AD-SDI NEWSLETTER
AD-SDI Members Data Sharing The AD-SDI geospatial portal and data clearinghouse developed by the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC) in 2007 was a turning point for the AD-SDI Community in terms of raising the visibility to the Abu Dhabi community of the huge potential behind spatial data access and sharing across various sectors. This initiative, which started with 8 Entities in 2007, continued to evolve in the following years. In November 2008, as part of the GIS Day prepared by ADSIC and for the first time in Abu Dhabi, 17 government entities presented their Enterprise GIS applications under one roof and demonstrated, together with ADSIC, how they are sharing their spatial information using the geo portal that was established by the AD-SDI Initiative. Data sharing is the fulcrum point behind the AD-SDI initiative. It is emphasized by the AD-SDI project team at all levels of coordination including strategic plan, community development, master plan, community organization, data projects coordination and alignment, service level agreements and geospatial portal/ data clearinghouse services. The AD-SDI project team encourages the member entities to share free-of-cost
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AD-SDI NEWSLETTER
fundamental and/or framework spatial information that is produced by them on the assumption that the investment in the data is already paid back through the added value accrued to their internal operations. For the time being, all member entities are sharing their information free of charge and ADSIC has developed an AD-SDI geospatial portal and data clearinghouse whereby the services are offered by Abu Dhabi government to the member entities at no cost. This approach is in line with the vision and mission chartered for the AD-SDI Initiative as summarized in the AD-SDI strategic Plan 2007. The data sharing framework was articulated as part of the AD-SDI master plan 2007 where the definition of SDI fundamental and framework data was identified. Today, after two years of the AD-SDI initiative launch, the data sharing framework has expanded to cover framework data such as community facilities that enrich the existing basemap and increase the benefit of AD-SDI to the wider community including the general publics. The routine data that is updated into the data clearinghouse includes more than 220 map services that are generated by 13 entities. Those entities include municipalities (DMA: ADM, WRM, AAM), utilities (ADWEA & ETISALAT), and others (ADEC, ADNOC, HAAD, ADPC, UPC, EAD, Statistics Center).
Data sharing is complemented by coordination of more than 50 data projects that are either planned and/or under implementation by the AD-SDI Community members across various sectors. It is worth to mention that collected data, including information on data projects, undergoes a process of inventory and assessment. Data gaps analysis and alignment activities are identified by the master plan team and passed to the AD-SDI operations team at ADSIC for detailed evaluation and assessment in preparation for data loading into the AD-SDI Data Clearinghouse. Moreover, the ADSDI working groups work together with the AD-SDI technical committee to coordinate the alignment of data projects. During 2009, 17 working groups and special interest groups have been identified that deal with various types of data coordination activities such as basemap, utilities alignment, imagery, environment, etc. Those groups work also toward the development of common standards including data content standards and data transfer requirements adopted by the AD-SDI Community. All of the above culminates into Fundamental Geographic Data Sheets (FGDS) that become an integral part of the service level agreements and license agreements under development by the AD-SDI Community. More than
20 agreements are developed and expected to be completed during 2009 with the member Entities. During 2009, ADSIC, with the support of the AD-SDI Technical Committee, started providing access to the AD-SDI Geo Portal for more than 100 users and the growing list is expected to reach more than 200 users before the end of 2009. Those users include line of business representatives from various stakeholder entities. For example, the engineers in the municipalities Town Planning will, for the first time, have seamless access to up-to-date utility information for water, electricity, sewage, irrigation and telecom coming from different stakeholders overlaid on top of the basemap information which will support their No-Objection-Certification approval process. Moreover, the urban planners at the Urban Planning Council (UPC) are able to visualize and analyze strategic plans and detailed area plans that are overlaid on top of existing basemap, environmental and infrastructure information shared by other stakeholders. On another front, the engineers at the Department of Transport (DOT) are able to conduct traffic analysis and strategic planning analysis by overlaying their Surface Transportation Master Plan (STMP) or traffic analysis data on top of the basemap, utility and environmental data available on the AD-SDI Portal.
