Map Middle East 2006 conference opens

He was delivering the opening speech at the Map Middle East 2006 conference at Dubai World Trade Centre yestreday.

The conference held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality with the theme 'Geospatial for All and All for Geospatial' will run until 29th March.

Map Middle East 2006, organized jointly by Dubai Municipality and GIS Development, focuses on the capability of geospatial information and technology in improving quality of life for the public.

Lootah said the vision of the country's rulers, both past and present, have in the true sense of the word created a 'Jannat' - paradise on earth within just a few decades.

'As geospatial technologies are today being used for various infrastructure developmental activities like road, telecom and port to e-governance and enterprise business solutions, Dubai Municipality has initiated many projects, which will soon fructify to give this city still better governance through the exhaustive usage of these technologies in Governance, Security, Infrastructure and Education. We have always believed in using the state-of-the-art tools for the timely delivery of infrastructure projects,' he said.

Lootah, who also opened the exhibition, which is being held alongside the conference, hoped that both the events will provide a stage for the professionals in private sector, government officials, researchers and academicians in the Middle East region to learn about the new developments in the field of GIS, GPS, Remote Sensing and Aerial Photography.

He also hoped that the event will also be an opportunity for them to share the experiences they have gained through the multitude of projects that have been completed in the region which has seen the highest growth in infrastructure in this part of the world.

The inaugural session of the conference was also addressed by Mr. MP Narayanan, President, GIS Development, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Member of Indian Parliament and Prof. Milan Konecny, President of International Cartographic Association.

The highlight of the conference on Monday will be the Plenary Session on 'Geospatial for All, All for Geospatial'; 'Critical Geospatial Applications' where eminent geospatial leaders such as Michael T Jones, Chief Technology Officer, Google Earth, Prof. David Rhind, Vice Chancellor of City University, UK, Prof. Ian Dowman, President of International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Ms. Preetha Pulusani, President of SGI Division, Intergraph, and Prof Gottfreid Konecny of University of Hanover, would be addressing the conference.

Keynote sessions on 'Positioning and Locational Intelligence, Emerging GIS Trends and Application Tracks (Security, Governance, Land Administration, Infrastructure)' will also be addressed by various eminent speakers both from the government and industry sector.
During the conference, two workshops, 'GIS Ethics and Law' and GIS Project Management will be organized. An important feature of this conference will be the Student Forum, an initiative taken by Dubai Municipality to spread awareness on mapping technology amongst the school kids.

Delegates from 41 countries, including 14 from the Middle East region are attending the conference. About 51 Exhibitors are participating in the exhibition from the government and the industry. The conference will have over 80 paper presentations and 60 poster presentations.