In recognition of its efforts in implementing Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and driving the cooperative use of geospatial information across a wide range of Government entities in Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi e-Government was the inaugural recipient of the first-ever “2015 Smart Government Award” launched by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) User Conference, held in San Diego, California in the United States on 20th – 21st July.
The two-day knowledge sharing event set the stage for representatives from different government bodies to attend workshops, exchange insights and leverage experiences with GIS organizations and professionals.
Commenting on the award, HE Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori, Director General at ADSIC stated, “We are honored to receive the 2015 Smart Government Award, as it is a testament by the GIS community’s finest experts of our pioneering efforts in leading the implementation of standards, processes and policies, all of which have eased and facilitated implementation of GIS systems by our constituents.”
Al Mansoori added , “It has also proved the technology’s core ability to improve our end-users lives, with notable achievements made in areas such as natural disaster and health hazard detection, evaluation and action, emergency response, and the protection of Abu Dhabi’s unique desert landscapes, coastal environments and historical sites, to name a few.”
Al Mansoori went on to say that the Smart Government Award will assist in further motivating and inspiring Abu Dhabi-based GIS stakeholders to achieve even greater innovation, integration and adoption of the technology.
“Abu Dhabi’s SDI Initiative is an example of what can be accomplished by a nation that recognizes the many benefits that can be derived through the cooperative use of geospatial information,” said Jack Dangermond, Esri President. “I am very pleased to honor them with our first Smart Government award.”
Commenting on the Abu Dhabi e-Government’s fifth participation in Esri’s User Conference, Al Mansoori stated, “Our presence at Esri UC’s annual meeting is a crucial way for us to study international best practice and operational excellence in the fields of Information Systems and Geo Spatial Data. It has inspired us as a regulator to better support our government counterparts as they strive to comprehensively digitize Abu Dhabi Government’s services in order to realize our vision of becoming a leading smart government, driven by innovation and inspired by society.”
“The participation also comes at an important strategic planning phase following the recent announcement of the new and improved Abu Dhabi e-Government strategy, which aims to rapidly enable the digital transformation of Government services and shared ICT infrastructure in order to fully reach smart-government through a unified e-gateway, focusing on multiple m-Government services, and because of this Abu Dhabi e-Government today receives this prestigious award”
Mr. Saeed Al Mansoori, Executive Director Shared Government Services at ADSIC and Ms. Khawla Al Fahim, Executive Manager – Spatial Data Center at ADSIC were on hand to receive the Award. In 2007 ADSIC launched the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure (AD-SDI) project, which includes more than 70 government and semi-government entities covering more than 11 key sectors from urban planning to local government, utilities to infrastructure, safety to security, environment to cultural heritage, public health, business, and education, among others.
The event also recognized a number of government entities including; the Department of Transport DoT, who won first place in the Esri user application fair, a forum to share apps that is voted on by the Esri Community on 24th of July. Whereas, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) finished second place in the fair. Furthermore, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) won a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) award for their Tourism Dashboard on the 22nd of July. Finally, Al Hosn Gas also won the same award for their real-time gas monitoring dashboard.
The 2015 conference brought more than 15,000 international dignitaries and attendees to the Abu Dhabi Pavilion on the first day of the event
AD-SDI provides several operational-level benefits by eliminating redundant data capture and streamlining business operations across government entities through better information access and sharing.