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ABU DHABI SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE (AD – SDI) “STRENGTHENING AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION STAGE” ADVANCES As part of Abu Dhabi’s ambitious e-government program, the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure (AD-SDI) is an initiative administered within the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC) to facilitate the sharing of geospatial data among government agencies and other stakeholders. AD-SDI is empowering government and society with convenient, open access to high-quality and up-to-date geographic information and spatially enabled e-government services. The initial development of the AD-SDI program is being carried out in three stages. The first stage extending 6 months in the last half of 2007 focused on the development of a strategic plan, program design and implementation plan as well as the deployment of a geospatial portal and data clearinghouse that hosted spatial information collected from eight key Governmental Entities. In the 2008 portion of the second stage of ADSDI development, steps were taken to expand the community, formalize data sharing arrangements among the stakeholders, add new information to the Data Clearinghouse as it becomes available, expand the data holdings within the Data Clearinghouse to include new topics, and begin
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the process of updating existing holding with new submittals from the custodians. During the 2009 portion of Stage 2, the ADSIC team is focused on covering the refinement and adoption of required legal and regulatory instruments, adoption of Service Level Agreements with all stakeholder entities including routine data updating of the Data Clearinghouse, alignment and harmonisation of major data sets, addition of other data and metadata, encouraging selected entities to develop their own Geospatial Portal nodes, monitoring data and capacity building projects, continued collaboration with entity working groups on issues of common interest, continued provision of analyst support to the Executive Council and others, and added integration and spatialenablement of applications on the e-Government portal and government entity websites where appropriate. So far, the initiative has 25 government and quasi-government entities involved, with another 15 expected to join before the end of the year. The following summarizes the major AD-SDI activities being undertaken by the ADSIC Team, in close collaboration with all the stakeholder entities:
AD-SDI NEWSLETTER
Operations Team Mobilized: A permanent operations team has been mobilized to formalize the ongoing job of managing and operating the ADSDI GeoPortal and Data Clearinghouse infrastructure. This work is being carried out in compliance with the ADSIC IT Architecture Standards, and in accordance with a detailed Operations Plan prepared earlier. The team is also responsible for ensuring that data content and updating standards as defined in Service Level Agreements and Licensing arrangements with each entity are being complied with, and that the data custodians are updating their information regularly as stipulated in those agreements. Geospatial Portal Version 2 Under Development: The ADSIC team has initiated work on the design, construction and deployment of the second version of the AD-SDI GeoPortal. This activity involves a major upgrade to the architecture, usability and performance of the GeoPortal, providing new and improved metadata catalog search, map viewer look and feel and cartographic enhancement, improved functionality and performance, data download capabilities for authorized users, and
more streamlined and integrated user login and authentication, among other improvements. In addition, the new GeoPortal is being structured for interoperability with the ADSIC’s eGovernment portal environment, to allow the development and publishing of common geospatial services that can be used by other entities in their own eGovernment applications. Community Organization Framework: The AD-SDI involves various member entities with different GIS / SDI interests. This adds to the dynamism of this initiative’s evolution which requires a framework for the community organization that can add sufficient structure and method. The impact of having this framework in place can be summarized as ensuring that the multi-level interests (executive, management and technical) and coordination activities on special topics by the different entities are solicited and channeled appropriately. A special team led by international specialists in SDI governance has been mobilized to refine the current AD-SDI governance conceptual framework and to help the community strengthen how this framework functions to meet mutual needs.
Working Groups and Special Interest Groups Mobilized: A series of Working Groups and Special Interest Groups have been identified and activated as an extension of the AD-SDI Technical Committee. Working Groups (WG’s) have been formulated primarily around clusters of related data topics, and are focused on the development of common content standards and ensuring that the needs of the broader community are reflected in how this information is developed and maintained. Most of these will be disbanded after the standards development is complete. Currently active Working Groups include Metadata, Utilities, Basemapping, Land Use and Land Cover, 3D City Objects, Geo Census, Street Addressing, Imagery, Administrative Boundaries, Geo Spatial Portal, Transportation, Urban Planning and Development, Community Facilities, Geotechnical and Geo Legal. In contrast, Special Interest Groups (SIG’s) are more permanent bodies that address areas of common interest. Five SIG’s have been identified, including Environment, Utilities, Safety and Security, Developers, and Education. The Environment Special Interest Group (EnviSIG) is chaired by the Environment
