GASSIA Workshop Report
Click
here for the full report
The United States Geological Survey
(USGS)/EROS Data Center (EDC) in cooperation with the Consortium of
Spatial Information (CSI) of the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Centers hosted a two-week workshop May
19 - 31, 2001 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. The workshop was funded
by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)).
The workshop assembled participants from the CGIAR-CSI
and other select international organizations. The venue and the agenda
provided opportunities for specific training in Internet Map Serving
and Clearinghouse Implementation. Week two emphasized legal and policy
issues regarding data distribution and formulated plans and proposed
potential funding sources for future cooperation among all participants
and donor organizations.
The workshop addressed the
increased need, especially in developing countries, for ready access to
spatial data in support of agricultural development and sustainability,
natural resource and environmental management, climate mitigation, and
economic development.
The project undertakes
activities for the first year of a three-year program. It will support
capacity building, technology transfer, and sustainable development in
the areas of spatial data development and GIS applications, geospatial
data clearinghouses, information access and delivery, and browser
accessible querying and map delivery. This emphasis is parallel to the
rapid expansion in GIS applications, the use of the Internet for data
access and delivery, developing national spatial data infrastructures,
and systematic approaches to data standards, formats and clearinghouses.
It is also occurring when various international treaties and initiatives
are demanding responsive capabilities for data distribution and
information delivery. Desertification issues, carbon sequestration,
transboundary issues, disaster mitigation, agricultural development,
poverty mapping, commodity certifications, biodiversity protection, etc.
exemplify current needs for effective data networks.
The EDC and CSI worked with certified
instructors including Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)
specialists and EDC specialists to conduct the two-week workshop.
This workshop specifically identified a set of tasks as major objectives to be completed during the year. Emphasis
was placed on MapServer and Clearinghouse Development. The workshop
has successfully enabled cooperation
among a committed group of participants from relevant international
centers and organizations.
Week One objectives were :
1. Develop capabilities for interactive
Internet Map Serving, ArcIMS.
2. Provide an opportunity to Web-enable CDs that currently exist at
various Centers.
3. Secure software and implement ArcIMS and appropriate Database systems.
4. Review Open GIS opportunities.
5. Identify specific data inventories for each participating organization.
6. Develop plans for further development of spatial data infrastructures
and clearinghouses in countries served by the Centers.
7. Conduct training in appropriate metadata development using modern
metadata tools.
8. Assist in the establishment of functional nodes in the participating
Centers.
9. Review IMS, internet-based and other presentations by participants
and the EDC.
Week Two objectives were :
1. SPECIAL EVENT: Review of intellectual property
rights and legal issues
2. SPECIAL EVENT: Develop perspectives for an Agricultural and Environmental
Geospatial Information System (AEGIS) |
|
- Review current project and donor activities
and identify opportunities for effective cooperation
- Assist the formulation of a strategy for
future applications of geospatial data for international agriculture
and natural resource management research and development
- Help define future agendas for cooperation
|
| |
|
For additional
information related to this workshop, see the following:
EROS Data Center: http://edcintl.cr.usgs.gov/gassia.html
