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Years' ago, introducing and applying the GIS technology was someone's dream. Gaining moral or financial support as well as the Government's approval was even more dubious. But 8 years on, GIS, a reality in the State of Qatar has developed into one of the best and most coveted implementations in the world.
The Centre for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS) has taken its successes a step further by embarking on the National Geocoding Project (NGP) to solve many problems people, both citizens and visitors, encounter in their day to day lives. The main objective of this project is to Geo-reference all land use features, that is, relating a building and its physical property to an area.
"The NGP will be a huge project considering the
amount of data that we intend to gather," comments Qassim Al
Ghanim, head of the Centre for GIS. "It involves updating
existing data of all the agencies - 16 in all- collecting
new data, making a dynamic database as well as creating
applications that will be linked to all the agencies without
any difficulties."
"Geometry (points, lines and polygons) makes no sense to the public or the general user unless it is referred to by its use. Presently, there is no one to one correspondence between a given building polygon on a topographic map and its use activity such as existing restaurants, pharmacies, libraries etc. in the State of Qatar. The National Geocoding Project (NGP) will tie purpose of a particular building with its geometry," says Abdul Salam Mohammed, one of the people in-charge of the project.
According to the current estimates, there are roughly 100,000 registered plots, each having a different use; residential, commercial or industrial. "We have chosen Zone13 (Musheireb) as a pilot project area where our survey is well underway and we expect the crew to complete their study soon," states Gary Jurkowski, GIS Co-ordinator, Land Information Centre (LIC) who is also in-charge of the project. "Their survey will enable us to identify the problems to expect, quantify human resources and also derive the duration and how the data will be presented."
Infact, Youssef Essa, Acting Assistant Head of the Land Information Centre (LIC) who is also Head of the Street Naming Unit says this project will make his life much easier. "Almost 20 per cent of the plots in Qatar are not represented. This project will allow me to access all the data from the computer and know exactly which places are unrepresented," he says.
The project will bring together a number of agencies like Roads, Land Information Centre (LIC), Planning and Development Department, Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Electricity and Water, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Municipalities, etc. "And all these agencies will be updating their agency data," comments Ali Mohammed Al-Sulaiti, another person in-charge of the project.
During the survey, the crew will pick up information concerning street addresses, number of entrances to a plot, total number of buildings on a plot, number of storeys and their condition and plot activity (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.). In addition, they will get minute details such as buildthe tility consumer numbers and as well the location of medical, religious, government administration, and environmental resource facilities.
"A system which produces a quick map showing the area of interest would be of great help. For example, pharmacies always provide their phone number and street name. A new comer would find it difficult to locate a place unless he or she possessed a good detail map. This project will also assist the emergency services, home deliveries, etc." voices Abdul Salam
With this project, having electricity and water consumer numbers Geo-referenced will assist maintenance crews to your doorstep incase of service failure.
In the words of Abdul Salam, "this is a huge project. A massive amount of data is to be collected and stored which will have a tremendous impact on public services. But most important is the fact that it will boost our already close knit inter agency co-operation on data sharing. Again, this project will bring out the true spirit of GIS in Qatar - Societal GIS - involving the general public which is the ultimate goal of CGIS."
"Once the project is completed, the public will have a much easier time because they will make the right decision based on real data," adds Al-Sulaiti.
"Besides showing the importance of a co-ordinated process among Government agencies, the project will create a solid database for present and future planning. It is also very essential for land use maps," concludes Dr Mohammed Khalifa Al Kuwari, Head of Geography, Urban and Regional planning unit at the University of Qatar.
After its completion, the project will not only benefit the GIS users but the non-GIS users as well. The logistics and other technical formalities of storage and retrieval of the data are yet to be finalised. But the data will be made available to the public from the public server of the Centre for GIS.