• Abstract
• Introduction 
• Qatar GIS - Scenario before GIS Implementation 
• Qatar GIS - Objectives 
• Qatar GIS - Strategies Adopted
• Qatar GIS - A comprehensive and Integrated Nationwide GIS 
• Qatar GIS - Benefits Beyond Set Objectives 
• Qatar GIS - Today's Challenges 
• Qatar GIS - Meeting the Challenges 
• Qatar GIS - What the future beholds 

No doubt, we foresee the challenges and hurdles we have to face in implementing our plans and we design the contingency plans too. But on the technology side, continually changing trend in GIS data concepts and modeling has put heavy strain on the resources. Moreover, comprehensive software solutions keeping in pace with other fronts of Information Technology that address all the needs of this unique model are yet to emerge. Such solutions are current need of the hour to cruise into the next millennium.

In an attempt to find innovative methods for optimal use of resources in the face of such a rapid growth, it became apparent that availability of right information at the right time is the key to efficient decision making and management.  This perception together with the realization that eighty percent of this vast information was geographically related, prompted the government to opt for the implementation of a fully integrated nation-wide GIS program for the country. Towards this end, the National GIS Steering Committee and the Center for GIS (CGIS) were established in the year 1990.

Today, common base map is digitally available on-line to all GIS user agencies in Qatar through a high speed, fiber optic network. The duplication efforts are contained and data consistency is achieved, to a great extent, through common data standards and inter-agency co-ordination. Qatar is perhaps the first country to implement a comprehensive and integrated nationwide GIS, internationally recognized as one of the finest GIS implementations in the world.

The benefits of GIS implementation has gone far beyond the set goals and objectives. Moreover, the overall computer literacy and geographic awareness of the public has greatly increased, due to the exposure to the electronic geographic information.

As more government and private agencies are coming forward to utilize problem solving capability of GIS, the demand for processed data facilitating public services has greatly increased. The changing trends in the GIS data concepts together with the lack of innovative data inputting/updating solutions continues to demand high operational costs. Most of the currently available GIS software requires intensive coding and the type of sophistication in the programming and data concepts achieved in the area of non-spatial information systems is yet to reach the GIS world. This is a serious problem for a country, which is dependent on the foreign work force, particularly, when there is a dearth of GIS professionals worldwide. The problem is further aggravated due to unavailability of native language interfaces specific to the region.

This paper is an attempt to highlight the strategies and vision of the GIS management to overcome such challenges and to reinforce our model for a sustainable system for the next millennium

Qatar experienced rapid urban growth during the past three decades after the discovery of oil.  Several hundred kilometers of roads, drainage networks, telephone lines, power and water networks, etc. have been built accompanied by a spurt in new real estate developments. During the boom period there was no time for planning or documenting but developments went on at a rapid phase. By the late 80's, re-building started for that had been constructed too hastily in the late '60s and 70's.  The government agencies in the country were unable to keep up-to-date records of this rapid and large-scale development.  The lack of information together with inadequate inter-agency co-ordination led to poor and inefficient physical and utilities planning and management of resources.

The government agencies involved in specialized tasks produced and maintained paper base maps at different scales to store and display information relevant to them. In addition to the cost of surveying and mapping exercise, there was the added expense of coping with inconsistent results from one agency to the next. In the face of growing demands and shrinking budgets, the government could not afford such large-scale duplication of efforts and wastage of resources.

There was lack of coordination between these agencies involved in physical and utilities planning which resulted in inharmonious infrastructure expansion and urban growth leading to large strain on government expenditures.

The government soon realized the need for an innovative means of tapping and managing vast information resources that facilitate more constructive decision making required to sustain the developments and to maintain newly built infrastructure.  Further wastage of resources due to duplication of efforts had to be contained.

