A series of specialized training courses was initiated on July 21, 2009 for municipal engineers, surveyors, and other engineering department staff from major institutions utilizing the Municipal Geographic Information System (MGIS).

Employees from Tripoli, Zgharta, and El Mina Municipalities and from the Zgharta Municipal Union participated in the initial phase of this capacity-building initiative focused on ensuring that municipalities fully benefit from the MGIS and that its use is sustained.

To be extended to all institutions targeted for MGIS assistance, the intensive training course is structured to enable participants to use standardized applications, including the recognized engineering programs AutoCAD and Arc GIS, and to acquire the advanced skills needed to create and update the map used in the MGIS. Specifically, the training will enable engineering staff to work on updating municipal cadastral maps and GIS layers, use Arial images, and map the existing infrastructure, zoning, road plans and other information.

Developed under the program, the MGIS is a powerful tool that supports enhanced taxation, inspection, and auditing capacities, ultimately enabling revenues to be expanded. Significantly, use of the MGIS allows municipal councils to support greater transparency in the assessment and collection of taxes. Further, through the computerized mapping of more than 100 layers of physical, financial, and taxpayer data, the MGIS increases the accuracy of information utilized in municipal operations and allows the financial, administrative and engineering departments to efficiently share information.

Use of the MGIS, in addition to supporting enhanced financial, administrative, and revenue collection practices, supports improved municipal capacities with respect to construction services such as the review and issuance of building and reconstruction permits, a major activity for large municipalities. The MGIS also enables municipalities to maintain, through the process of continual updates, consistency between the various 'layers' of municipal data associated with the physical infrastructure and the actual reality, a consistency that is a prerequisite to effective urban planning.
The MGIS training component is part of broad program activities planned to address the sustainability of the local government modernization achieved to date with efforts centered on furthering the technical capacities of major municipalities and on strengthening institutional resources to enable legal, technical, and training support to be effectively provided to municipalities as needed.