Intergraph Corp, Huntsville, Alabama is hoping to cash in on the rebuilding of Kuwait City with its digital database, which holds maps of the the entire infrastructure of the ravaged city – as it was prior to the invasion by Iraq. The Kuwaiti government has given permission for Intergraph to distribute the database to firms that win contracts for the reconstruction of the country. Data collection for the system was undertaken by the Japanese trading giant Mitsui & Co, and was completed in June 1990, just prior to the invasion. The Kuwaiti government bought an initial Intergraph system back in 1983 for use in its massive modernisation project, but like everything not screwed down and most of what was, the $5m system was carried off by Iraqis during their occupation. The Kuwaitis have asked Intergraph to put together a proposal for a replacement system which consists of a Digital Equipment Corp VAX-based server, its own Intergraph Clipper RISC-based Unix workstations, a mapping geographic information system and land records management software. The company will also tender software for architecture, engineering and construction that is compatible with the municipal database and enables data to be seamlessly transferred between different reconstruction projects. Intergraph estimates that it may receive up to $15m over the next three years from sales of software and workstations for the reconstruction effort. Map data is available in a public domain graphics file format, with an optional Informix Software Inc database containing non-graphic descriptions linked to map graphics – one-kilometre increments start at $210. The US Army Corps of Engineers is using more than 2,700 maps generated from the database to assess war damage. Intergraph also says that it is reopening its office in Kuwait, no doubt to await a rush of orders.
