ESRI CEO Jack Dangermond (centre) after presenting the awards to CGIS officials.

DOHA • The Centre for Geographical Information System (CGIS) Qatar has won six prestigious awards at a just concluded international conference.

The CGIS, a wing of the Urban Planning and Development Authority (UPDA), won the honour at the 28th annual ESRI International User Conference held in San Diego, California early this month.

ESRI is the world leader in GIS (Geographic Information System) modelling and mapping software.

The first and most important award was conferred on Qatar in recognition to the CGIS efforts in maximising the benefits of geographic information system functionality. The CGIS has leveraged the implementation of GIS among 44 government agencies in Qatar; and they are integrated through high-speed network. The centre has developed a slew of GIS applications that are benefiting government workers, private business and

citizens.

The primary goal of the centre is to simplify data transfer between all agencies, minimise data redundancy, and ensure that suitably trained personnel are available to operate and manage the various components of the enterprise system.

"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", said Myles Flynn ESRI's regional manager for the Middle East.

The centre won the second award (Best Overall Map) for developing the Qatar map that provides nationwide data. Over 1200 entries from different parts of the world competed in this segment. The same map won the "most unique" award for its style and high quality cartographic approach.

The CGIS' "Qatar Landmarks Guide", won another award for its design in the category of Press Copy Map Series. The product was praised for the impressive approach of displaying landmarks on a satellite image background and providing photos and contacts of important ones. The Centre's popular "Electronic Place Finder' software received the second place in the competition of software applications in the category of Desktop GIS applications.

The CGIS's another popular product — "Explore Qatar" — won the third place in the category of Web-based Applications. "Explore Qatar' competed against hundreds of other applications.

THE PENINSULA