AfricaGIS is a biennial international conference and exhibition focusing on geo-information technologies and applications in Africa. The principal objective of AfricaGIS is to provide a platform for geo-information professionals from Africa to learn about geo-information technology and its applications. It provides a forum for geo-information professionals to meet, interact, and be updated on new developments, products and emerging trends and issues.

The 2009 event was the 9th AfricaGIS conference and exhibition. It was organised in Kampala, Uganda, by EIS-Africa on 26-30th October and attracted more than 480 delegates and 40 exhibitors from 45 countries. A total of 40 posters and 126 papers / oral communications were presented through 5 plenary sessions and 15 parallel sessions covering four major themes: (1) Geospatial information for climate change, vulnerability and disaster risk reduction; (2) Spatial data infrastructure in Africa: geovisualization enhancing science policy interface; (3) Geospatial information science for business solutions, intelligence, communication and education; (4) Earth Observation and Geospatial technologies for integrated environment and natural resources management for Africa’s development.

AEGOS was presented as “The Spatial Data Infrastructure for Georesources in Africa” jointly by Marc Urvois, BRGM-France, and John Odida, GSM-Uganda, through an oral communication on theme (2). Throughout the five days, AEGOS was also displayed in the exhibition with a poster and flyers at the BRGM and GSM booths.

Other AEGOS partners attended this conference and made oral presentations.

 Jean Dusart, JRC-IES-European Commission on INSPIRE Directive in Europe and Franck Schmidt, Beak-Germany, on the use of artificial intelligence for predicting geo-spatial events.

As a result, with cross references, the visibility of AEGOS has been optimised.

This conference also provided opportunities to meet with representatives of other initiatives and programmes related to spatial data infrastructures in the field of environment and natural resources. AEGOS is, from this point onward, in a position to offer them a geosciences contribution in Africa. Fruitful contacts were hence established with (i) RCMRD (Regional Centre Mapping of Resources for Development) for as a regional capacity building centre in East Africa and also regional server of SERVIR network; (ii) GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) with respect to the ongoing drafting process of the GMES for Africa Action Plan; (iii) UNECA-GiSS (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa – Geo-information Systems Section) with respect to the design and implementation of spatial data infrastructures in Africa as a support tool for effective decision-making as well as raising awareness about the benefit of well managed geospatial data resources.

A one page article presenting the AEGOS project and future infrastructure has been published in the EIS-Africa electronic newsletter, October issue.

The presence of AEGOS Project Coordinator was supported by BRGM as part of its active participation to a French Pavillion at the AfricaGIS 2009 exhibition.

 More information: www.eis-africa.org and www.africagis2009.org

 M. URVOIS (BRGM) Project Coordinator

 J. ODIDA (GSM) Project member