In order to raise the visibility and create awareness of GMES and Africa programme, RCMRD exhibited the services and products we have developed under the three implementing services namely; Land Degradation Monitoring and Service, Wetland Monitoring and Assessment and Open Geographic Vector Database at the 13th AARSE International Conference, held at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village, Rwanda. The Conference which was organized by Institut d’Enseignement Supérieur de Ruhengeri (INES-Ruhengeri) revolved around the theme of the conference was ‘Space and geospatial technologies for the Africa we want’.
The five-day conference which ran from 24th to 28th October 2022 main objective was to bring together scholars and professionals from the African and international community to present latest achievements, discuss challenges and share experiences in Space and geospatial technologies.
The conference featured keynote speeches delivered by leading policy makers, scholars, technical sessions with reports of the latest research outcomes, discussion sessions on operational topics such as capacity building, Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), space policy, programmes and projects, as well as commercial exhibitions showing latest products and services in remote sensing and geospatial information technologies.
On the sideline, GMES and Africa programme participated in the Hackathon event. One of the presentations was on Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment using the methodology developed by ESIPPS with support from RCMRD. The Director General RCMRD, Dr. Emmanuel Nkurunziza reiterated RCMRD’s willingness and readiness to support to our stakeholders in the region. Further, he highlighted the need for more Earth Observation(EO)-project implementation and consistent data sharing in the African EO and geospatial community for sustainable development amongst many other things.
About AARSE Conference
African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE) is a non-political scientific organization. Its primary objective is to increase the awareness of African governments and their institutions, the private sector and society at large, about the empowering and enhancing benefits of developing, applying and responsibly utilizing the products and services of Earth Observation Systems and Geo-Information Technology. AARSE membership includes professional individuals, institutions and national associations from all over Africa and worldwide working in domains related to Remote Sensing, Photogrammetry, and Geographical Information Science.
About GMES and Africa
The GMES and Africa Programme is an initiative of the AUC and the European Commission (EC) aimed at strengthening the capacity of African countries to use EO data and information for sustainable development. The program operates through a series of projects and initiatives that provide African countries with technical assistance, capacity building, and access to EO data and information. The ultimate goal is to support African countries in making informed decisions about sustainable development and to contribute to the achievement of the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
