This year's Middle East and Africa Conference for Esri Users will take place in the charming city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, December 6–8, 2005, at the InterContinental Garden Reef Resort.

Quality Standards Information Technology, Esri's distributor for Egypt and Libya, will host the event where more than 1,000 GIS professionals and business partners from Africa and the Middle East are expected to gather to share their ideas and experiences with GIS.

The event will encompass several activities all aimed at presenting the latest GIS applications and case studies. A variety of sessions will be held that will educate the delegates, presenters, users, and students about the latest technologies provided by Esri, in addition to demonstrating successful case studies of the implementation of these technologies in various leading industries.

The first day will be the formal commencement of the conference by Jack Dangermond, president of Esri. The rest of the day will be dedicated to technical presentations by Esri staff on the company's latest releases of software, as well as presentations by other technology partners. In addition, there will be preconference seminars, the Map Gallery, preconference and postconference training sessions, the Esri Product Centre, and a gala dinner and other social events.

For more information, contact Dina El Tabey, marketing manager, Quality Standards Information Technology (tel.: 20-2761-2344, ext. 119; e-mail: dina.eltabey@qs4it.com), or visit the event Web site (www.qs4it.com/meauc2005).