To solve these problems, government decided to go for an innovative means for managing such information. This aspect, together with the realization that eighty percent of this vast information was geographically related, prompted the government officials to look at various information technology options such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems, to transfer the maps/aerial photographs into electronic form. In 1988, a top-level government official Sheik Ahmed bin Hamad Al Thani, referred to as the champion of GIS in Qatar, pioneered the establishment and development of GIS to revolutionize the way information is managed in the country.

In 1989, a government-wide user needs study was conducted to ascertain which areas of government would clearly benefit from the implementation of GIS. Three key recommendations resulting from the study were: that a Digital mapping database be implemented for the entire country; that a comprehensive fully integrated nationwide GIS be created; and that a high level National GIS steering committee be established to set standards and to oversee the GIS implementation.

In 1990, acting on these recommendations, Qatar established a National GIS Steering Committee and The Centre for Geographic Information System (CGIS) with a mandate of implementing GIS across the country in an organized and systematic fashion.

Eliminate duplication of efforts causing wastage of resources by avoiding data redundancy and by enhancing inter-agency co-ordination
 

• Make right information available at the right time to the decision-makers for efficient planning and management.

• Foster teamwork among government agencies, especially those involved in physical and infrastructure planning, environment protection and local government authorities so that they all work towards common goals.

• Efficiently manages government expenses for future development requirements.

• Achieve consistency and uniformity in policies, standards and regulations for whole of Qatar - Enable preparation of physical plans that are dynamic, flexible, easy to update, monitor and implement.

• Gain support and commitment from the highest levels of government.
• Make concerned agencies and officials aware of the potential and power of GIS
• Encourage government departments for co-ordination and data sharing
• Involve every government department in design and implementation
• Establish education and training programs and make GIS tools available to everybody.

Qatar is the only country today to have implemented a comprehensive nationwide GIS and is internationally recognized as having one of the finest GIS implementations in the world.

CGIS has bagged several international awards including 1998 'Presindential Award for Best GIS system in the world' by Esri president Jack Dangermond during the 1998 International User conference at San Diego.

The following are the key components of Nation-wide GIS implementation program of State of Qatar.

Common Base Map:
One of the key components of a Nation-wide GIS implementation is to ensure that everybody uses a common spatial reference or base map. To this end The Centrefor GIS has developed digital mapping specifications and standards for the production of Qatar's Digital Topographic Database and a book entitled 'National GIS Database Specifications and Data Dictionary - Topographic' was published. Using the guidelines specified in the dictionary a highly automated digital map monitoring system was implemented both of which enabled the creation of fully functional country-wide Digital Topographic Database, that is available digitally on-line around the clock.  The database comprises of highly accurate, topographically structured, vector maps; high-resolution orthoimagery and high precision Digital Elevation Model.

National GIS Database Specifications and Data Dictionary:
The Centre for GIS in concert with the National GIS Steering Committee, has worked with each agency that has implemented GIS, to provide guidance and advice on how to develop specifications and data dictionaries suitable for their respective disciplines in order to ensure that they are not only suitable for each agency's applications, but also compatible with the specifications and standards of all other agencies. This effort has led to development of a volume set of National GIS Database specifications and data dictionaries consisting of 16 volumes, one for each agency. All specifications and data dictionaries are approved and administered by the National GIS Steering Committee in order to ensure that the compatibility necessary for data sharing is never jeopardized.

Interagency Coordination:
By convening and chairing GIS Coordinators Group meeting on a regular basis, with representative from every agency, The Centre encourages cooperation, sharing and coordination of GIS activities and ensures adherence to and compatibility of all GIS standards.

GISnet:
The GIS user agencies are interconnected through a high speed fiber optic network called GISnet, linking all of Qatar's GIS databases and ensuring a secure and continual operation at all time.
Geodetic Database and GPS Base Stations:
As the official geodetic agency for the State of Qatar, the Centre for GIS maintains precise horizontal and Vertical geodetic networks and maintains an active GPS Base Station, which tracks GPS satellites 24 hours a day. The Centre makes these GPS signals available on-line and computes and broadcasts differential corrections.

