Malaysia: 320 QGIS users and RM 3.2 million projected

From internal resistance to planned adoption

The Federal Department of Town and Country Planning in Peninsular Malaysia, known as JPBD, began presenting QGIS as an option for public agencies in 2009. The source describes internal resistance during 2010 and a gradual process of research, training and capability demonstrations.

Rather than promoting QGIS alone, the team emphasized QGIS with GRASS for planning analysis, topology correction and processing. Twelve people received initial training before the four project offices requested wider instruction.

Where RM 3.2 million comes from

The article anticipated that at least 320 staff members would use QGIS by the end of 2012, representing roughly 90% of GIS users in the department. It then applied an explicit assumption of RM 10,000 per proprietary GIS license:

320 planned installations × RM 10,000 assumed license cost = RM 3,200,000.

The arithmetic is transparent, but both variables were prospective when the article was published. The amount should therefore be classified as calculated potential savings, not confirmed avoided procurement or audited net savings.

What was in use and what remained under study

QGIS and GRASS were already part of training and analytical work. The source describes perceived improvements in topology cleaning, tool consistency and learning across teams.

PostgreSQL and PostGIS appeared as an architecture the department was seriously studying for a future integrated land-use information network. The page is not evidence that a PostGIS backend had already been deployed across all 320 planned installations.

Costs omitted from the calculation

• Staff and instructor training.
• Development or maintenance of analytical modules.
• Technical support and change management.
• Infrastructure for the planned geodatabase.
• Internal community and documentation work.
• Specialist licenses that might remain.

The source also does not confirm how many of the planned 320 users reached production by the end of 2012.

Lesson for Colombia

The case provides a clear reach calculation: users multiplied by avoided unit cost. A real investment decision must replace both assumptions with verified data—the active-user inventory and each profile’s current renewal value.

Adoption also shows that training is not a side cost. It was the mechanism used to reduce resistance, create internal champions and expand use. A Colombian budget should include training, support and customization in alternative-stack TCO even when the QGIS license itself costs zero.