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In addition, the new GeoPortal is being structured for interoperability with the ADSIC’s eGovernment portal environment Agency Abu Dhabi, and has already held one orientation meeting that was well attended by over 35 people. Others are to be mobilized in the coming weeks and months, and many of these are expected to continue to live on into the future beyond the implementation stages of the AD-SDI as a permanent feature of the ongoing governance of the initiative. Major Data Projects Alignment Being Monitored The original AD-SDI Situation Assessment identified more than 25 projects already ongoing or planned for the near future that include the development of fundamental geospatial data themes that are needed in common across the AD-SDI community. As the community of participants expands, more such projects are being identified and steps are being taken to ensure that they can benefit from information already available in the Data Clearinghouse, and that the information products to be developed are in alignment with the needs of the broader community to the extent practical given project timeframes and priorities. The status of all major data projects is being carefully monitored by the ADSIC team and information about each is to be published to the AD-SDI website for common reference. Community Facilities: One ADSIC team is entirely focused on working with over twenty entities that are responsible for maintaining information about important community facilities, such as government buildings, schools, hospitals, mosques, petrol stations, ATM’s, commercial licenses, and others. Knowing the location and basic characteristics of these facilities is critical to supporting many different types of applications, and giving the public access to information that is important and useful for
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day to day activities. For example, the ADSIC team is working closely with the Department of Planning and Economy (DPE) Commercial License Section and their field inspectors to geocode over 110,000 commercial licenses to the specific buildings where those business are located. Similar efforts are ongoing with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) for the mapping of school and health facilities respectively. The Urban Planning Council (UPC) and Musanada are working with Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, the Department of Municipal Affairs (DMA) and ADSIC to map out the locations of all Mosques in the Emirate. Other entities are carrying out similar activities to map out the facilities under their jurisdiction, and this information will be uploaded to the AD-SDI Data Clearinghouse as it becomes available Spatial Applications Development: This project consists of the identification, definition, and initiation of a suite of basic spatial applications. The objective of this is to improve the quantity and quality of service that AD-SDI users experience while utilizing the Geospatial Portal and Data Clearinghouse platform through the provision of basic spatial application services. Included are common application services such as web-based basic map viewing and exploration, or publishing of field mapping services that can be accessed by various types of mobile devices for field surveys and other mobile mapping applications. Other general purpose enduser applications will also be developed for direct use by government entities or the public. Entity Agreements Being Forged: As part of the community development, AD-SDI team is in the process of developing
AD-SDI NEWSLETTER
service-level agreements and licensing arrangements with each entity that spell out what data will be provided, the timing of periodic updates, and access and use restrictions for the data each entity is providing. Standards Documentation and Adoption Process Formalized: The data standards being developed through the various Working Group efforts are being documented and adopted formally by ADSIC on behalf of the community. As each standard is finalized, the ADSIC team is supporting the documentation of the standards to a common format, and overseeing formal adoption of each as an official, common reference. It is expected that such standards will require periodic updating and refinement in the future, and ADSIC is laying the systematic procedures to ensure that all the affected parties will have the opportunity to see and comment on such changes before they are put into affect. Strengthening of Policy and Legal Framework: During stage 1, the ADSIC team identified a need for strengthening the policy and legal framework in the context of the e-government framework. The process consists mainly of the review of proposed geospatial policy & regulatory strengthening plan and its integration with the e-Government legal framework. It is complemented by individual meetings with legal advisors from the several key stakeholder entities, as well as executive and management representatives from the key government entities. The above projects, among others, will contribute to the delivery of stage 2 objectives. The third and final stage will ensure that the AD-SDI program is fully transitioned to an integrated, essential and permanent function within the Abu Dhabi Government.
