Esri, the global leader in spatial analytics, presented Sharjah Labour Standards Development Authority (SLSDA) with Esri's Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award recently at the annual Esri User Conference, San Diego-California. Selected from over 300,000 eligible candidates from all over the world, SLSDA received the award for its innovative application of technology, data collection, geospatial information visualisation, and thought leadership in GIS through local government.

Salem Al Qaseer, Chairman of the SLSDA, said, "We are humbled and deeply grateful to be the recipients of this international acknowledgment and prestigious award, in recognition of the authority’s outstanding efforts. This innovative project was carried out under the support and guidance of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. We have been able to increase awareness of the importance of compliance with labour rights, regulations and standards, and to contribute to providing an attractive environment for employers and labours, in collaboration and coordination with the government agencies and private sector. These efforts have helped maintain the excellent reputation of the Emirate of Sharjah and the UAE, as preferred destinations for labour from the region and beyond”.

Al Qaseer stressed that the SLSDA is constantly striving to review the needs of employers and labours in response to the growth and the urban, industrial and commercial activities in the Emirate of Sharjah. These assessments help us suggest the necessary standards for technical and professional qualification of workers and develop the cultural and intellectual aspects of both employers and labourers, ensuring they are healthy and aware of their rights and duties, in order to protect the rights of all stakeholders”.  

Sheikh Mohammed bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Director of the SLSDA, said: “We are delighted to win this prestigious award, which is an international recognition of the achievements of the Emirate of Sharjah. It is the first of its kind award in the field of spatial analytics technology in the Emirate, reflecting the Emirate’s effective contribution to developing business environment, optimising the efficiency of both workers and employers, alike, and supporting the national strategic plans in line with the UAE Vision 2021, which aims to make the UAE among the best countries in the world by the Golden Jubilee of the Union.

He added: “In the span of only three months, our RGIS technology has provided highly accurate spatial demographics that help us enhance the lives of labourers. The use of this technology was for the first time in Sharjah. We will continue to use the best technologies that help evaluate the living conditions in labour accommodations and their compliance with rules, regulations and requirements in force in the UAE. These efforts are aimed at improving the living conditions of workers and providing all the means to develop work environments”.

Faisal Binsannad Al Shamsi, Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development and Project Manager at the SLSDA, said that the authority has embarked on an onsite survey for the labour camps in the fourthquarter of 2016, using the latest GIS technologies and intelligent and enterprise-wide geo-spatial data solutions provided by Esri, in collaboration with the strategic partner Gistec, the leader in providing GIS solutions in the region.

He added that these innovative applications enabled the authority check the compliance of the existing conditions in labour accommodations with the standards and requirements applicable in the UAE, obtain fast and accurate surveys as well as to document all labour camps in the Emirate. The SLSDA project allows the identification of labour camps, which helps to segregate them according to the quality of life and living conditions. It also enables inspections schedules and highlights the needs of the labourers and the proximity to services and facilities.

Al Shamsi clarified that the authority has been eager to use the geospatial applications in an innovative manner. “This enabled us to conduct spatial and statistical analysis of the data as per the approved standards and policies to identify any violations; improvement of the labourers’ living standards while mitigating the violations. In addition, the authority conducted the necessary analysis to develop the work environment in the Emirate of Sharjah, in general, and the industrial areas, in particular. These efforts make the authority an eligible to win this prestigious international award”, he said. 

Saed Abu Helwa, CTO,Technical Director & Customer Service Director at GISTIC said: “LSDA implemented state-of-the-art GIS technology for the project which included the latest trends and solutions from Esri. The project was implemented in a record-breaking timeframe which is remarkable in the past 20 years of implementing such strategic initiatives."

He added: "We were thrilled with the LSDA top management’s vision of implementing an integrated solution including the GIS technology from the start, which has many benefits in providing accurate and reliable data and reports and effectively monitoring the work crew and survey teams."

The authority has recently completed the first part of the campaign’s second phase, which covered the labour accommodations in the industrial areas 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15. This will be followed by the second part of the second phase, which will include a detailed study of the labour camps and their residents The survey is being conducted by a team of Emirati surveyors who were trained in the first phase and will continue with the second phase.