Complete training
plan for 2009 announced
The Centre for GIS announced
the complete training plan for the rest of 2009.
For more details, please visit our training pages.
A Three-Day workshop on
Advanced
Geospatial Information System Management
During the period 18 -20 November, 2008 The Centre for GIS (CGIS) has organized a workshop on Advanced Geospatial Information System Management with the title "How do you prepare your GIS department for the future?”. The workshop focused on the following topics: Effective Strategic Planning, Gaining Executive Commitment, Establishing an Effective Spatial Data Infrastructure and The Future of Spatial Technologies.
The workshop was organized in cooperation with KAVAQ Business Intelligence and is lead by Kevin J. Switala, Director of GeoDecisions.
A Seminar on Implementing an Enterprise GIS Project
The
Centre for GIS (CGIS) and in cooperation with
ESRI organized a seminar
on Implementing an Enterprise GIS Project
during the period 10 -11November, 2008. The seminar was organized as part of
the Enterprise License Agreement between CGIS and ESRI.
The seminar focused on providing a road map and describing best practices
for implementing a successful GIS project.
The seminar was led by Mr. Maroun Mounzer, Senior Consultant at ESRI and
attended by fifty members of Qatar's GIS professional community representing
20 agencies.
A training course on GIS Data Modeling will be organized in cooperation with ESRI also during the period 12 -13 November, 2008. It will be attended by 23 members of Qatar's technical GIS community.
Remote Sensing and Photogrametry training at CGIS
In cooperation with Leica Geosystems/ERDAS, CGIS organized an extensive, Four-week course on the latest Remote Sensing and Photogrametry technologies and methods. The course was limited to CGIS employees and provided them with hands-on training on the tools and methods used utilizing the latest aerial and satellite images acquired by CGIS.
New products announced by CGIS
The Centre for GIS
(CGIS) released Four new products for the public. These products are:
Electronic Place Finder 3.0: The latest
version of this popular software features updated data in addition to adding
all the features of "Al Murshid" which is the Geographic Names Multimedia
Database.
The official Landmarks & Street Map of Doha:
A new release of the map in English, German and French
languages. The first ever maps for Qatar in German and French and in an easy
to use patented design.
"Qatar... Essence of the past": An
elegant book that is a sequel to the Qatar Old Photos album released last
year. The book includes oblique rare photos and information about several
interesting locations in Qatar.
"Aerial Images from Qatar" Post cards collection:
A collection of post cards featuring old photos from Qatar.
During the largest International GIS Conference held in The USA
The Centre for GIS - UPDA receives six prestigious awards
The Centre for GIS (CGIS) in Qatar was honored with six prestigious awards at the Twenty-eighth Annual ESRI International User Conference held in San Diego, California, August 4–8, 2008 in an achievement that assured the premiere status Qatar has attained in the field of GIS on an International level.
The first and most important award recognizes organizations that are maximizing the benefits of geographic information system (GIS) functionality across the enterprise. CGIS is leveraging the implementation of GIS among 44 government agencies that are integrated through a high-speed network. Dozens of GIS applications have been developed, benefiting government workers, private businesses, and citizens alike.
Assistant General Manager
for General Affairs – UPDA, The Director and some staff members of CGIS
Comments Myles Flynn, ESRI's regional manager for the Middle East, "The implementation of an enterprise-wide GIS in Qatar has resulted in cost savings because of greater efficiency, better decision making, improved communication, better geographic information record keeping, and the opportunity to manage its data geographically."
Enterprise Application Award
The second award was the "Best Overall" map given to "Qatar's Unique Nation-Wide Data Sharing" map during the map gallery competition in which more than 1200 maps from all over the world participated. The map shows an example of the immense GIS data in Qatar compiled and maintained by 44 agencies and how it is shared among those agencies coordinated by The Centre for GIS. The same map received the "Most Unique" award in the category of unique maps for the "one of a kind" style in creating the map and the high quality cartographic approach it possessed making this the third award during this event.
"Best Overall" Award for Data
Sharing Map
The
4th award was given to "Qatar Landmarks Guide" where it gained the 3rd place
for its cartographic design in the category of Press Copy Map Series or
Atlas. The Guide was praised for the impressive approach of displaying
landmarks on a satellite image background and providing photos and contacts
of important ones.
"Best Cartographic
Design" Award Announcement
The popular "Electronic Place Finder" software received the 2nd place in the competition of software applications in the category of Desktop GIS Applications. Hundreds of applications competed in this category making this the 5th award given to CGIS.
"Desktop GIS Applications" Award
Announcement
The
6th and final award was given to CGIS web based mapping application "Explore
Qatar" which gained the third place in the category of Web Based
Applications. Explore Qatar competed against hundreds of other applications
using ESRI software and providing web mapping over the internet in an
intuitive and elegant interface.
"Web Based Applications"
Award Announcement
Mr. Manaf Ahmad Al Sada, Director of The Centre for GIS, expressed his thanks and appreciation to all members of CGIS team who have worked hard to get to this achievement without using the services of any company or organization outside CGIS. He also expressed his appreciation of the support CGIS receives from the director and all departments of UPDA.
Jack Dangermond, CEO of ESRI
with CGIS staff members
Ministry of Municipality & Urban Planning
The Centre for GIS
State of Qatar
P.O. Box 22088
Doha - Qatar
Telephone: 974-4955112
Fax: 974-4955011