GEO supports a successful Digital Earth Africa Day in Nairobi
News / 23 August 2019
On Monday 12 August, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) provided a leading role for the conversation on the importance of EO data to address key issues across Africa at Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) Day.
Held on the sidelines of the Regional Centre for Mapping and Resources Development International Conference in Nairobi, DE Africa Day facilitated an open dialogue into the theme ‘Earth Observation for Evidence-Based Decision Making’.
DE Africa will be a continental-scale operational Data Cube for Africa, producing decision-ready products for all African countries. DE Africa will both support and leverage the GEO Work Programme and is directly aligned with GEO’s global engagement priorities.
DE Africa Day was an opportunity for stakeholders to learn about, and begin to engage with, Open Data Cubes, Analysis Ready Data and the DE Africa programme. The day drew on the experiences of the Africa Regional Data Cube, an initiative spearheaded by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, and the innovation of Digital Earth Australia.
The GEO Secretariat moderated a panel session that brought together regional institutions and countries to discuss the challenges and opportunities for EO across Africa. Translating the abundance of EO data into productive outcomes will be one of the greatest challenges for Africa.
The opportunity for the DE Africa programme is to break down the barriers to entry for accessing and consuming data and translating it into actionable information. The DE Africa programme will address the multifaceted challenges for the public, private and non-profit sectors and build the partnerships, momentum and African buy-in and ownership required to do so.
DE Africa will showcase its first continental-scale product at a side event of the 2019 GEO Ministerial Summit in November. The event will also cover the background, progress and next steps for the DE Africa programme through an interactive panel discussion.
The GEO Secretariat was represented alongside a number of African countries and other stakeholders on the DE Africa Phase I Steering Committee to assess the viability of a scalable, economically and technically sustainable model for Africa, available as the Phase I Summary report.
For more information, visit the Digital Earth Africa website.
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