[SDI-Africa] RE : SDI-Africa Digest, Vol 22, Issue 7

[John Walkey]

Kate, et al,

In regards to the question of Universities taking a lead in the promotion of 
SDI and general Geospatial tech use/knowledge in Africa, I was wondering if 
you (or anyone else on the list) knew of any lessons to be learned from 
experiences in Latin America, Asia, or other regions where spatial 
technologies are developing under somewhat similar conditions.

Secondly, it seems to me, from the perspective of someone in the U.S. with 
no real first-hand GIS experience in Africa, that the development of the 
spatial technology "community" in Africa might be characterized as 
concentrated in centralized universities, national government agencies, 
international research centres, UN bodies and the like.  Obviously the 
scarcity of resources (human and financial) and realistic priorities are 
part of this.  Over the years, local government (state and town-level) has 
been quite critical in places like the U.S. and Canada for developing and 
populating the spatial "community" as well as creating the private sector 
demand for commerical aspects of this all.   Are there projects promoting 
the use of the technology at a more grass-roots or local level in Africa?  
It would be nice to hear some of them recount their experiences, lessons 
learned, etc., here on the list.

Thanks,
~John

P.S. I'll also add my congratulations on your (nearly single-handedly) 
maintaining a very good list.

John Walkey
Boston, MA

>From: Kate Lance <klance_remote at yahoo.com>
>Reply-To: lancekt at aya.yale.edu
>To: Sewelo Sewelo <sewelosewelo at yahoo.com>
>CC: sdi-africa at lists.gsdi.org
>Subject: Re: [SDI-Africa] RE : SDI-Africa Digest, Vol 22, Issue 7
>Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:21:38 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Sewelo... in answer to your question whether Universities and/or Colleges 
>should be the leaders in this.... (a little long-winded, but bear with 
>me....)
>   If DFID's new Development Partnerships in Higher Education (DELPHE, 
>http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/pressreleases/pr-15m-higher-education.asp) 
>initiative is any indication.... then yes.... universities have a central 
>role to play in stimulating research, faciltating dialogue, promoting 
>science and technology.....  "Universities across Africa and Asia are the 
>engine rooms of the fight against global poverty."
>   Also, Calestous Juma argues that addressing Africa's development 
>challenges requires the creation of a new generation of universities that 
>focuses on solving community problems, 
>http://www.scidev.net/opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=printarticle&itemid=397&language=1
>
>   ISNAR did some interesting work some years back on the role of 
>universities...
>   "In an increasingly competitive world, universities cannot afford to be 
>seen as purely academic institutions only; they are also expected to 
>organize their considerable human and material resources in order to 
>contribute materially to national research and development objectives."
>   http://www.isnar.cgiar.org/publications/briefing/bp59.htm
>
>   This isn't to say that universities should be the leaders of GIS 
>associations.... there are any number of 
>leadership/coordination/communication options.... but universities/colleges 
>could do a lot more towards building more cohesion amongst their local 
>geospatial community members.  For instance, fairly recently, Makerere 
>University initiated an effort to form a GIS association in Uganda, 7 June 
>2006 (see SDI-Africa, Vol. 5, No. 7).
>   http://www.gsdi.org/SDIA/docs2006/jul06links/nat_sdi_uganda.html.   In
>   And the Polytechnic of Namibia hosted the 1st Namibian GIS User 
>Conference, 14 October 2005 (see SDI-Africa, Vol. 4, No. 11). The 
>organizers anticipated that the conference would rekindle the Namibian GIS 
>User group, but I can't comment on whether they were successful.
>
>   I'd like to think there are more examples out there... but just came to 
>mind (since I included something about these in the SDI-Africa 
>newsletters).
>
>
>Sewelo Sewelo <sewelosewelo at yahoo.com> wrote:
>     I agree that things seem one sided here and it is unfortunate because 
>there are so many people on this list. The idea of forming associations is 
>great. Should the Universities and/or Colleges be the leaders in this?
>
>   Sewelo
>
>Kate Lance <klance_remote at yahoo.com> wrote:
>     Hi Heinz, thanks for the words of encouragement... it's nice to hear 
>that the information is valued / appreciated.
>
>   This list does tend to seem like a one-sided affair... with me sending 
>message.... with hardly any inputs from others.
>
>   More than just serving as a medium for job information... I really like 
>to see this list as a forum for some dialogue about SDI issues in Africa.
>
>   Robert, what is your reaction to the idea of a GIS association in your 
>country.... is there one.... and what role does it play... and if there 
>isn't one, what do you think of the possibility of forming one... and 
>sustaining it?
>
>   Regards,
>   Kate