Fanie Minnie is a big man with big ideas. Using homegrown technology, his team is building a powerful alternative to Google Earth. SPISYS is a sophisticated Geographical Information System (GIS) developed for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.

Minnie is one of only 84 professional Geographical Information Science (GISc) practitioners in South Africa. “My mandate,” he says, “is to make government work by getting all information in the same spatial environment.