The Ministry of Interior (MOI) adopted the standards and specifications of the international GIS (Geographic Information System), by representing the United Arab Emirates in meetings for two strategic planning technical and identification committees, which were held in Austin, Texas in the USA; the MOI also participated in the Open Geospatial Consortium OGC.
Major General Ahmad Nasser Al Raisi, Director General of Central Operations in Abu Dhabi Police, was a part of the MOI delegation. He said: “The accomplishment is in line with directives from Lieutenant General His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. It embodies the vision of the UAE Government for the year 2021 and the Abu Dhabi Government’s vision 2030 to make the UAE one of the top five governments in the world, which will further the position of the Ministry of Interior to become one of the best police forces in the world.”
He added: “The nomination of the MOI to chair the security and general safety international group, and its prominent membership of the Open Geospatial Consortium OGC represented by GIS Security Center, contribute to achieving the strategic plan that aims to carry out police work with the latest geographical security systems to support taking the security decision. It will also improve transferring geographical security information among systems and services within the police establishment.”
He referred to the expectations of the MOI and its continuous commitment to keep up with best international practices. The MOI also develops international geospatial standards and specifications, and applies them in the geographical information systems in the security and police fields.
He assured the importance of bridging the gap in the Arab World in the fields of exchanging information between technological systems used by the police and security forces. He reiterated the significance of the geographical location to build information structures through the different security databases in order to support the services provided by the security and police institutions in societies.
He declared: “Bridging the gap will occur by adopting the standards of technical and institutional integration in electronic infrastructure, and eliminating the dependence on closed software that does not support integration and connectivity. Geographical and institutional data should be freed from commercial monopolization; rather it should remain open where the standards and specifications are considered. The geographical and institutional data should be secured in a manner that complies with information security policies and its international applied specifications. These specifications issued by the organization should be Arabicized.”
Major General Al Raisi added: “It is very important to coordinate and cooperate with the academic institutions and researchers to develop a platform for inspecting, testing and complying with programs, technical and geographical applications of the open geographical specifications, and the possibility of merging information. This action will be carried out as a service to the police community, security and general safety in the Arab World, and it complies with the efforts of the federal electronic government, Abu Dhabi Information and System Center, UAE Committee for specifications and measurements to spread and enhance the adoption of the committee on a governmental level, and follow international standards.”
Captain Mohammed Saleh Al Mansouri, Director of GIS Security Center, assured the importance of representing the UAE in scientific and research conferences at the international level, as well as supporting police and general safety communit