UAE: Sheikh Khalifa appoints new chief of geographic data centre

Abu Dhabi: President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a federal decree appointing Hamed Khamis Saif Al Kaabi as director general for the Federal Geographic Information Centre (FGIC).

Al Kaabi held many positions throughout his 18 years of experience in geospatial techniques, mapping, surveying, geographic information systems and remote sensing. He also has an experience in the administrative and technical field of geospatial projects and geospatial data in the country.

Among his roles, Al Kaabi was the head of the Geographic Information Systems Section, director of the National Topographic Database Project and was also the chief of the military space in the armed forces.

The centre was established in 2019 to better coordinate and leverage government investment in geospatial data and applications, establish the institutional, technical elements and governance processes that are needed to support more effective data sharing and utilisation across government entities and society and provide the strategy and roadmap for specific actions that need to be carried out to implement all dimensions of this programme.