Dubai, UAE -- 18 Dec 2005 -- GIS Development -- GIS Development and the Dubai Municipality announced the programme for 'Map Middle East 2006'- the Second Annual Conference on Geosptial Information, Technologies and Applications, in the launch ceremony of the event in Dubai on December 18. The Launch Ceremony at the Dubai Municipality Club had an august gathering of the leaders of the industry, government department heads and representatives of research community and media of the region.

Being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality, Map Middle East 2006 will be held at Dubai World Trade Center from 26 to 29 March 2006 under the banner 'Geospatial for All - All for Geospatial'. The conference is jointly organized by Dubai Municipality and GIS Development (India) and it will embrace on all aspects of addressing 'Geospatial for All - All for Geospatial' in the context of present demands and fast-paced technological changes.

Speaking on the occasion Md. Abdulla Al Zaffin, Director of Dubai GIS Center said the conference is aimed to be a platform for knowledge exchange. He talked about the conference objectives, participating organisations and its importance for the academia, research community and the industry of the region. He also mentioned about the key speakers and sessions planned for the conference. He reminded about the grand success and positive affects of the first Map Middle East conference early this year, where 622 delegates from 21 countries had participated. The ceremony ended with suggestions and discussions where invitees expressed various needs of the region. The ceremony had about 60 participants. The evening ended with a Dinner in the lawns of the prestigious Club.

A number of organisations – from private and government - in the region, have joined hands to support the event. Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre, Jordan; Remote Sensing Authority, Sudan; Iranian Space Agency, Iran; General Organization of Remote Sensing, Syria are the supporting organizations of Map Middle East 2006. The industry is also participating in a big manner in Map Middle East 2006 with over 2600 sq metres of exhibition. Detailed information on Map Middle East is found at www.mapmiddleeast.org