Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries - UNITAR

UN Technology Bank and UNITAR-UNOSAT enhance geospatial technologies for the disaster management in Mozambique

mbuldys — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 20:42:00 +0000

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The workshop on enhancing geospatial technologies for the disaster management in Mozambique .

UN Technology Bank

Gebze – The United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) – UNOSAT convened a workshop in Mozambique to enhance the capacity of expert and policymakers on the interpretation and utilisation of geospatial technologies.

The workshop aimed to demystify geospatial technologies and raised awareness of the vital role of supporting Mozambique's development efforts. It was a part of a pilot programme, which was earlier also organized in Uganda and The Gambia and provided participants with the skills and knowledge to leverage geospatial technologies for improved disaster risk reduction management, climate change, and natural resources management.

The workshop in Mozambique compliments a one-week training course in which local experts were trained in the use and interpretation of satellite imagery with a specific focus on disaster risk management. The newly developed tool by UNITAR use artificial intelligence (AI) for responding to floods and mudslides can now be used in providing flood impacts estimates (i.e., sq km of flood extent, number of floods affected people by province) in Mozambique. The use of this tool forms part of the on-going training of experts that started last week.

"The use of artificial intelligence (AI) presents an opportunity for the policy- and decision-makers to retrieve valuable situational information from a huge amount of relevant information that is crucial to identifying and deciding on the type of response in a post-disaster response scenario such as after, Cyclone Idai in 2019," said Mr. Joshua Setipa, UN Technology Bank's Managing Director.

Using satellite imagery to map the geographic extent of floods allows government agencies and regional and international organizations to pinpoint regions most affected by disasters and reduce the loss of life and mitigate structural damages in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Mr. Setipa also emphasized, "as disaster and emergencies are highly dynamic and are characterized by substantial environmental and economic loss, human lives are consequently at stake. The advances in information technology have made significant amounts of data available to the decision-makers for disaster preparedness to enable timely and efficient responses during periodic cyclones, droughts, floods, and related epidemics in Mozambique.

The National Director for ICT and Projects, Mr. Constantino Sotomane, stated that "the government of Mozambique and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education have prioritized the use of geospatial technologies. The Ministry expects a multiplier effect of the ongoing training of twenty Mozambicans that will share their newly acquired geospatial knowledge and tools with other colleagues in the economic and social areas connected with the management and use of geospatial data."

Mr. Luca Dell’Oro, Senior Specialist from UNOSAT-UNITAR highlighted “the key role of EO technology to support with evidence-based data and information operational planning and decision making following major disaster events.” During the workshop, Mr. Dell’Oro also presented a new custom-tailored operational flood detection platform based on AI and developed by the UNOSAT team. “This platform aims to support National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) in Mozambique and other national stakeholders with near real-time satellite-derived analysis and statistics about potential flood events during the current rainy season (from October 2020 to April 2021).”

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Experts and policy-makers share knowledge on potential benefits of geospatial technologies for Uganda

mbuldys — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 19:42:00 +0000

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Seen from above, the waters of Lake George, Uganda.

European Space Agency, Flickr

Kampala – Uganda stands to benefit from the range of evolving technological tools used to geographically map and analyse the earth and human activities, known as geospatial technologies. A special workshop for policy makers in Kampala today, raised awareness of the important role that these new technologies could play in support of development efforts in the country.

The event, organized by the UN Technology Bank in partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme – UNOSAT, followed a one-week course in which local experts were trained in the use and interpretation of satellite imagery, with a specific focus on disaster risk management.

“This workshop, provided timely platform to demystify geospatial technologies and raise awareness of the important role, that they can play supporting Uganda’s development efforts,” said Dr. Maxwel Otim Onapa, Director of Science, Research and Innovation at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Uganda.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will continue to strive for stronger Science, Technology and Innovation ecosystem through collaboration, coordination and partnerships at national, regional and at international levels.

Geospatial technologies and remote sensing offer a crucial location element to the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets and indicators. Allowing for example, specific and accurate data before intervening by mitigation, preventing or responding to natural hazards, climate change impacts, household economics and disaster risk reduction.

“The United Nations Technology Bank is excited to be part of this workshop and training, something we plan to replicate in Mozambique and The Gambia this year,” said Joshua Setipa, Managing Director for the United Nations Technology Bank. “Least developed countries face barriers in adopting and staying up to date with the changing technology. We hope that this series of workshops in Africa will help to build awareness and boost support for these important technological tools.”

Despite the tremendous potential geospatial technologies offer international development, a gap still exists between the world of technology and that of decision and policymakers, particularly in least developed countries. Limited technology capacity and traditional fears that prevent their Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation uptake in policymaking persist and their rapidly evolving nature makes it difficult for practitioners to track updates about the potential use and application of technologies, such as geographic information systems and remote sensing.

“With orbiting satellites generating increasing amounts of data, the future of earth observation is now moving from data to information. UNOSAT is fully committed to leverage new developments of Earth Orbital technology in least developed countries by enhancing capacities and empowering Governments to access key information for informed decision-making,” said Einar Bjorgo, Director of UNITAR’ Division for Satellite Analysis and Applied Research.

Geospatial information, technology, satellite imagery, analysis and data visualization will play a central role in understanding the geographic extent and severity of disaster events. Today’s workshop raised awareness among senior government officials and decision makers on geospatial information technology as an evidence-based data for analysis, processing and usage methodology.

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