CGIS Regional Training:
Increasing demand for qualified GIS professionals prompted National GIS Steering Committee to set up an 'Authorized Regional Training' program in Cooperation with Esri. Facilities consisting of 4 training halls with advanced audiovisual facilities, a conference room and a specialized library.

The Centre also supports and assists government agencies in setting up their GIS units and training their personnel in data automation procedures and in the development and use of database specifications, standards and GIS application.

GIS Products and Projects:
The Center for GIS develops products of value for GIS and GPS user community. Already several such products have been developed which are widely used by government agencies and the public alike. For example Electronic Place Finder, AMaPS, MapExpress, InstaMap, Instaview, SPIDER, GEONAB, Al Mourshid for National Archive of Geographic Names of Qatar.

International Relations:
Develops and maintains relationships with international GIS organizations and participates in international cooperative agreements.

The benefits of GIS implementation has gone far beyond the set goals and objectives. The complete automation of the land registration process with easy to use query and display tools is achieved and is the only one of its kind in the region.

The ability to view superimposed thematic layers at desktop has greatly enhanced physical planning capability. The recently completed master plan for the country through the year 2020 has been completely prepared on the GIS thus making it dynamic, flexible and easy to update, monitor and implement. The transportation planning model that predicts the impact of land use changes on road traffic has a GIS interface, a unique feature, which is probably the only one of its kind in the world.

Integrated approach for data sharing and information transaction has resulted in saving lot of resources. Recently started project like 'Automated Road Opening Application Processing System' and 'Automated Building Permit Processing System' is one of the best example for how an integrated GIS is helping different agencies in decision making process with minimum amount of resources.

The citizens of Qatar as well benefit from all this data-gathering and mapping. They reap the rewards of having street names and numbers for the first time in the country's history, so that fire trucks can get to a fire and ambulances can find the house with the sick person with the help of Electronic Place Finder. Also, the government saves money in delivering services by virtue of having an up-to-date database, not only of the physical infrastructures and their interrelationships, but also of the inventory of assets at each location. Dozens of GIS applications have been developed and are at use benefiting government workers, private businesses and citizens alike.

The Geographic Names Project undertaken by the CGIS has preserved the history and national heritage of the country in a GIS database for generations to come. A substantial portion of this information was residing only in the memory of elderly citizens and would have passed away with them.

The Qatar also has opened up to the challenges posed by technological advancement in the World Wide Web. The explore Qatar application is a window to the outside world providing information about commercial installations interesting to the public and more detailed street level information.

As the people of Qatar become exposed to the electronic geographic information in their everyday lives, and as the children begin to explore the geography of their own region in school, the overall computer literacy and geographic awareness of Qatar's populace has greatly increased.

Data Capture:
The GIS data capturing and updating techniques are still conventional and has not undergone any significant advancement during the last 25 years of the GIS technology.  Due to this, the cost of data input still constitutes 80% of the total cost of GIS implementation. This also introduces a substantial time lag between the initiation of GIS implementation and the time when the real benefits start reaching the end user, which often results in frustration.  In Qatar, it has been estimated that the data input of the electricity and the water utilities alone requires 233 man-years.  This large resource requirement can not be justified especially when there has been tremendous progress in other areas of IT.
 

Data Updating:
The stored data tends to become obsolete unless a proper dynamic updating mechanism is not envisaged in the system design.  If spatial data is not updated, especially in a fast developing country like Qatar, it could lead to electronic garbage.

Demand for Processed Data:
As more government and private agencies are coming forward for making use of problem solving capability of GIS, there is a substantial increase in demand for processed data facilitating public services.

Trends in Data Concepts:
New trends are continually emerging in the GIS data concepts.  The transfer of data and applications to newer data concepts and training the existing personnel demands additional overhead costs.

