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Jim Baumann
ESRI, United States
[email protected]
At ESRI’s GIS development entre in Sharjah, one of the seven emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a group of young and ambitious software developers has just completed the final delivery of the first release of ArcGIS Image Server, a product that has literally redefined how imagery is managed, processed, and distributed.
The development entre was originally part of MAPS Geosystems, a leading regional producer of aerial survey and satellite mapping products. The company’s Systems Engineering Group, under the direction of managing director Peter Becker, performed the initial development of the Image Server product. ESRI acquired the technology and the development group in mid-2005 and the ongoing development is now coordinated through ESRI’s company headquarters in California. Other raster image projects are also planned for the Sharjah development group. Becker, the creative force behind the imaging technology, continues to provide vision and direction to the development team. He comments, “Having ESRI acquire and embrace this technology has been a fantastic experience. The abundance of resources that are now available has allowed us to increase our team and expand our original technology into a world-class application, which is very exciting for us.”
ESRI’s ArcGIS Image Server provides fast access to and visualization of large quantities of file-based imagery that is processed on the fly and on demand. Output imagery, available to multiple users working simultaneously, is displayed almost instantly and without the need to first preprocess the data or load it into a database management system. The product supports all the leading GIS and CAD vendors’ software as well as open standards such as WMS and HTML viewers.
Satish Kumar Menon, operations manager for ESRI-UAE in Sharjah, takes great pride in the team’s accomplishments. “ArcGIS Image Server will play a significant role in the ArcGIS family of products,” he begins. “It brings enormous capabilities to the GIS environment with its ability to process huge raster datasets at lightning speed. In addition, the images generated by the server can be used in Web pages or client applications such as ArcGIS, other commercial mapping products, and CAD applications.”
“One of the things that I like most about my job here,” he continues, “is that ESRI not only provides us with the support we need to successfully complete a project of this magnitude but also allows us to personally develop our teams and strategies to accomplish the job.
We all work for a large international company and enjoy the support it can provide, but here it has the feel of a small team with everyone focused on a common goal.”
This team-building management strategy is the key to the success of the ESRI development group in Sharjah. Feroz Abdul-Kadar a software architect who has worked for the development group since graduating from university eight years ago adds, “The most important thing for me is that the working environment is really good. Everyone is helpful, and there is good interaction between the developers. It’s all about working together, which gives us a strong sense of teamwork.” Naila Khan, lead developer, traveled to Sharjah shortly after receiving her degree in computer science in India. She was in search of a little adventure and the opportunity to apply her skills in a state-of-the-art software development environment. She was initially employed as a trainee but at the end of her six-month probation was invited to join ESRI full-time.
“Sharjah is somewhat more conservative than Dubai,” she says, “but it is still very open and provides its residents with the opportunity to live peaceful lives. It’s a very good environment.” The thriving expatriate Indian population in the UAE allows new immigrants easy assimilation into the local environment. Although Arabic is the official language of the Emirates, the region is quite cosmopolitan and both English and Hindi are widely spoken in the shops, souqs, and hotels.
Concludes Menon, “In Sharjah, ESRI has established an innovative development group that is widely regarded as a centre of excellence in the region. We are focused and determined in our work as well as enjoying a good standard of living in the UAE.
As our group continues to grow, we are always on the lookout for young, promising software developers and specialists that share our enthusiasm for our work and our work ethic as we continue to develop cutting-edge GIS technologies as part of ESRI’s development efforts.” ESRI-UAE encourages applications from aspiring and suitably qualified developers and product engineers.
Those interested in applying to work for ESRI-UAE should send an email to [email protected] for additional information.
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