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<p>Mick Wilson<br>
Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA)<br>
United Nations Environment Programme<br>
PO Box 30552 - Nairobi 00100, Kenya<br>
Tel: +254 20 7623436<br>
Fax: +254 20 7624315<br>
Email: mick.wilson@unep.org <br>
Web www.unep.net, www.unep.org<br>
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<font size="2" color="#800080">----- Forwarded by Mick Wilson/UNEP/NBO/UNO</font><font size="2" color="#800080"> on 10/07/2007 10:37 AM</font><font size="2" color="#800080"> -----</font><br>
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<ul><b><font size="2">Mick Wilson <MickWilson20@gmail.com></font></b><font size="2"> </font><br>
<font size="2">Sent by: sdi-ea-bounces@als.unep.org</font>
<p><font size="2">10/07/2007 10:33 AM</font></ul>
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<font size="2">sdi-ea@als.unep.org</font></td></tr>
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<div align="right"><font size="2">Subject</font></div></td><td width="100%"><img src="cid:20__=CCBBF987DFBA6DAA8f9e8a@unonsvr0.unon.org" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""><br>
<font size="2">[Sdi-ea] [SDI East Africa] SDI-EA First Handzon Training Changes Life as we Know It</font></td></tr>
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<a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_8cUZM3xy4KY/RpM1vjpF-II/AAAAAAAAAA8/jnPj4QVAlfE/s1600-h/DSCF2771.JPG"><font size="2" color="#FF0000">[IMAGE]</font></a><br>
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<font size="4">Thursday last week saw twenty eager trainees from 10 Nairobi-based institutions (see list at the end) got their first taste on-line data publishing. In a three-and-a-half hour session they went from a clean slate to having installed the necessary services and data management tools for implementing open web services for geo-data delivery based on OGC specifications.</font><br>
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<font size="4">The training session, in true SDI-EA fashion, was a no-cost no-fuss joint effort by UNEP/DEWA and FAO/SWALIM. We cobbled together a local network, participants showed up with their own laptops, and mwalimuJohn Mugwe got them underway installing </font><a href="http://www.postgresql.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">postgreSQL</font></u></a><font size="4"> with </font><a href="http://postgis.refractions.net/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">postGIS</font></u></a><font size="4"> as their spatial database, plus </font><a href="http://geoserver.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">geoserver</font></u></a><font size="4"> as their web feature service. In many cases trainees also had their first taste of implementing </font><a href="http://java.sun.com/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">Java</font></u></a><font size="4"> and the </font><a href="http://tomcat.apache.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">Tomcat</font></u></a><font size="4"> servlet container. Participants also learned how to take their own geospatial data (</font><a href="http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">shapefiles</font></u></a><font size="4">) and ingest them into the database, and saw for themselves the utility of open-source GIS applications like </font><a href="http://download.qgis.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">qGIS</font></u></a><font size="4"> and </font><a href="http://udig.refractions.net/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">uDIG</font></u></a><font size="4">.</font><br>
<a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_8cUZM3xy4KY/RpM1vzpF-JI/AAAAAAAAABE/p1ykPDJkn0Y/s1600-h/DSCF2775.JPG"><font size="2" color="#FF0000">[IMAGE]</font></a><br>
<font size="4">All this novelty notwithstanding, and despite having to deal with trojan-infected PCs and confusion caused by previous unclean installations of some of the software, by the end of the session every single system was up and running and participants were accessing each others data across the network and integrating them in their local client. Yes, they had the beginnings of a microcosm of an SDI running then and there. Now, if only the Nairobi internet becomes ready for prime time then we'll really have something to show.</font><br>
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<font size="4">And quite an eye-opener it was for them. I am sure that if we'd offered to keep the training sesion going that these eager beavers would have kept hacking away all afternoon. As it is we'll just have to see when and where else we can host these and follow-up sessions. I am keen to do at least one out here at the UN for other colleagues in Habitat, UNESCO and Unicef, but there's an obvious need for more sessions in more accessible places. There's also the need to follow-up </font><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_8cUZM3xy4KY/RpM1vTpF-HI/AAAAAAAAAA0/gf15k2c22FQ/s1600-h/DSCF2770.JPG"><font size="2" color="#FF0000">[IMAGE]</font></a><font size="4">incorporating the Geonetwork Opensource kit, which some local centres are already running but could use further promotion to help get over the metadata authoring hurdle. Perhaps the </font><a href="http://www.rcmrd.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">RCMRD</font></u></a><font size="4"> or Survey of Kenya could be coaxed into hosting (the context of </font><a href="http://www.knsdi.go.ke/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">KNSDI</font></u></a><font size="4"> development rings loudly here), or maybe we get the CGIAR institutions to engage with some local players. However we do it's obvious that John and I can't do all this in our spare time and, invoking our Teflon Approach, look for ways to pass on the Bright Torch of Training to others. Hmmm, I wonder if UNEP's own Capacity Building programme would give us a hand there?</font><br>
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<font size="4">The participating agencies were:African Rescue Committee AFREC </font><a href="http://www.afrec.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://www.afrec.org/</font></u></a><a href="http://www.afrec.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF"> </font></u></a><font size="4">Data Excahange Platform for the Horn of Africa DEPHA </font><a href="http://www.depha.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://www.depha.org</font></u></a><a href="http://www.depha.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF"> </font></u></a><font size="4">Regional Centre for Mapping Resources for Deevelopment RCMRD </font><a href="http://www.rcmrd.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://www.rcmrd.org/</font></u></a><a href="http://www.rcmrd.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF"> </font></u></a><font size="4">Somali Support Secretariat CEFA </font><a href="http://www.somalisupportsecretariat.info/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://www.somalisupportsecretariat.info/</font></u></a><font size="4">UN FAO Food Security Analysis Unit FAO-FSAU </font><a href="http://www.fsausomali.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://www.fsausomali.org</font></u></a><font size="4">UN FA Somalia water and land Information Management FAO-SWALIM </font><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.faoswalim.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">www.faoswalim.org/</font></u></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.faoswalim.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF"> </font></u></a><font size="4">UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA Regional </font><a href="http://ochaonline.un.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://ochaonline.un.org/</font></u></a><font size="4">UNEP/DEWA </font><a href="http://www.unep.org/dewa"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://www.unep.org/dewa</font></u></a><font size="4">UN-Habitat </font><a href="http://www.un-habitat.org/"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://www.un-habitat.org</font></u></a><font size="4">UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR-Somalia </font><a href="http://www.unhcr.org/country/som.html"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF">http://www.unhcr.org/country/som.html</font></u></a><a href="http://www.unhcr.org/country/som.html"></a><br>
<a href="http://www.unhcr.org/country/som.html"></a><br>
<font size="4">There's an SDI-EA trining ulumnis' mailing list at sdi-ea-hackers@als.unep.org </font><br>
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<font size="4">--</font><br>
<font size="4">Posted By Mick Wilson to </font><a href="http://sdi-ea.blogspot.com/2007/07/sdi-ea-first-handzon-training-changes.html"><u><font size="4" color="#0000FF"> SDI East Africa </font></u></a><font size="4"> on 7/10/2007 10:02:00 AM</font><br>
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