00:01This morning, we're going to give an award to the government of Abu Dhabi. The Making a Difference Award. [unintelligible]

00:08Let me show you a brief video first, which may explain some of the reasons why this award is being given to Abu Dhabi.

00:19[Begin video]

00:21Abu Dhabi's rapid progress and growth is guided by a broad vision to build a secure society...

00:28...and an open economy founded on the strongest principles of sustainability.

00:34Achieving this ambitious vision requires comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date geospatial information.

00:42GIS technology can help us better understand the world around us...

00:47...and to make effective and practical decisions at all levels as we advance toward our vision.

00:53The Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative provides a framework for the exchange and coordination of geospatial information...

01:03...among more than 40 government, academic, and private institutions.

01:08Helping planners and decision makers to develop concepts and designs for our ambitious vision to build cities of the future.

01:17Supporting our local governments as they manage landholdings.

01:22Providing public utility companies with vital information to help them manage electricity, water, and telephone networks.

01:31Supplying health, social, and educational institutions with data to help them respond...

01:38...to the ever-changing requirements of our communities...

01:41...such as providing ambulances and firefighters with the quickest routings to their destinations.

01:48Helping scientists provide the best plans for maintaining biological diversity...

01:53...and developing our natural resources in a sustainable way.

01:59In the first two years, the Abu Dhabi Spatial Data Infrastructure has facilitated the exchange of geospatial data and expertise among its members...

02:09...to help all of us reach our vision for Abu Dhabi, building a sustainable future for our emirate.

02:24[End video]

02:25Yes.

02:33The video's beautiful, and it gives a vision, but my sense of Abu Dhabi is much more than just the video.

02:40These people, working together, have built a real infrastructure that works.

02:46And the reason why I'm so impressed with it is that they're very humble.

02:52They're very modest about their achievement, and they've come here, about 80 of them, to share this vision with you.

03:01Tonight, we'll see a large exhibition of their work.

03:07They're also a humble people, in the sense, and a giving people, in the sense of not simply sharing to show us exactly what they do, but they share around the world.

03:18They were instrumental in much of the relief in Haiti. They do huge assistance in Africa and now Afghanistan.

03:29This is a very special country, organization, group of people.

03:35Receiving this year's award is His Excellency Mohammed Ahmed Al Bawardi, and just a moment about him.

03:45He is the secretary general of the Executive Council. That's basically the managers of the country.

03:53And he comes here, I asked him to come here, to share just a little bit of his vision and receive this award.

04:01He is a special person, like almost no one I've ever met, because he has insight into nature...

04:10...how cities and people are connecting nature and connected with nature...

04:16So His Excellency, could you please join me in getting this award and please acknowledge. [unintelligible]

04:30You're very welcome. Thank you. Would you like to say something, Your Excellency?

04:43Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Jack, for recognizing the achievements of Abu Dhabi.

04:53We are honored with this award. My gratitude to all of you for sharing this moment with us.

05:11We owe our achievement to people like you, who invented this [unintelligible] support tool such as the GIS...

05:21...which opened a new world of creativity and innovation for mankind.

05:30I would like to share this metaphoric thought with you today.

05:36When we started this project, we worked to design a system that is like the human body in its cohesiveness...

05:51...coordination, complexity, and its power of processing information.

06:01We hear, we see, we smell, we taste, and we feel.

06:09Our nervous system regulates, our brain manages, and our body reacts instantly.

06:22Governments, departments, and organizations must perform like this miracle that we all know as a human body.

06:37A total system that amazingly reacts automatically with millions of sensors and signals to balance and coordinate.

06:54Our leadership has set a goal for us, to be one of the best-performing governments in the world.

07:07With this devotion and dedication of our leadership to be the best, we cannot go wrong.

07:18A leadership that believes that every one of us has a role.

07:26Every one of us has a role to play, just like the human body.

07:33Thank you very much.

07:48I hope this week you have a chance to meet His Excellency. He's a remarkable man.

07:55While his speech is very directed, his philosophy of seeing the body as an organic model for geography and the city...

08:06...understanding problems in this way, is just remarkable.

08:09Thank you very much, Your Excellency. We're honored to have you here.