**6. Conclusions**

with York University and Concordia University in Canada in ongoing research projects, and there is an agreement with the Center for Interdisciplinary Development in Ocean Mapping

**Year International peer-reviewed journal publications International conference presentations**

2007 3 100% King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Geological Survey, private sector

Armed Forces, Saudi Aramco

2009 3 100% Saudi Aramco, private sector, King Abdulaziz University 2010 5 100% King Abdulaziz University General Commission for Survey,

The program has contributed to the economic development of the region by providing highly skilled professionals that are serving in many key employers in the public and private sectors. The program started to familiarize local decision-makers as well as the public with the role and capabilities of geomatics in general and hydrography specifically. The program was visited by a delegation of the Hydrographic Society of the United Kingdom, UAE branch to extend an invitation to the program faculty, and students to contribute to the outreach activities in the region. The program outreach committee has invited some high schools to schedule visits of their final year students to the department and vessel, where students visited the program and learned about the capabilities the program and the requirements for admission. Also, the department has participated in many local conferences and introduced the program at different capacities for professionals as well as for nontechnical extended

(CIDCO) in Canada for the training of students.

2012 4 0 2013 5 2 2014 6 1 2015 6 3 2016 7 1

**Table 3.** Students employment history for graduates between 2007 and 2016.

2015 8 100% General Commission for Survey

**Year Number of graduates Employment rate Employer**

2011 7 100% Private sector 2013 3 100% Private sector 2014 5 100% Private sector

2016 10 100% Private sector

2008 7 100%

62 Trends in Geomatics - An Earth Science Perspective

**Table 4.** International contributions of the program in the last 5 years.

community members.

This chapter discussed a collaborative approach in determining the challenges faced by a newly established hydrographic surveying department at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. It has presented the opportunities for developing such a program through transfer and modification of the established approach, using KAU program as a model. The newly created program addressed the apparent need for such specialized and targeted higher education that provides international professional certification, especially by looking at the environmental issues in the region, natural resources and maritime transport in the area, and the need for safe navigation. The study has demonstrated the unique inception of a program that meets the international standards, while providing high-quality local education for students in the region has contributed to the socioeconomic well-being of the region and can be seen as a model for similar future programs worldwide.

The establishment challenges faced by the program can be better addressed by proposing a new scheme of collaboration and by exploring new short-term models of recruitment that attract visiting faculty members from well-reputed universities for short-term visiting professorship trips, or by signing partnership agreements with the different universities mainly for faculty exchange and training of students. The support from the international community represented by the IHO and host training institutions was among the key attracting points from various stakeholders in the Saudi Arabia and the GCC region broadly. The program has provided a new, world-class hydrographic surveying education through an effective partnership with the IHO, IHO-IBSC, and the leading training institutions in Canada, the Netherlands, and France. The satisfaction of the program stakeholders and the success of the program to provide employment opportunities to the graduates were a direct measure of the success of the program in meeting the stakeholders' expectations. Over the past 10 years, the graduates' employment rate within 6 months of graduation was 100%. Several meetings with the stakeholders reflected the high satisfaction of the program capabilities and the graduates' preparation. The Saudi Aramco, the leading oil company in the world, is a strategic partner of the program. The management of the surveying division of Saudi Aramco has expressed interest to hire all graduates in the upcoming through the partnership agreement signed with the Faculty of Maritime Studies. Stakeholders' enthusiasm and KAU higher administration strong support were key factors in the firm inception of the program, backed by generous budgets, resources, and passion for accomplishment. The program has also developed new opportunities for the stakeholders to expand their hydrographic surveying capabilities. GCS has hired all graduates of the 2014 class and started to expand the hydrographic surveying capabilities of the authority.

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