Blog by Sheenagh Adams, Keeper of the Registers of Scotland.

Another interesting day in Singapore with the main focus in the morning on e-conveyancing in the Australian states and Mauritius. It was useful to hear about their progress given the aspirations of the Law Society of Scotland.

In the afternoon we turned our attention to 3D cadastral mapping in Queensland and Singapore. They are both making great strides in this field and believe that it will add real value to their economies and be of direct benefit to citizens, businesses and the public sector.

In the middle of the day there was a fascinating presentation from Frank Treacy, my opposite number in Dublin. He spoke most eloquently about Ireland’s journey from boom to bust, from the Celtic Tiger to an EU/World Bank special measures casualty. He explained the impact the collapse had had on the work of the land register and its staff, and that the aftershocks were still being felt with much higher levels of foreclosures and the like. It’s good to remember that the work that we do involves real people and not just deeds and maps.

I gave a presentation on our plans in Scotland to have a completed Land Register by 2024 and the three-pronged approach we are taking: trigger-based applications, voluntary applications and keeper-induced registration (KIR), a new power under the 2012 Act on which we are currently consulting. Colleagues were really interested in what we’re doing.

In the evening we were the guests of the Singapore Land Authority at the Night Safari, one of their top tourist attractions. It was amazing! Check it out online and you will see what I mean.