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Accomplishing Spatial Data Infrastructure for UAE – The Missing links
Khalid Desmal
UAE Military Survey,
UAE
Email: kdesmal@uaesurvey.ae
The UAE stands competent in the region in many aspects of modern technology. Telecommunication infrastructure and the internet city rated best in the area, thus emerging as a mentor to neighboring countries. Economic Free Zone lead the way for free zone concept in the Gulf. The country built world class physical infrastructures ensuring reliable services to public in a short span of 35 years. The spatial data history of the country is as old as this growth as maps and spatial data were extensively used in oil exploration and the resultant physical developments. Moreover, UAE has got a legacy of mapping and its use from Ibn Majid of Julphar.
In the UAE, more than 20 government agencies are using geospatial data in their day to day activities. Out of this, 25 percentage are data producers. Same spatial feature is surveyed independently by these data producers with only minimum possibility of integration. Though, NSDI concept facilitating smooth data integration is 15 years old, many complain the absence of such an infrastructure in the country is the main cause for this situation. Study on NSDI initiatives elsewhere in the world, however, reveals that many factors required to initiate SDI implementation exists in the country. Moreover, constraints in the mapping budgets and the concerns on return-on-investments, making geospatial data agencies working together for finding ways and means of sharing data and its services.
What is lacking, however, is mechanisms to convince geospatial data users and decision makers about the advantages of having an infrastructure facilitating smooth integration of data. Easy to understand tools are required to explain issues in data sharing, and to resolve such issues. The benefit of data sharing need to be quantified to ensure the return-on-investment. The paper deals with these issues with practical solutions to resolve such issues.
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