Muscat: The Services and Public Utilities Committee of the Shura Council welcomed specialists from the National Survey and Geospatial Information Authority to discuss the Draft National Geospatial Data and Information Law, which the Government has referred to the Council for review.
The meeting started with a presentation of the justification and goals of the proposed legislation. According to the Authority's representatives, the law intends to create a holistic regulatory framework for defining national policies, standards, and technical specifications for the acquisition, production, exchange, and dissemination of national geospatial data and information.
It also intends to standardize geospatial data generation methods in both the public and commercial sectors to support sustainable development plans and national infrastructure, as well as to improve institutional collaboration among pertinent organizations.
The meeting had in-depth debates on the draft law's provisions and looked at potential ways for state agencies to implement it.
The discussions also looked at the law's relationship with current national legislation and regulations, as well as its consistency with international accords in this field to which the Sultanate of Oman is a signatory.
On Wednesday, the Council convened its eighth meeting for the second annual session (2024–2025) of the tenth term, chaired by Hamoud Ahmed Al Yahyaei, Head of the Committee, and attended by Committee members.
It is important to point out that, as part of its review of the proposed law, the Committee had previously invited numerous academic specialists from Sultan Qaboos University to get their opinions on several technical and scientific elements of the measure.
On another note, the Committee evaluated its report on the assessment of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology's annual report, in accordance with Article (55) of the Oman Council Law, which states that Service Ministers must present an annual report to the Shura Council on the implementation stages of projects pertaining to their respective ministries. The Council may invite any of them to provide a statement on particular issues related to their respective ministries and to discuss those matters with them.
