[Geo4All] AgriGIS ThinkTank Summary and welcoming Center for Agricultural Networking and Information Sharing (CANIS) , Kenya to GeoForAll

Wed Nov 16 06:45:09 PST 2016

Thanks Suchith,

This is highly appreciated.

Isaura,

I remain at your disposal.

Best!

Kiringai

On Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 5:32 PM, Suchith Anand <
Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk> wrote:

> Thank you Kiringai. I also fully agree on the need to bring together ideas
> to support RUFORUM [1] to develop the curriculum as the next step forward.
> We have many options to make this happen. I suggest that we explore the
> GODAN Capacity Building Working Group (as the focus is on Agriculture ) for
> more ideas and action plan for this . GeoForAll can also provide inputs for
> the curriculum from GIS side. I am ccing the GODAN Capacity Development WG
> so we all can work together and build synergies.
>
> Isaura, Imma – may I request that you invite Kiringai for a telemeeting so
> we can discuss ideas further and build synergies with GODAN WG activities.
> Thanks.
>
> I also request other colleagues to please come forward and provide your
> inputs/ideas . Thanks.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Suchith
>
> [1] http://www.ruforum.org
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Kiringai Kamau <kiringai at gmail.com>
> Sent: 16 November 2016 1:35 PM
> To: Anand Suchith
> Cc: discuss at lists.osgeo.org; geoforall at lists.osgeo.org; Prof. S.G. Kiama;
> Dr. John Mburu; Nampala, Paul; Ann Rose Mwangi; Dhairya Pujara; Muchiri
> Nyaggah
> Subject: Re: AgriGIS ThinkTank Summary and welcoming Center for
> Agricultural Networking and Information Sharing (CANIS) , Kenya to GeoForAll
>
> Happy GIS Day Suchith,
>
> The GIS Think Tank is fired to do good for Africa. We want to grow our
> centralized data, more so if we can achieve this from a localized country
> data which mirrored can provide a huge database for what the AU and CAADP
> through the Malabo Declaration calls the evidence driven decision making.
>
> With data, our decision making will be fast, efficient, effective and no
> doubts sustainable. We are taking the very first step of faith by working
> together. The 86+ university members of the RUFORUM will benefit from the
> combined thinking of this forum that is as rich as our combined
> resourcefulness. We now seek to tap from this and grow Africa's
> resourcefulness. Mapped, it will be the largest resource that makes all of
> us learn from what they can see rather than hearing of the same.
>
> We need to take the first step of helping RUFORUM develop the curriculum
> so anyone with ideas where the financial support for RUFORUM can come so
> that they can call us together to think jointly on the curriculum, if the
> GODAN Capacity Building Working Group can organize an online curriculum
> thinking forum to create a framework that will guide what we do next, if
> they are slow and OSGeo wants to lead us to take the first baby steps on
> this...we at CANIS are willing to convene the thinking from an Africa
> perspective to ensure we follow closely and driven the agenda.
>
> I am open to ideas on how we can move this agenda forward and would love
> if our mentor Suchith can throw some light on this.
>
> Happy GIS Day to you all.
>
> Kiringai
>
> On Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 3:17 PM, Suchith Anand <
> Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>>
> wrote:
> Dear Kiringai,
>
> Thank you for these excellent updates. Your collaborations with RUFORUM to
> further accelerate open data on agriculture and nutrition by establishing a
> truly ICT4Ag driven degree program is truly remarkable. This will help make
> this benefit the whole Africa and wider world. I believe the time for Geo
> Spatial Driven Africa has arrived and this momentum created will bring long
> term benefits not only to Africa but to the wider world.
>
> You and colleagues in Africa are now part of OSGeo -the world’s largest
> Geospatial ecosystem , so you have full access to the huge network of
> collaborators from governments, industry , universities, NGOs globally that
> you can connect  to  expand your programs rapidly . Open innovation is key
> in driving Digital Economy opportunities and we are determined to make sure
> that everyone benefits .
>
> Open Data developments are exciting but what is the point of all these
> open data if we have to buy high cost properitery software licences to make
> use of the data. This is esp. big issue for colleagues in developing
> countries where cost is a big factor. So I really hope the short courses
> and curriculum you develop will have open principles at the core so that it
> is scaleable , sustainable and contribute to open innovation.
>
> I wish you all the success and best wishes in your aim to creating a Geo
> Spatial Driven Africa which brings benefits for everyone.
>
> Happy GIS Day 2016.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Suchith
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Kiringai Kamau <kiringai at gmail.com<mailto:kiringai at gmail.com>>
> Sent: 11 November 2016 3:30 AM
> To: Anand Suchith
> Cc: discuss at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:discuss at lists.osgeo.org>;
> geoforall at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:geoforall at lists.osgeo.org>; Prof. S.G.
> Kiama; Dr. John Mburu; Nampala, Paul; Ann Rose Mwangi; Dhairya Pujara;
> Muchiri Nyaggah
> Subject: Re: AgriGIS ThinkTank Summary and welcoming Center for
> Agricultural Networking and Information Sharing (CANIS) , Kenya to GeoForAll
>
> Thanks Suchith for this!
>
> We are excited about the possibilities that are slowly emerging from the
> potential of creating a Geo Spatial Driven Africa. Since our ThinkTank
> Forum, we are discussing with Regional Universities Forum for Capacity
> Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and a number of other partners on how we
> can make data driven decision making the focus of the next step in creating
> knowledge for the African Food Sector.
