ABU DHABI, Mar 29, 2006 (WAM) - The first GIS Students Forum was organizedby the GIS Centre of Dubai Municipality in cooperation with the Ministryof Education at Dubai World Trade Centre as part of the Map Middle East2006 conference, which concluded on Wednesday.

Sixty students in the age group of 12-15 from 12 government schools inthe UAE participated in the Forum, which provided the participants a firsthand experience on map making and data collection, in addition to presentationsby international experts in the field, according to a press release.

Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality,who was present during the presentations, awarded trophies to the winningstudents in the Map Drawing Competition, held as part of the Forum. Healso inaugurated the Map Gallery, which showcased the maps drawn by studentson their emirates and the UAE.

Dr. Jamal Al Muhairi, Secretary of the Ministry of Education was alsopresent on the occasion. Eng. Mohammed Al Zaffin, Head of GIS Centre,Dubai Municipality welcomed the participants in the Forum.

During the hour-long session called, "Filed Survey Game held outside theTrade Centre, students joined a professional team led by Yousuf Al Marzouqi,Head of Geodesy Unit in the Planning and Survey Department at Dubai Municipalityin conducting a field survey for map making. They were shown how the datafor map making is collected and processed on location, and then how itis incorporated in a map on the computer.

The students who participated in the Forum were selected based on theirachievements and participation in extra curricular activities in the schoolas per the Education Ministry standards.

Al Muhairi said the ministry plans to increase the participation of studentsin the Students Forum next year by including private schools also.

Manal Al Shamlan, Head of GIS Development Section in the GIS Centre atDubai Municipality and director of the Forum said the works of studentswill be displayed on the GIS Centre website.

She said the Forum will be an annual feature and it marks the beginningof a continuing participation between the Ministry of Education and theGIS Centre to help improve the curriculum by adopting GIS tools for educatingstudents.

In the first presentation about Google Earth, Michael Jones, Chief TechnologyOfficer, Google Earth gave studetns a brief idea about the different advantagesof Google Earth programme.

"We make you fly over the earth. There are millions of place marks onGoogle Earth shared by users around the world," he said.

Jones said the users include real estate companies, who benefits by itfor sale of houses. "People can also learn about the place where the houseis located," he said.

Jones pointed out that there are many educational users for Google Earth.

"Instead of going to the Zoo to see animals, students can access GoogleEarth to locate the animals in the remote forests of Africa. Studentsas well as researchers can locate museums and institutions by using GoogleEarth," he said, adding that the Google Earth encourages students forexploration.

The second presentation on the Advantages of Digital Cameras in GIS, GottfriedKonecny, Professor in Geoinformation at the University of Hanover, Germany,talked about the different digital cameras used for aerial mapping. Inthe third presentation, Major Pilot Ali Al Shehhi of Space ReconnaissanceCentre, UAE talked about the "Day to day use of satellite imagery.