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Creating Momentum for AD-SDI through “Special Interest Groups” & “Working Groups”
The most fundamental component of the AD-SDI initiative is the people who are committed to drive it forward. The Technical Committee, with 23 members strong, is too large and diverse in its collective interests to effectively address some areas of special interest. Rather, the community has established Working Groups and Special Interest Groups. They provide the basic structure for institutions and individuals to interact regarding specific aspects of the ADSDI initiative. Collectively they establish and implement strategic guidance and specific actions that support improved collection, sharing, dissemination and use of geospatial data, contributing to the development of the AD-SDI, and coordination across institutional and sectoral boundaries. Special Interest Groups have been formulated as permanent fixtures of the ADSDI community focusing on topical areas of common interest. Each of the Special Interest Groups is comprised of specialized representatives from government agencies and AD-SDI recognized stakeholder groups who share a common interest in specific types of geospatial data, and who need to coordinate together over time. Working Groups have been initiated to address specific topics or issues. The nature of the topics addressed by the Working Groups is generally immediate, urgent and temporary such as standards development and data projects alignment and coordination. The following special interest groups and working groups were identified during 2009:
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• Special Interest Groups • Environment (Active) • Utilities (Under Development) • Education (Proposed) • Public Safety/Security (Proposed) • Developers (Proposed) • Working Groups • Metadata (Active) • Utilities (Active) • Basemapping (Active) • Land Use and Land Cover (Active) • 3D City Objects (Active) • Geo census (Active) • Street Addressing (Active) • Imagery (Active) • Administrative Boundaries • Geo Spatial Portal • Transportation • Urban Planning & Development • Community Facilities • Geotechnical • Geo Legal The following provides an overview about two active groups: The “Environment” Special Interest Group is an integral part of the AD-SDI community focusing on topics related to the environment. This group promotes knowledge sharing of accurate and up to date environmental analysis and findings which prevent redundancies and help in taking fundamental decisions. The EnviroSIG is chaired by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, and is linked to the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) which is also addressing
AD-SDI NEWSLETTER
Standardization Essential in ADSDI Development
environmental information networking at the local, national, regional and international levels. During their first meeting, members of the Environment Special Interest Group provided presentations and briefings about their work, such as the presentation about the AD-SDI portal and AGEDI Geo Portal and how they can be used to support environmental analysis, among other issuesThe “Basemapping” Working Group conducted a workshop earlier this year with participation from several key stakeholders such as Military Survey Department (MSD), Department of Municipal Affairs (DMA) and the Municipalities, Urban Planning Council (UPC), Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), ETISALAT and Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA). The working group members identified the importance and business drivers behind the development and availability of a comprehensive and updated basemap at all scales (small, medium and large). During the workshop, MSD presented its UAE National Topographic Data Base for medium and small scale applications and Abu Dhabi Municipality presented their analysis of the basemap phase two requirements that they were preparing for, a project that is expected to be completed in 18 months. The outcome of the activities carried out by the Special Interest Groups and Working Groups will lead to a greater improvement of geospatial data collection, sharing, dissemination and use. Look out for more news about these groups and their active topics in the next issue of the AD-SDI newsletter.
Standards including the appropriate data, technology, and procedures are essential to ensure interoperability across the AD-SDI community. Integrating existing GIS data and procedures across the AD-SDI community is a matter of proactive stakeholder engagement and consultation. In the past, there were many organizations maintaining redundant and often inconsistent spatial datasets. Today, the emirate’s fundamental geospatial datasets (FGDS), such as cadastral data, orthoimagery, elevation data, transportation, land use, soils, and utility networks, are maintained by the relevant government organizations. The entities are streamlining their workflow to update the spatial data they are responsible for by recording changes on the ground as they occur as part of their business processes. This approach of transaction-based data maintenance ensures that spatial data is updated and delivered to the AD-SDI community in a timely manner. A geospatial metadata catalog is another significant factor in maintaining standardization in AD-SDI, as it provides a master inventory of the fundamental data and geospatial services available. All the layers in the data clearinghouse have some level of metadata that is accessible through the geoportal. The metadata catalog was originally compiled by the ADSIC team, but responsibility for maintenance of this information is being transferred to the custodian agencies as a condition within the service-level agreements. Organizations using ESRI products can maintain their data through ArcCatalog. Others can update their information through the geoportal, once authorized to do so, or through any ISO standardsbased metadata maintenance tool.
