its agriculture holdings. In the interest of economic growth, the EU’s Phare program provides economic aid to central and eastern European countries. The Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) manages financial aid distribution in Bulgaria’s agricultural and forestry sector. The IACS determines aid allocations for arable crops, beef and veal, and other farm animals. It also manages farm production in the mountains, hills, and other areas of Bulgaria. To ensure the success of the IACS, Datecs led a consortium to develop and supply the organization with an information system. The company provides EU clients with services in the fields of geographic information system (GIS)/mapping data conversion services, multilingual data entry, and software development of GIS/mapping applications and Internet solutions. Datecs’ partners in the project included Technologica and Insyst Services. The system was needed to support the government’s distribution of 400 million euros annually to Bulgarian farmers, and to help farmers meet EU requirements. The integrated system would be required to manage massive amounts of data, including 110,000-square kilometers of orthophoto images and parcels.

The Project Objectives:

Develop an information system containing nationwide geospatial data that could be assessed by 300 users concurrently via the Web
Integrate data from government, Ministry of Agriculture, and Paying Agency (PA) sources
Store, compare, import, and export large quantities of data and aid applications
View, edit, and print GIS data online

The Solution:

Making GIS data easily accessible to more than 300 concurrent users presented a significant challenge. For this large-scale project, the selection of the right technology was critical. The project was completed successfully using Intergraph® GeoMedia® WebMap Professional. Datecs also developed an in-house global positioning system (GPS) application with integrated workflow within IACS.

The IACS information system is built on an Oracle database and incorporates many different applications. The system supports IACS’ efforts to improve rural economic and social conditions in Bulgaria. The GIS application enables visualization of raster and vector data in different layers, which are carefully managed. The parcels editing tool offers sophisticated editing functions such as snap functionality. In addition, the system creates a central database for land parcels and animal registration, while also expediting the processing of aid applications.

Future Plans:

With help from Datecs, the PA will continue to support the IACS using its GeoMedia WebMap experience and Bulgaria’s largest online GIS solution. The PA signed a three-year support contract with Technologica and Datecs to ensure optimal usage of the system.

“Our advice is to use GeoMedia WebMap technology with confidence,” says Evgeni Hinkov, Head of IT Department in PA.

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