Arab British Fellowship Training Academy offers a professional training course in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a technology used to collect, manage, process, and analyse spatial data describing geographic features on the Earth's surface, from natural landmarks to man-made structures. The course is designed for professionals in planning, municipal administration, utilities, and engineering consultancy, as well as students and researchers interested in mapping and spatial analysis.

Participants will learn the fundamentals of GIS and the structure of ArcGIS software, how to query and edit spatial and descriptive data, link data tables to maps, and produce professional maps, reports, and charts.

Target Group

• Employees working in planning centres.
• Heads of departments in municipalities.
• Employees in systems and environment departments.
• Staff of municipal and secretariat authorities.
• Personnel in the military sector and electricity, water, and telecommunications companies.
• Engineering consultancy and planning firms.
• Road and railway companies.
• All researchers and students in engineering and computer science disciplines.
• Everyone interested in mapping, surveying, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), as well as statistics and analysis, whether researchers or students.

Program Objectives

By the end of the training program, participants will be introduced to:

• The fundamental concepts of Geographic Information Systems.
• The structure and components of ArcGIS software.
• Displaying spatial information.
• Searching and querying geographic information system databases.
• Editing spatial and descriptive data.
• Linking and building relationships between tables and maps.
• Creating maps, reports, and charts.

Training Program Content

• Definition of Geographic Information Systems.
• Importance and applications of Geographic Information Systems.
• Introduction to the software, its installation, and familiarization with the program and its drop-down menus.
• The concept of a project and the types of files the software works with.
• Opening and saving files, creating different layers, and saving the project.
• Coordinate systems and projection systems used (Projection & Coordinates System).
• How to build layers and organize, create, and edit geographic data to maintain its accuracy and link it to its attribute data.
• Displaying spatial information.
• Searching and querying geographic information system databases.
• Editing spatial and descriptive data.
• Linking and building relationships between tables and maps.
• Creating maps, reports, and charts.
• Engineering correction (georeferencing) of maps and aerial or satellite imagery.
• Managing, symbolizing, and classifying map layers to support visual representation and data exploration (Symbolization & Labeling).
• Methods of data retrieval and querying (Selection).
• Designing and laying out attractive pages for maps to be printed (Layout Maps).
• Sharing maps and analysis results so they can be easily accessed on desktop, web, and mobile devices.
• The data the software works with: satellite imagery, aerial imagery, maps, program files, and various databases within the GIS environment.
• Getting started with certain commands, from opening a new project and creating one or several empty layers, to working with numbering within them.
• Explaining the properties of the numbering process while working with it and the obstacles that may be encountered.
• Drawing certain features from a regular image or a satellite image and exporting a project.
• Managing operations within the project environment.
• Working with the databases in the project, explaining their properties, reviewing them, and the impact that changes to them have on the graphical environment and, consequently, on the project.
• Working with attribute tables and their extensions, and managing them appropriately.
• Working with layer types: point, line, and polygon (in terms of creation and editing).
• Explaining the concept of RASTER & VECTOR.
• Working on the final stages of completing the map or project within the Layout.
• Creating a Layout in detail.
• Three-dimensional output (TIN).
• Reinforcing the previous information and reviewing the work.
• Group discussions and practical exercises.