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AD – SDI Standards Development Process
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AD-SDI NEWSLETTER
AD – SDI Technical Committee Update During the 2nd stage of the AD-SDI Program implementation, the AD-SDI Technical Committee has continued to meet regularly to coordinate and address issues pertaining to the program. During 2009, it is expected that at least 40 Entities will become members in the AD-SDI Community. The representatives assigned from the Entities will join and will be part and/or contribute to the Technical Committee. The AD-SDI team established and maintained a members’ access ADSDI website and is providing the Technical Committee members access privilege to share and download common information related to the Initiative. The Technical Committee is responsible for carrying out inter governmental entity coordination and facilitation, supporting and overseeing the implementation of the AD-SDI strategy in accordance with existing laws, statutes, and policies. During this year, the AD-SDI Technical Committee is involved in the following: Identify priority areas related to the development of the AD-SDI initiative and provide recommendations on specific aspects/ areas such as spatial applications development and Fundamental Geospatial Data Sets (FGDS) data projects coordination Work with ADSIC toward improving the usability of the AD-SDI Portal and related services Facilitate the work of the working groups and special interest groups and build on their recommendations The following 23 Entities are current members of the AD-SDI Technical Committee: 1. National Center of Meteorology & Seismology 2. Abu Dhabi Education Council 3. Department of Transport 4. General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police 5. Abu Dhabi Ports Company 6. Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority 7. General Authority of Islamic affairs & Endowments
8. Statistics Center – Abu Dhabi 9. Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company 10. UAE University 11. Higher Corporation For Specialized Economic Zones 12. National Crisis & Emergency Management Authority 13. Space Reconnaissance Centre 14. Abu Dhabi Chamber Of Commerce & Industry 15. Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority 16. Etisalat 17. The Department of Municipal Affairs 18. Military Survey Department 19. Department of Economic Development 20. Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi 21. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company 22. Urban Planning Council 23. Health Authority - Abu Dhabi At present, the Technical Committee members are active on several fronts including GIS data coordination and interoperability, user acceptance among their respective entities, participation in and facilitation of the activities related to several special interest working groups, and internal executive briefings with their management to raise awareness and confirm the commitment to AD-SDI and enterprise GIS developments. The Technical Committee members realize the importance of timely access to spatial information to support the community’s decision makers in taking the right decisions related to their respective entity’s activities. Especially in areas related to emergency planning and management. This area of interest will be handled as part of the AD-SDI Public Safety and Security special interest group that will be established soon. The AD-SDI Technical Committee will continue to play a pivotal role in the evolution of the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative and its maturity towards becoming a critical constituent of the Abu Dhabi e-government program.
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October 14-16, 2009
2009 ESRI European User Conference - Vilnius, Lithuania Location: Vilnius, Lithuania, Europe Join ESRI for the EUC, which is dedicated to GIS users throughout Europe and being held in Vilnius, Lithuania, the European Capital of Culture 2009. Web Page: http://www.esri.com/euc
November 19, 2009
July 13-17, 2009:
2009 ESRI International User Conference Location: San Diego, CA This conference is the ultimate GIS resource, a place to extend your GIS skills, connect with your GIS community, and reenergize yourself and your work. Web Page: http://www.esri.com/uc
August 12-14, 2009
More than 80 countries will participate in holding local events such as corporate open houses, handson workshops, community expos, school assemblies, and more. Hence, any organization that uses GIS can participate in this global event. Website: www.gisday.com
GIS Day Abu Dhabi 09
17th international conference on Geoinformatics Location: Fairfax, Virginia, USA The International Conference on Geoinformatics is a well-known annual forum for Geospatial Information Science Professionals. The 17th conference will bring together experts and professionals from academia, industry, and government in geographic informaton science and systems, global positioning system, and remote sensing. The conference theme is the ways to advance GIScience researches and applications. Website: http://www.geoinformatics2009.org
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE A multi-sector GIS Day event will be held in the Middle East region for the second consecutive year. It will bring together leaders, decision-makers, government executives, educators, interested members of the general public and all manner of local and regional GIS technology champions all under the same roof to network and share ideas and experiences. To register your interest in attending the GIS Day Abu Dhabi 2009, please visit www.adsic.abudhabi.ae / www.sdi. abudhabi.ae Website: www.sdi.abudhabi.ae
September 3-4, 2009
December 4–6, 2009
CMRT09 - City Models, Roads and Traffic Location: Paris, France Automated extraction of topographic objects and vehicles from remotely sensed data is an important topic of research in Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, GIS, and Computer Vision. This joint conference of ISPRS working groups III/4 and III/5, sequel to the successful CMRT05 conference that took place in Vienna, Austria, in 2005, will bring together experts from these fields to discuss recent developments, the potential of various data sources, and future trends both with respect to sensors and processing techniques in automatic object extraction. The focus of the conference is on methodological research. The workshop is held in conjunction with ISPRS Laserscanning conference. Website: http://www.cmrt09.bv.tum.de
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GIS Day 09 Location: Worldwide GIS Day provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society.
2009 International Conference on Marine Engineering and Naval Engineering (MENE 2009) Location: Frankfort, Germany The 2009 International Conference on Marine Engineering and Naval Engineering (MENE 2009) will be held in Frankfort, Germany during 4-6 December 2009. The aim objective of MENE 2009 is to provide a platform for researchers, engineers, academicians as well as industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research results and development activities in Marine Engineering and Naval Engineering. This conference provides opportunities for the delegates to exchange new ideas and application experiences face to face, to establish business or research relations and to find global partners for future collaboration. Website: http://www.iacsit.org/mene/index.htm