Ordnance Survey has entered a contract to work with the Dubai Government in developing its geospatial capabilities.
The landmark deal, a first for Ordnance Survey, will see Great Britain’s national mapping agency begin work with the Dubai Municipality to create a Geospatial Services Centre, which will support the Dubai Government across a wide range of activities.
Ordnance Survey International Managing Director, Peter Hedlund said: “Great Britain is widely regarded as having one of, if not the best geospatial infrastructure in the world that serves government, business and citizens, and the aim is for the Geospatial Services Centre to be the Ordnance Survey of Dubai.
“Together with the Dubai Municipality we will boost the single source of truth for geospatial data that the Dubai Government and its partners can use to deliver on its development goals, in policy making and for optimising public services.
“It will provide the foundation on which Dubai can innovate, manage and build its future.”
Ordnance Survey will operate in Dubai to build upon existing geospatial capabilities, enhancing the remote sensing skills of Dubai Municipality, and embedding a system of governance for data management and quality assurance.
With the Dubai Municipality, Ordnance Survey will design, implement and manage a Geospatial Service Centre that builds and delivers Dubai new geospatial services.
This development follows the completion of a Geospatial Maturity Assessment carried out last year by Ordnance Survey, which assesses the strengths and weaknesses of a nation’s geospatial capacity.
The assessment, which is an in-depth study to gauge how advanced a nation is at data collection, corporate governance, stakeholder engagement, operations management, and more.
This enterprise resulted in the need to create a Geospatial Services Centre for Dubai.
Eng. Maryam Obaid Al Mheiri – Director of GIS centre at the Dubai Municipality, said: “We are delighted to continue a growing relationship with a world leading geospatial organisation and one of Britain’s iconic institutions.”
The new contract is underway and both organisations are working together to deliver the plan through excellent communication and engagement despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ordnance Survey began its relationship with the Dubai Government in the middle of the last decade when creating an Earth Observation and Artificial Intelligence system that monitors the natural environment and identifies Climate Change in the United Arab Emirates.