>
> RUFORUM is therefore collaborating with CANIS to evolve a truly ICT4Ag
> driven degree programme that will be adopted by the 80+ members of the
> forum to also drive the open data on agriculture and nutrition. We have
> negotiated a proposal with the IDRC to support the financial support to
> launch this initiative, but are looking for other partners so that this
> effort can move faster to realization.
>
> Our thinking is that we should have the curriculum formulation going on as
> we try and evolve the research domains that IDRC is keen in supporting. The
> financial support to the Think Tank Secretariat is currently being
> supported by CANIS, VACID Africa and Y-Center Africa. We intend to run a
> number of other short courses in Design Thinking and Innovation on the use
> of Open Data for the Transformation of Agriculture  (ODATA) in Africa which
> we are currently evolving with Y-Center. Details of this will emerge as we
> evolve the programme. Anyone who knows institutions that we can work with
> is free to introduce the same to us so that we reach out to them.
>
> The university of Nairobi has taken lead in adopting the Geospatial
> coordination perspectives of CANIS and is centralizing all its GeoSpatial
> Operations from a centralized server that has been dedicated to the model
> behind what came out of the Think Tank deliberations. Ms. Ann Rose Mwangi <
> arosemwangi at gmail.com<mailto:arosemwangi at gmail.com><mailto:
> arosemwangi at gmail.com<mailto:arosemwangi at gmail.com>>> is the linkage
> person on the coordination of the secretariat.
>
> We look forward to inviting you all in the launch of the ODATA Programme
> once a date has been granted by the VC of the University of Nairobi on a
> date to be communicated soon.
>
> We are and shall always remain at your disposal.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Kiringai Kamau
>
> On Thu, Nov 10, 2016 at 11:50 PM, Suchith Anand <
> Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk
> ><mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Suchith.Anand@
> nottingham.ac.uk>>> wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> We are pleased to send you the summary updates from the very successful
> AgriGIS Workshop & Think Tank meetings in Nairobi organised jointly by the
> The University of Nottingham, the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources
> for Development (RCMRD), the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition
> (GODAN) and Crops for the Future (CFF) on October 27-28, 2016.
>
> The objective of the event was to provide a forum for stakeholders in
> agricultural research organizations in Africa to share knowledge and
> propose strategies on improving the use of  open data, open educational
> resources , free and open geospatial software with the aim to expand
> Capacity Building and Training in AgriGIS to support Global Food Security.
>
> The slides of the event  are at  http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/
> grace/events/agrigis-kenya-slides.aspx
>
> We thank all the participants for their inputs and contributions for the
> Think-Tank discussions which covered the following themes (details to the
> summary of each theme are available at the event website)
>
>
>   *   Big challenges for Agriculture in the African context
>   *   Tools (known & wish list) used for agri using satellite/remote data
> collection
>   *   Existing or potential data sets we would like to use
>   *   Practical, technical, policy, impementation obstacles to Location
> aspects/geotechnologies for agri
>   *   Data and Modelling
>
>
> There was interest and support from  participants for the need for Open
> Data in Agriculture and  initiatives like GODAN [1].
>
> Some of the key themes that emerged  from the Think Tank discussions were
> the following
>
>
>   *   Importance of the need of an organisation locally to facilitate and
> ensure sustainability of AgriGIS
>   *   Spearheading open data and free and open software use for cost
> savings, expanding innovation and sustainability
>   *   Need for Capacity building among stakeholders
>
> We are getting lot of emails of interest lot of colleagues in Africa
> expressing interest in follow up activities. We are pleased to inform that
> Center for Agricultural Networking and Information Sharing (CANIS) , Kenya
> has volunteered to  host the secretariat for the Think Tank  for developing
> as a focal point for interaction with other stakeholders on Open GIS and
> open data and keep building the ideas from the ThinkTank. We thank Kiringai
> Kamau and colleagues at CANIS for their support.  Please contact Kiringai
> (email  - kiringai at gmail.com<mailto:kiringai at gmail.com><mailto:kiringa
> i at gmail.com<mailto:kiringai at gmail.com>>  ) for expanding AgriGIS momentum
> in Kenya. We are also pleased to welcome CANIS as our new GeoforAll lab in
> Kenya.
>
>
>
> It is good to see many blogposts from participants of the workshop such as
> the one at GEOSYMP  http://geosymp.com/2016/10/
> what-happened-at-the-agrigis-workshop-and-think-tank/
>
>
> We would like to specifically thank our hosts RCMRD ( Dr Hussein Farah and
> all colleagues) for their excellent organisation and arrangements including
> the hands on workshop .  We need to also make use of the community and
> momentum build by the ThinkTank for expanding future collaborations and
> make sure the community is kept  updated. Please make use of the  Twitter
> created  to share your ideas https://twitter.com/hashtag/
> agrigisnr2016?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash
>
>
> We  shared some examples of research at Nottingham at
> http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/genius/documents/egrasp-nairobi.pdf
>
> We are hoping to keep building the collaborations in AgriGIS to  support
> Global Food Security.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Suchith
>
> [1] http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/genius/documents/godan-uon-intro.pdf
>
>
>
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