A delegation from Dubai Land Department (DLD) concluded a technical benchmarking visit to London to strengthen international relations and existing cooperation between DLD and a number of specialised British institutions. This comes within the framework of DLD’s strategy to adopt international best practices and enable it to play an active role locally and internationally in enhancing Dubai’s position as one of the most prominent cities in real estate survey operations.

The visit conducted by DLD’s representative, Mohamad Khodr Al-Dah, involved organising meetings with senior officials from The Geospatial Commission, an expert committee that forms part of the Cabinet Office and sets the UK’s geospatial strategy; Geovation, The innovation incubator set up by HM Land Registry and Ordnance Survey (the UK’s official mapping agency); and the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), The world’s largest organisation dedicated to structural engineering.

During the meeting with members of the Geospatial Commission, Rt Hon Jeremy Quin, MP, UK Minister for Implementation, gave a presentation about infrastructure mapping and coordination. DLD’s representative also attended a meeting with Mr Alex Wrottesley, head of Geovation, to discuss the innovative automation of property survey services in Dubai, which included exploring the use of BIM and artificial intelligence in the property sector.

The final meeting was at the global HQ of IStructE, where the first board meeting for 2020 was held. DLD discussed promoting the training and support given to structural engineers in the UAE, which follows the memorandum of understanding signed between IStructE and DLD in 2019.

The meeting included professor Don McQuillan, president of IStructE, and Mr Martin Powell, the chief executive. This coincided with Mohamad Khodr Al-Dah’s election as 2020/2021 vice president of IStructE.