Royal Commission for Makkah Harnesses Geospatial Data to Enhance City Management and Pilgrim Services

The Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites has relied on geospatial data and business intelligence to monitor movement and services, update maps and locations, and provide spatial information to operational entities and beneficiaries, as part of its tools supporting the management of the city and holy sites.

 The use of these capabilities expands during the Hajj and Umrah seasons, amid increased movement density, multiple locations and services, and rapidly changing conditions on roads and transportation routes.

 During the 1447 AH Hajj season, these capabilities were widely applied. The commission managed data for more than 20,000 landmarks, locations, and services on digital maps and developed and managed more than 20 interactive maps of landmarks and services in the holy sites, the central area, and the Grand Mosque.

 The commission's work includes monitoring changes across the road network, reviewing locations and points of interest, and updating them on maps and digital platforms used for operational and guidance purposes.

 The data review also extended to locations associated with serving pilgrims and visitors, with 8,248 Hajj-season points of interest reviewed on the Balady maps.

 The commission also uses a traffic status and situational awareness platform to monitor and analyze traffic and crowds.

 During the 1447 AH Hajj season, the platform monitored nine million traffic-status images, reflected more than 350,000 points and elements of locations and geospatial data, and connected 419 bus stations to live schedules in real time.

 The impact of geospatial data also reaches pilgrims and visitors through the digital spatial guidance platform, which includes 11 guidance maps and more than 5,000 locations.

 The guidance maps recorded 537,197 uses, with the Grand Mosque map ranking as the most used at 233,590 uses, followed by the Makkah administrative boundaries map with 69,275 uses, and the map of important sites and camps with 44,084 uses.

 The commission continues to develop the use of geospatial data and business intelligence as part of its tools supporting Hajj seasons and its monitoring and operational activities in Makkah and the holy sites.