Attended by over 100 employees from 75 government bodies

Abu Dhabi, UAE, 17 December 2017 -  Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC), the government agency in charge of Abu Dhabi’s ICT agenda, recently organized the annual Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure (AD-SDI) Forum at the Etihad Towers. 

Attended by over 100 employees from 75 government bodies, the forum marked and celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the launch of the AD-SDI Programme, and highlighted the progress made over the last decade, the major initiatives launched, and the critical role spatial data plays in empowering the Abu Dhabi Government and community to access updated, quality geographic information and data. The Forum also gave attendees from the AD-SDI community the opportunity to discuss the new AD-SDI strategic plan 2017 - 2021 and roadmap. 

During the Forum, ADSIC showcased the most important achievements of the programme from increasing the number and diversity of members to more than 75 and increasing their level of Geo-maturity, automating geospatial data exchange among them and increasing the awareness and knowledge levels of geospatial data and solutions across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. ADSIC also underlined the many strategic partnerships formed with the private sector, and the international and regional recognition the programme continued to receive over the past 10 years.

Furthermore, the project team presented a detailed presentation around the new strategic plan to create an innovative framework that promotes collaboration across government, academia, citizens and businesses using location based information by creating a location-enabled civic engagement platform that improves data sharing, communication, analysis and collaboration, and helps unite and drive efforts of the Abu Dhabi government, citizens and businesses. The platform will also enable users to display ongoing activities and projects, monitor progress through key performance indicators and provide feedback that will support the realization of the Abu Dhabi Plan objectives across different sectors.

“Over the years, we have developed numerous projects and initiatives as part of the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure programme that has made it one of the most important transformation projects within Abu Dhabi's Digital Government,” said Khawla Al Fahim, Executive Manager – Spatial Data Centre at ADSIC.

“The programme plays a key role in improving the operational and practical features of government entities through several drivers and areas of operations, such as situation analysis and influence, business decisions, emergency response, transportation, security and safety, assessing demographic trends, community planning and resource management, to name but a few.”

“The Forum provided us with an ideal platform to discuss various accomplishments with the AD-SDI community, identify new areas of cooperation and recognize and honour the best projects that enable government bodies to provide integrated solutions that increases and improves users interaction with the Emirate’s geo-spatial services,” added Al Fahim.

At the end of the Forum, a recognition ceremony was held to honour the most outstanding performance. The categories included the distinguished geo-spatial project, the joint geo-spatial project, in addition to the notable participation of different members