THE Bulawayo City Council has adopted a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing Policy to improve urban planning, municipal service delivery and evidence-based decision-making.
The policy, approved on September 18, 2026, seeks to formalise how the local authority acquires, manages, analyses, uses and shares geospatial data across its departments.
The council's water and sanitation department said the technology first came into use in 2011 and had since been applied across various departments.
The initiative has resulted in several council employees producing and using GIS data and various geospatial tools for different municipal purposes.
The report said the city “recognised the importance of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing technologies in facilitating informed decision-making, enhancing service delivery, and promoting sustainable development within the organisation.”
The new policy is intended to promote the use of geospatial technologies in evidence-based planning and policy development while improving infrastructure management and municipal service delivery.
It also seeks to promote greater transparency and stakeholder engagement by making geospatial information available and encouraging data-driven governance.
Another key objective is to ensure that geospatial data is managed responsibly and ethically, including compliance with legal and regulatory requirements relating to privacy, security and confidentiality.
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"The policy will also provide a framework for training and capacity building so that council employees develop the necessary skills to use geospatial technologies and applications," the report read.
"It covers municipal GIS personnel, hardware, software, data, procedures, policies, methods and GIS-related products."
Council employees granted access to municipal geospatial resources will be required to understand and comply with the policy.
The policy further defines the responsibilities of different council sections in the acquisition, storage, manipulation and sharing of geospatial data.
Council noted that adopting the policy alone would not guarantee the success of the programme, stressing that it would need to be fully implemented for geospatial services to deliver their intended benefits.
