Redlands, California—The Centre for GIS (CGIS) in Qatar was honored with the prestigious Enterprise Application award at the Twenty-eighth Annual ESRI International User Conference held in San Diego, California, August 4–8, 2008.

The award recognizes organizations that are maximizing the benefits of geographic information system (GIS) functionality across the enterprise. CGIS is leveraging ESRI's ArcGIS suite of software among more than 44 government agencies that are integrated through a high-speed fiber-optic network. Dozens of GIS applications have been developed, benefiting government workers, private businesses, and citizens alike. These include the Electronic Place Finder which maps addresses and landmarks, a multimedia database of Qatar's National Archive of geographic names, GEMS – an easy-to-use map creation tool, and Electronic Route Finder – a new routing application for emergency and delivery services.

Receiving the award was Mohamed Abd El-Wahab Hamouda, Head of planning and projects division, CGIS, who commented, "I am honored to receive this award on behalf of the many individuals who have contributed to the success of Qatar’s Nationwide GIS."

CGIS won 5 other awards for its maps and applications at the conference, including the “Best Overall” map, chosen from more than 900 entries.

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

A primary goal of CGIS is to simplify data transfer between all agencies, minimize data redundancy, and ensure that suitably trained personnel are available to operate and manage the various components of the enterprise system. By enforcing adherence to the GIS standards it has established, CGIS has ensured compatibility throughout the GIS databases in Qatar.

Observes Hamouda, "The compatibility itself tends to encourage and sustain cooperation because the data is readily transferred and easy to use."

Almost 20 years ago, Qatar established a National GIS Steering Committee and the Centre for GIS to set standards and oversee the implementation and development of GIS in the country. This led to the implementation of the world's first comprehensive nationwide GIS.

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Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.