GIS

Saudi Arabia charts the first-ever coastal tourism map of Red Sea

Tourists traveling to The Red Sea Project can expect better mobility and accessibility options as Saudi authorities are developing the Kingdom’s first geographical navigation map that charts the scope of marine tourism in the coastal area.

The Saudi Red Sea Authority and the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information have partnered with 19 government agencies to develop the first-ever coastal tourism map of the Red Sea.

The new map will serve as an introductory guide to government agencies, allowing better identification of avenues to boost coastal tourism in the Red Sea.

By building the navigational map, appropriate legislation requirements, governance and digital solutions, the committee will present the map to the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and Council of Ministers for approval. www.arabnews.com

CompassCom releases upgraded telematics platform

CompassCom Software has released Version 8.2 of the CompassCom GIS-centric hybrid telematics platform that can be deployed on premises or in the cloud for real-time asset tracking and comprehensive fleet management. The new version offers enhanced ease of use and more robust analytics and reporting functionality for safer, more efficient and secure fleet operations. It has been developed on Esri ArcGIS technology supports JavaScript 4.0. www.compasscom.com

New capabilities for carbon assessment in iTwin experience by Bentley

Bentley Systems has recently announced the new carbon assessment capabilities in iTwin Experience to enable infrastructure professionals to seamlessly quantify carbon reduction opportunities in their projects.

In 2022, Bentley developed an integration service in the iTwin Platform to automate the process of generating embodied carbon reports for infrastructure projects via One Click LCA and EC3. Reports are initiated using the iTwin Platform and then viewed in One Click LCA or EC3. Now, iTwin Experience provides a ready-to-go, bi-directional integration with EC3, enabling carbon assessments to be visualized in a digital twin without the need to write code. www.bentley.com

New collaboration for advance seafloor mapping technology

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has joined forces with 3D at Depth. This partnership aims to revolutionize seafloor mapping by developing an advanced subsea Lidar system.

Imaging the structure of the deep seafloor is crucial for comprehending the biology and ecology of the largest living space on our planet. However, only approximately 20% of the ocean floor has been mapped at a resolution suitable for scientific study. Over the past decade, MBARI has collaborated with 3D at Depth to develop innovative tools utilizing Lidar technology for seafloor mapping. www.mbari.org

$500 million to tackle biodiversity loss, climate change

The GEF (Global Environment Facility) has announced a US$1.4 billion fund to rapidly tackle environmental crises around the world, including biodiversity loss and climate change. The program aims to directly benefit 14 million people globally, over half of whom will be women disproportionately impacted by planetary crises.

In the UNDP-GEF Partnership, more than US$500 million will be deployed across 88 countries, in particular Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. As lead agency for the fund’s Blue and Green Islands Integrated Program, UNDP with support from United Nations agencies and development partners, will help countries to use the resources to address intense environmental and socio-economic shocks faced by people on frontlines of nature loss and the climate crisis. UNDP will also help to operationalize GEF’s Small Grants Programme, a key channel for supporting local communities, indigenous people and youth on environmental stewardship. www.undp.org

Esri releases Land Cover Map

Esri, in partnership with Impact Observatory, has released a global land-use/land-cover map of the world based on the most up-to-date 10-meter Sentinel-2 satellite data for every year since 2017. Following the latest 2022 data released earlier this year, the artificial intelligence (AI) model for classification has been improved, making the maps more temporally consistent. www.esri.com

Saudi geospatial authority to align with UN framework

Geospatial studies, map production and marine surveys in Saudi Arabia will soon be on par with global standards as the Kingdom is set to align its projects with the UN framework in this pioneering field. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information (GASGI) participated in the inaugural meeting of the international advisory committee of its UN counterpart between April 20 and 22 in Deqing, China.

During the meeting, the Kingdom presented the experience of the GASGI in developing a national strategy in line with global standards prescribed by the UN’s Global Geospatial Knowledge and Innovation Centre Framework.

This integrates location information to plan cities, build infrastructure, develop disaster management strategies and manage natural resources such as green spaces, water and minerals. www.arabnews.com