Adaptation:
The GIS implementation warrant that the departments and personnel transform from traditional approach and adapt to the new tools and methodology so as to take the best advantage of the technology. This requires persistent efforts.

Data Security:
The security of strategically important national GIS database has to be addressed in-house since the GIS software, per se, has not much to offer in this respect.

Advanced GIS Tools:
Most of the currently available GIS software requires highly skilled personnel for data maintenance and processing. Further, the level of advancement in the programming and data concepts achieved in the area of non-spatial information systems is yet to reach the GIS world. This is a serious problem for a country that is dependent on the foreign work force, particularly, when there is a dearth of GIS professionals worldwide.

Brain Drain:
The system is also facing the problem of brain drain of the trained personnel.  Replacement of manpower normally causes considerable delay in project schedules.

Native Language Support:
Unavailability of user friendly, native language, interfaces specific to the region often increases dependency on the skilled foreign work force.

Political Support:
Although a strong commitment by the higher authorities and generous funding is a key factor in an integrated nation-wide GIS implementation, the system should be so organized that it must be able outlive possible fluctuations in the budget.

Special Projects:
The Center for GIS has initiated a National Geo-coding Project to correlate all the graphic entities with attribute information relevant to all the user agencies and public.  It is also envisaged to establish a dynamic updating mechanism to update the information.that much of the information required by the agencies will be collected and input in one go. This step is an attempt to satisfy the large-scale processed data requirements.

Business Plans:
The Center for GIS has also prepared a GIS Business Plan for the country that sets the strategies and vision to achieve the set goals and objectives for the next five years.  In order to overcome the budget fluctuations, the objectives have been prioritized and phased.

International Quality Standards:
The CGIS has recruited a Consultant, for auditing, to ensure the data and service quality based on ISO 9000 standards. It is planned to implement the quality standards by the end of this year.

Planning, Follow-up and Implementation Group:
Working group is formed, comprising of GIS Division Heads, to foresee the smooth implementation and to arrange the logistics required, for the GIS activities of the respective agencies, as per standards and regulations set by the GIS steering committee.

Geographic Information and System planning committee is formed to make sure the GIS implementation in the country as per set standards and schedules. Responsibility of the committee is to make sure that this is implemented strictly, based on Qatar National Spatial Data standard.

Training and Awareness Programs:
The issue of data adaptation is addressed, to a great extent, by way of rigorous and frequent training and awareness programs through workshops and seminars. Easy to use applications are developed by the CGIS for efficient processing of GIS information.
Towards this end, CGIS has established an authorized Esri Training Centre in Qatar.  Qualified trainers are recruited to conduct the courses of Esri products for GIS development in the country. The training centre is one of its kinds in the entire gulf region.

Nationalization:
The CGIS is encouraging young nationals to take up the GIS profession.  The University of Qatar, in co-ordination with the CGIS, is offering Bachelor program in GIS, which is the only one of its kind in the region.

Dynamic Updating:
The CGIS is also in the process of setting up mechanisms for automatic updating of topographic and other relevant data wherever possible.  Every applicant for physical development is required to submit details of the proposed development in the prescribed digital format and construction activities are traced from the very stage of granting of building permits.  The database is finally updated when completion certificate has been issued.  A pilot study conducted in a small township of Al Khor has yielded significant success.

End-User Participation:
In many user agencies, end users are trained and assigned the task of data input by providing incentives.  This ensures familiarity and participation of the end-users in the GIS activities thus facilitating ease of future implementation while saving operational costs.

Many of the other challenges listed above can only be met by conscientious efforts of the GIS Researchers by revolutionizing the GIS technology.

The GIS information should be made easily accessible in every nook and corner of the country and to every agency or individual that needs it. The advancement in the Internet and map server technology could be harnessed in such a way as to serve the above cause. The ultimate aim of the GIS management in Qatar is that the people should be able to tap the benefits of GIS, just the way they are able to switch on the electricity or turn the water taps on!