CGIS among most advanced centres in world, says Minister of Municipality
MINISTER of Municipality HE Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie has affirmed that the Centre for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS) of the ministry is one of the most advanced centres not only in the region but also in the world.
The minister stressed that this is evident from the international awards the centre has won from prestigious conferences and events globally, and the great role played in providing a range of services to different parties in the country.
The minister made the remarks in press statements on Thursday after attending the opening of a workshop organised by the ministry represented by the Center for GIS in cooperation with Al-Mannai Corporation and the American company Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri).
The event was attended by more than 200 specialists and experts from over 60 entities operating in the country in this field.
Through the centre, the Ministry of Municipality contributed to meeting the great demand for updated and accurate data related to geographical locations, as a result of the continuous infrastructure development in Qatar and in preparation for hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as well as in implementation of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The minister highlighted many tools provided by the centre, especially those related to planning, designs, asset management and infrastructure, which save a lot of time and effort and increases the effectiveness of private business, whether in project engineering or urban planning or the implementation of the infrastructure in the country.
He said the workshop organised by the ministry on geospatial technology provides opportunity for specialists, researchers and those interested to contribute and discuss the development taking place in spatial information sciences and its various applications related to the real world.
On Qatar aerial survey project, Subaie said the ministry carries out the project through the Centre for Geographic Information Systems to produce accurate and updated digital data periodically.
He added that the ministry had recently invested in purchasing an aircraft specialised in aerial photography that includes the latest cameras and high-resolution systems, which give live data to users from all sides and helps urban planning specialists, infrastructure engineers and various agencies to carry out their work.
Director of the Centre for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS) at the ministry Manaf Al Sada described the workshop as an important occasion to contribute to helping the community understand the impact of progress in geographic information sciences on applications related to the real world in various fields.
Assistant Director of CGIS Amer Al Humaidi said that the centre is responsible for providing the official maps of the state, whether digital or paper, and is concerned with providing basic topographic databases and making them available to all state institutions for use in building databases, whether this data is above ground from buildings, facilities, main roads or underground from infrastructure services and others.
He said the centre provides all data integrated in digital form through the national network of geographic information systems to which more than 100 government agencies are connected, which helps to facilitate decision-making.
He said the centre had won nine international awards at the many annual conferences organised by Esri in the United States of America.
Humaidi added that the centre provides all licences for GIS software used in Qatar by all state institutions working in the field through a direct contract with Esri and its agent in Qatar Al-Mannai Corporation.