Addis Ababa, 27 August, 2013 (ECA) - The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will from 4-8 November this year host the world Geospatial Data Infrastructure Conference and AfricaGIS conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The theme of the combined conference, which the Commission is hosting in collaboration with Addis Ababa University, the Ethiopian Mapping Agency (EMA) and the GIS Society of Ethiopia (GISSE), is Spatial Enablement in Support of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction.
Participants will deliberate on the importance of geospatial science and technology in the production of affordable geospatial data sets for sustainable development in Africa.
The programme will also feature keynote speeches by leading scholars, technical sessions with reports of the latest research outcomes as well as discussion sessions on topics such as capacity building, SDI, space policy, programmes and projects.
There will in addition be exhibitions of the latest products and services in geospatial science and technology.
Policy-makers, individual and corporate practitioners from within and outside are scheduled to be attending. Among those expected are representatives of United Nations agencies, sub-regional, regional and international inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations. Academic and research institutions, multi-national corporations, small and medium enterprises and civil society organisations will equally be in attendance.
Environment Information Systems in Africa (EIS-Africa) and the Global Geospatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association are partnering to organise this year’s joint conference. EIS-Africa is a pan-African membership network working to improve the use of geospatial and environmental information to enrich policy debate and support decision-making for the well-being of Africa’s people. It has had a long partnership with ECA in supporting Africa’s Spatial Infrastructure (SDI), CODIST, Mapping Africa for Africa and most recently the Global Geospatial Information Management initiative.
The GSDI Association is an inclusive global organization set up to promote international cooperation and collaboration in support of local, national and international spatial data infrastructure developments that will allow nations to better address social, economic, and environmental issues of pressing importance.
Issued by:
ECA External Communications and Media Relations Section
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