Kuwait – (KUNA) – Environment Public Authority (EPA) said that one of its projects, Environmental Monitoring Information System of Kuwait (eMISK), won the ICT’s World Summit Award for the Information Society during the WSIS Forum 2016 held in Geneva. This remarkable triumph marks a new milestone for Kuwait.

In press statements, EPA General Director Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad Al-Hamoud Al-Sabah, said that the WSIS Forum represents the world's largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community. He added that Kuwait’s victory is a huge achievement for the country. He presented this achievement to Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the entire Kuwaiti people.

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sabah noted that eMISK met all the requirements and criteria, notably for the project to have a huge and positive scientific impact on society, and to have an integrated development plan that links the project objectives to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In similar statements, Ms. Abeer Al-Ebri, Head of Environmental Inspection, Monitoring & Emergency said that the award won by EPA for the second time will incentivize employees to present and introduce innovative and creative ideas to develop the services offered to seekers of environmental data. This should reflect positively on scientific research and environmental data repository in general.

Al-Ebri explained that eMISK works on continuously developing EPA’s capabilities in monitoring environmental sites and all activities in Kuwait using geographic information systems (GIS), GPS and remote sensing systems. She pointed out that the WSIS Forum focused this year on the impact of ICT society on Sustainable development, including the adaptation of advanced information technology.

She added that eMISK includes the Environmental Monitoring Center that contains the latest devices, software, and working networks that succeeded in creating a geo-environmental database with updated data on the environment in Kuwait, high-resolution satellite images and digital data.

Al-Ebri said that eMISK comprises three phases, the first of which was completed last October. In phase one, a geo-environmental database for Kuwait was completed, including the required infrastructure. The human capital within the EPA was developed for using and maintaining the geo-environmental database. Phase two is aimed at the development of domain-specific environmental models and simulations to help address specific environmental issues in Kuwait. The third and last phase of eMISK will focus on the development of spatial decision support systems for issues relevant to the environment.