[Ica-osgeo-labs] ISPRS TC VIII Mid Term Symposium and the Annual ISPRS and ISG Conventions, Hyderabad

Wed Dec 17 08:56:56 PST 2014

Dear Anjana,
Thanks to you and your colleagues and students for this excellent Slum mapping initiative that you all have undertaken and it is very appropriate action for the annual celebration of the lab and is also a great christmas gift for all of us :)
This one example shows the potential of Geo technologies in helping improving the lives of some of the most poorest people and by giving the geospatial tools to the municipal authorities for their slum upgradation programs ( providing clean water, proper sanitation and hygiene facilities etc) will help in  improving the living standards of the people. 
GIS is fundamental technology in infrastructure development and high cost proprietary GIS is unaffordable to governments, town planners and local authorities in developing countries. But with the availability of Open Source GIS technologies now it offers a great opportunity for municipal authorities in developing countries to also implement GIS tools for their decision making and implementation needs.
For example , i could see this GIS Mapping tools helping the municipal authorities for the Swachh Bharat Mission in helping implement access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation and hygiene facilities for everyone (and can be replicated in other developing countries facing similar urban growth challenges) . It also helps in monitoring the progress of these schemes for the future and to see how improvements in sanitation and hygiene facilities has helped improve the health and wellbeing of the people living in these slums. As urban populations keep increasing in the world (and the problem is more in developing countries), we need innovative solutions for building sustainable cities and it is great to hear the work done in slum mapping by your 25 students.
Spatial literacy is a key skill that need to be imparted from school level and i hope that the next step in "Clean India: Clean Schools" program  http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/upload_document/Eng_Swachch%20Bharat%20Swachch%20Vidhalaya.pdf  is also to teach and equip Spatial thinking in the curriculum.
Best wishes,
Suchith
 PS: I also found the info. on SAATH  from their website http://www.saath.org/index.php    Looks like they are doing great work.  

      From: Anjana Vyas <anjanavyas at cept.ac.in>
 To: K S Rajan <rajan at iiit.ac.in> 
Cc: suchith anand <suchith_anand at yahoo.com>; ICA-OSGeo labs <ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>; bindi shastri <shastribindy at gmail.com>; hardik panchal <hp9786 at gmail.com> 
 Sent: Wednesday, 17 December 2014, 5:49
 Subject: Re: [Ica-osgeo-labs] ISPRS TC VIII Mid Term Symposium and the Annual ISPRS and ISG Conventions, Hyderabad

Dear Suchith,Thank you so much for giving opportunity to establish OsGeo Lab at CEPT University. We are celebrating 1st Anniversary of the Lab at CEPT University. As a part of annual celebration of Lab we shall be displaying the work on 20-21 December in University campus. The students have done Slum Mapping. One slum in the city of Ahmedabad, India was selected. The students have visited this slum, carried out GPS survey, collected dwelling unit level information, type of housing, accessibility of toilets/ bath, accessibility to open space,  household level demographic information, work-home distances, children education and use of medical facility, their spending behaviour, migration patter. Participation of the slum dwellers was seek at every time we visited the site. The children of the slum were shown their houses and landmarks where they are staying, their school and play grounds on map. Thematic Maps and the analysis carried out in GIS environment which are useful for the municipal authority to add the facility to the slum for the slum up-gradation. This is a result of 25 students and 3 faculty members' (Ms. Binadi Shastry, Mr. Hardik Panchal and myself) work for 15 days as a part of winter school. Special mention of Mr. Niraj Jani who has helped us in&out from SAATH (an NGO).I shall send you the display material, one we are through with the exhibition.
I thank you for Congratulating on the occasion of me receiving National Geomatics Award for Applications.
With best regards.
Anjana

On Fri, Dec 12, 2014 at 8:10 AM, K S Rajan <rajan at iiit.ac.in> wrote:

Thanks Suchith for sharing the info.
Well, a few Univs in India have shown the interest to be part of the network and will coordinate with them for the same.
Best,
Rajan

From: "suchith anand" <suchith_anand at yahoo.com>
To: "ICA-OSGeo labs" <ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2014 12:53:03 AM
Subject: [Ica-osgeo-labs] ISPRS TC VIII Mid Term Symposium and the Annual ISPRS and ISG Conventions, Hyderabad

I would like to congratulate Dr Anjana Vyas (CEPT University, India) for winning the National Geomatics Award: Applications at the ISPRS TC VIII Mid Term Symposium and the Annual ISPRS and ISG Conventions (Dec 9-12, 2014) in Hyderabad, India  yesterday. Details at http://geospatialworld.net/News/View.aspx?ID=30267_Article

Also thanks to Dr K.S Rajan (IIIT, Hyderabad) for presenting "Geo for All". It is good to see strong OSGeo presence at the event. There is webcast arrangements for the main sessions at http://www.nrsc.gov.in/isprs/2014tc8symposium.html   Best wishes,

Suchith

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