GISWORX 2007 Special Edition

GISTEC News
April-June 2007 ISSUE

www.gistec.com

Post-event Report
With the active and dynamic participation of 345 members of the GIS community, the 3-day GISWORX 2007 (GIS Workshops and Exhibitions for ESRI Users) was a phenomenal success that greatly beneted all categories alike users, workshop leaders, exhibitors, sponsors and the organizers. The event, held at the JW Marriott, Dubai on 20-22 May 2007, oered a unique in depth learning environment on dierent aspects of GIS to both beginners as well as advanced users. This year a larger vendor exhibition was unveiled at the event, providing participants a chance to visit dierent vendors and to know their latest products. The highlight of the event was the Excellence in GIS Implementation awards presented to nine selected organizations to honor their outstanding GIS implementation programs. Plenary Session The event started o with the plenary session on 20 May 2007. The keynote speaker was Mr. Mark Sorenson, founder, President and CEO of Geographic Planning Collaborative, Inc. (GPC), a full service consulting consortium based in California. He spoke on the topic: Spatial Data Infrastructure and Federated GIS - Challenges & Methods for Getting Started. Mark reviewed the special challenges involved in the initiation and early stages of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and Federated GIS program development. Based on his work in assisting organizations, countries, and regions in the development of such programs in the Middle East and worldwide, Mark shared his perspective on the essential strategic principles and methods behind spatial data sharing initiatives, and how those can be adapted to meet the special needs of each new situation. Peter Becker, Managing Director of ESRI Global UAE, then spoke at length on the features and characteristics of the GIS technology that makes GeoWeb, the main medium for spreading geospatial knowledge, a practical reality today. The software demo by Saed Abu Helwa, Systems Director at GISTEC and his team, provided the audience with glimpses of new features of the technology made available by ESRI in its latest ArcGIS 9.2 product suite. Ernest Azzam of HP Middle East, the Diamond Sponsor of the event, gave a presentation entitled HP Solutions for GIS covering the recently introduced large format printers and high-end work stations. Shak Jiwani, Founder and Chief Operating Ocer of Orion Technology Inc. of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, gave an informative and illuminating talk on Spatial Data: The Human Mind vs. Technology wherein he compared the abilities of the human mind to process spatial information with those of todays GIS technology. Mohammed Arif of Microsoft Gulf, the Platinum Sponsor of GISWORX 2007, described how the Microsoft Application Platform, including SQL Server 2005, can help optimize the GIS infrastructure. The mornings program concluded with a session by Unni Krishnan, Technical Director of GISTEC, wherein the audience got a preview of the 40 technical workshops from the 28 workshop leaders. Workshops Altogether 40 technical workshops, organized under 7 tracks (GIS Data Management, Standards & Interoperability, GIS Implementation, GIS Foundations, GIS Technology, GIS Solutions: Military- Safety-Security, GIS Solutions: Utility-Local Government) were held in 5 parallel sessions during the three days. Some of the workshop rooms were packed to the capacity with attendance ranging from 10 to 60 members. Sixteen of the workshop leaders were from ESRI and Business Partners (HP, Microsoft, IBM, AED-SICAD, Orion Technology, Safe Software, MAPS, Digital Globe, MAPIX Technologies, GPCI, ZEH Software, EMC Documentum) while twelve were from GISTEC. Exhibition and Consultancy With a Cocktail Reception on the evening of the rst day the 468 square meter Exhibition & Consultancy area was declared open to the delegates. During the three days the delegates took the opportunity to visit the various booths and consulted with the business partners and exhibition vendors. The exhibitors included HP, MAPS, DigitalGlobe, GISTEC/ ESRI, Magellan, AEDSICAD, Orion Technology, Pictometry ME, ZEH Software, EMC Documentum, GISTEC Training Center, SAFE Software, Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging, Business Communications LLC / Trimble, Geographic Planning Collaborative, Inc., Autographics Co., and MAPIX Technologies. Excellence in GIS Implementation Award At a glittering ceremony during the Gala Dinner on Monday at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, Dubai, the nine winners of Excellence in GIS Implementation award received their trophies and gifts. The award winning organizations are Dubai GIS Center, Dubai Police, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, Etisalat, Military Survey Department - UAE, Nakheel, Sharjah GIS Center, UAE University, and ZADCO. The annual EGI awards are instituted by GISTEC to foster innovation and experimentation in the area of GIS implementation and to honor outstanding GIS implementation programs of ESRI customers. All the award winners and their work are showcased on the GISWORX web site: www.gisworx.ae/egi in order to share with our GIS community the unique characteristics of the GIS implementation of these organizations. Other Events On the sidelines of GISWORX 2007 two other events took place. The rst one was the full day LEICA User Group meeting held on Tuesday, which was attended by 34 Leica users. Sessions covered a talk on future products (Outlook on the NG Products), technical demo of new products (Feature Analyst, AutoSync, Delta Cue, Easy Trace, Stereo Analyst for ArcGIS, GLT Viewer), demo on LPS MosaicPro / LOA, and user presentations. The second event was a Press Conference function by HP Middle East on Tuesday to announce the launch of three new large format printers including the HP Designjet T Printer series for CAD and GIS professionals and work teams and the HP Designjet Z6100 Printer series for print service providers (PSPs), and technical printing markets, such as GIS, architectural, engineering and construction. Sponsors The sponsors of GISWORX 2007, who contributed to making the event an unparalleled success, were HP Middle East (Diamond Sponsor), Microsoft Gulf (Platinum Sponsor), MAPS and Pictometry Middle East (Gold Sponsors), GIS Development and GeoConnexion (Media Sponsors). Closing Surprises! On the conclusion of the event on the last day the participants to the workshops were seen bidding adieu to each other and walking away with happy smiles on their faces and attractive gift packages in their hands.