The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs represented by the Department of City Planning has been awarded the plaque and certificate of "Special Achievement in GIS (Geographic Information System)” from Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), held recently in the United States. The award ceremony was attended by more than 15,000 experts and users of these systems from 114 countries. This was announced by Dr. Abdulrahman Hasan Al Asheikh, The MOMA undersecretary for urban planning who received the award. He said that the continuous guidance of the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs has stepped up the agency's efforts to develop and implement the technology at the level of the Ministry and other various sectors in order to provide the best services, enhance the quality of the work and shorten the time of the planning process. Dr. Al Asheikh said that the ministry has a wealth of background information in support of development decisions in Saudi Arabia. The activation of such process in accordance with national and global standards has become an urgent necessity in view of the rapid development witnessed by the world today in the techniques of geographic information and satellites information and remote sensing. He emphasized that the quality of information infrastructure and the establishment of IT infrastructure that will serve all relevant sectors of the State, as an essential requirement that the government supports and directs to activate the e-government.
