[OSGeo Africa] What software is currently used in South Africa tertiary institutions

[Gavin Fleming]

Hi Sindile

I’ll mention four universities I have some knowledge about in this context. Forgive me if some of it is outdated. 

UP teaches with a variety of FOSS and proprietary software, with a significant focus on FOSS like QGIS, GeoServer, OpenLayers and PostGIS. UP students who’ve interned with us or whom we’ve employed not only know their GISc but they are immediately productive with the FOSS tools we use and also seem to have a more ‘open’ mindset, in more ways than one. 

SU used to have the philosophy that ‘we’ll teach proprietary because that’s what the market uses’. I was invited a couple of times to give a lecture on FOSS by a FOSS champion there several years ago, just to give honours students some exposure to alternatives. 

UNISA afaik has moved strongly to FOSS. We participated in some workshops around that a few years ago.

The UCT GIS lab several years ago just had proprietary software. The lab manager came on one of our ‘Enterprise GIS with FOSS courses’ so they could offer some FOSS alternatives since students were severely constrained by only being able to do practical work in the lab, during office hours.

I hope you could make your case for FOSS!

Gavin

> On 11 Mar 2024, at 17:54, Franko Sokolic via Africa <africa at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Sindile,
> 
> I teach the GIS component of the MSc in Integrated Water Resource Management at the University of the Free State and we only use QGIS for the practical sessions. However, I always emphasize that we are teaching GIS, not QGIS, and that the theory and techniques we teach are applicable to all GIS packages. UFS also has licences for ArcGIS and this software is used by the Geography department amongst others.
> 
> Frank.
> 
> From: "Sindile Bidla via Africa" <africa at lists.osgeo.org>
> To: "Africa local chapter discussions" <Africa at lists.osgeo.org>
> Cc: "Sindile Bidla" <sindile.bidla at geoilocate.co.za>
> Sent: Sunday, 10 March, 2024 10:27:15
> Subject: [OSGeo Africa] What software is currently used in South Africa tertiary institutions
> 
> Hello List,
> 
> Does anyone know what software is used by various South African tertiary institutions that offer a qualification in GIS whether it is accredited by SAGC or not.
> Are students exposed to both desktop and server tools during their studies?
> 
> An internet search revealed the following institutions offer GIS in their curricula
> 
> SAGC Accredited
> University of Cape Town
> University of Stellenbosch
> University of Pretoria
> Cape Peninsula University of Technology
> 
> Others
> University of Johannesburg
> University of South Africa
> University of Venda
> University of Fort Hare
> Nelson Mandela University
> University of KwaZulu Natal
> University of Free State
> North West University
> University of Witwatersrand
> 
> Thank you for your feedback.
> 
> Regards,
> Sindile 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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