Rodwell Chireshe
Rodwell is a GIS technician with the UN Mission in the DR Congo, responsible for geosolutions development and implementation to support the Mission mandate. Geosolutions are key to the decision making processes across the different pillars (military operations, civil-military cooperation, monitoring and evaluation teams, civil affairs, incidents monitoring, conflict analysis and resolution, security assessments, etc.)
Sessions
The project “Geopaparazzi Survey Server (GSS) and SMASH for Mobile Data Collection in a UN Peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO)” aimed to operationalize the use of GSS and SMASH to support field data collection in MONUSCO. This talk will cover the endeavours of this project, introducing the background, user requirements and use cases, the implementation of the online GSS at a UN central data centre as well as the project outcomes and recommendations.
MONUSCO GIS: MONUSCO GIS Unit uses mobile devices, GPS, mini UAV, satellite imagery from commercial providers, to ensure availability of detailed topographic and up-to-date mission operational data for the various GIS end products (cartographic maps, imagery, infographics, interactive web map applications, geodatabases). Having a central server for mobile data collection will ensure constant availability of standardized, quality controlled and up-to-date operational data, which is key for the provision of quality GIS products & services and consequently data-driven decisions and actions for the Mission. From the beginning, there hasn't been a centralised infrastructure readily available to all the geographically dispersed UN Mission users in the DR Congo for field mobile data collection. This project marked the genesis of it.
UN Open GIS Initiative: Established in March 2016, is to identify and develop an Open Source GIS bundle that meets the requirements of UN operations, taking full advantage of the expertise of contributing partners (Member States, international organizations, academia, NGO’s and private sector). Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) have played a substantial role in providing timely and effective geospatial information products (maps and dynamic tools) to ensure the United Nations operations are equipped with suitable information to support the UN mandates through informed planning and decision-making processes. The UN has been using proprietary GIS software for the past two decades. The rapid growth and development of open-source GIS solutions present the technological potential, operational flexibility, and financial benefits as well as ease to access for UN operational partners and host nations.