GIS in Qatar - An Integral Part of the Infrastructure Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hamad Al-Thani | Abstract Of The Paper & The Profile of The Speaker | Speaker Index | Paper Title Index | Following are the slides and notes of the presentation made by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hamad Al-Thani   What are we trying to do? To leave behind us, for our future generations, a world better than the one we found strategically plan for a better neighborhood / Community/Country/Planet     Services Taken for Granted When a person flicks a switch he should get electricity, when he turns on a tap he should get water. If this happens all the time then it is taken for granted and people don't even think about how it happens.     However, when there is a breakdown in these services, we find people getting frustrated and angry - even if the service is interrupted for a few hours.     Yet... We will tolerate long delays in getting the right information and... we are prepared to accept poor decisions made because of lack of good information. Sometimes this information is very critical. Maybe an ongoing construction project needs to know immediately where the underground services are to avoid accidents. Maybe the ambulance service needs to know the latest new address to reach a patient in distress.     Information as a Strategic Resource We will agree that we are living in a new era called the information era. The change from an Agriculture society to an Industrial society was slow. The change from an Industrial society to the new Information society is so rapid that it is scary. Today, information and good use of it is a very strategis resource.   Qatar's Information Pyramid This slide shows you how information flows in a typical government organization and how policies & decisions are made. Delay or inaccuracy in the information leads to poor policies and decisions.     Today... Decision makers are faced with a dilemma. The problem is not the process of decision making. The problem is getting the right information at the right time.     Decision Maker's Problem? Getting the right information to make the right decision. Integrating information from a variety of sources. Assimilating voluminous information for analysis.     Statistics have shown that over 80% of information used by government has a spatial component i.e. information about where something is located or where something is happening.     In Qatar, we wanted to make public government information as easily available as basic infrastructure services. We found the tools we needed in GIS.     Our Goal was to institutionalize GIS within the entire State of Qatar.     Strategies Make everybody aware of GIS Seek support from the highest levels of government Seek support from every government Department Involve every government department in design and implementation Establishe education and training programs Make GIS tools available to everybody   The Five Pillars of GIS Implementation in Qatar The five key steps of our implementation were: Conduct user needs study Establish a National GIS Steering Committee Establish a Centre For GIS Implement a nation-wide digital mapping program Foster cooperation and coordination among all agencies     GIS in Qatar is guided and supported by the highest levels of government. Cabinet National Committee on Coordination of Government Services National GIS Steering Committee The Centre for GIS   The National GIS Steering Committee plays a key role in Standardization and in fostering Cooperation amongst Government Agencies. Responsibilities include Development of: GIS Standards GIS training programs GIS database creation priorities Guidelines for data sharing Qatar's Digital Mapping Program One of the key components of a Nation-wide GIS implementation is to ensure that everybody uses a common spatial reference or base map. The Centre for GIS has developed a country-wide Digital Topographic Database that is available digitally on-line 24 hours a day. There is only one place where this database resides. It is updated daily and it is this copy that everybody uses at all times. Just imagine the savings and efficiency that such a thing provides. The following slides give details of this huge database.   Digital Vector Mapping 1:5,000 Photography < 0.5 Meter Positional Accuracy   All Inhabited Areas Digitized by Stereo-Compilation   1: 30,000 Photography < 2.0 Meter Positional Accuracy   The whole country Digitized by Stereo-Compilation   Digital Ortho Imagery All inhabited Areas Scale of photography: 1:4,000 Scanning Resolution: 25 Microns i.e. 10 cm./pixel   The whole country Scale of photography: 1:54,300 Scanning Resolution: 18.4 Microns i.e.. 1.0 meter/pixel   Digital Elevation Model All inhabited areas Scale of photography 1:4000 Elevation accuracy < 10 cm. Stereo compiled 10 meter grid + Break lines + Building heights   Whole country Scale of photography 1:30000 Elevation accuracy < 1.0 meter Stereo compiled 60 meter grid + Break lines Inter-Agency Coordination The Centre for GIS also ensures continued cooperation amongst all agencies using GIS in Qatar. GIS coordinators from each Agency meet at The Centre for GIS every two weeks. They have been meeting regularly for the last 7 years.     The coordinators have jointly developed a Volume set of The National GIS Database Standards and Specifications     GISnet All agencies in Qatar using GIS are connected by a high speed fibre optic network called GISnet.   Logical Setup of GISnet On the Road to an Information Infrastructure We have completed all the basic building blocks for a GIS information infrastructure. We have the organizational setup, the standards, the databases, the network and now several applications that you will see in the next presentation and over the next few days at the GIS City.     This information infrastructure caters for both, the traditional user of paper products as well as the new high-tech user.   Lessons Learned? National interests must supersede departmental interests. Development and implementation of national standards is paramount. Data integration is the key - not data automation. Sustaining cooperation amongst government departments is critical - but not easy to do.   Qatar's GIS Model is based on the following principles: Get support from the highest levels of government. Foster cooperation amongst agencies. Encourage competition but not at the expense of cooperation. Let (the power of) information reside with the people who have the mandate to collect and manage it. Share public information. Set national standards that encourage interdependence rather than independence.   The most important ingredient For a successful implementation of GIS is "Relationships Among People"     "The leaders of the present and the future will be champions of Cooperation rather than Competition" Denis Waitley     The real leaders will get what they want by helping others get what they want. "Interdependence" will replace "Independence" Denis Waitley GISnet is a live example of interdependence   Many of you may ask: If GIS is so good and useful, why isn't everybody implementing it? Remember.... Things don't happen simply because they are right or good or useful. Things happen when people believe in them and make commitment to pursue them.   | Abstract Of The Paper & The Profile of The Speaker | Speaker Index | Paper Title Index | CGIS HOME PAGE CONTENTS