Angela Oduor Lungati who is a technologist, community builder and an open source software advocate who is passionate about building and using appropriate technology tools to create impact in lives of marginalised groups. With over 7 years experience, she currently serves as Director of Community Engagement at Ushahidi, providing support and building programs for Ushahidi’s diverse global community of users and contributors. She is also a co-founder at AkiraChix, a non-profit organisation that nurtures generations of women who use technology to develop innovations and solutions for Africa.

Abstract:

There’s been an increased and valid spotlight on Diversity and Inclusion within the technology space, and more so, on the lack of diversity that prevails. It is no different in the Open Source space. In her talk, Angela will underscore the importance of paying attention to diversity and inclusion in the Open Source space, and things to keep in mind to foster stronger communities, and embrace our differences to build stronger products and do good in the world.

Neema Meremo who holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management from Moi University. Passionate about human rights, especially girls’ rights with a history of working with NGOs that work to eradicate #FGM & child marriage. Currently working with Hope for girls and women Tanzania an NGO that shelters girls who are being forced to undergo FGM and also a volunteer at Crowd2Map Tanzania as a lead community mapper(Mapping to end FGM). I am also passionate about economic empowerment of the youth who are the nation’s largest population through various economic activities.

Abstract:

Crowd2Map Tanzania is a crowdsourced mapping project putting rural Tanzania on the map, concentrating first on those areas where girls are at risk of Female Genital Mutilation. Since 2015, we have been adding schools, clinics, roads, buildings and villages to OpenStreetMap, with the help of over 5000 remote volunteers worldwide and 600 on the ground in Tanzania. With minimal budget and no staff we have so far added over 2.1 million buildings and trained community mappers in 26 areas of Tanzania, We have been featured on Al Jazeera, The Guardian and Missing Maps, as well as 2 TV stations and 2 newspapers in Tanzania.
We have also set up Youthmappers Chapters at the Institute of Rural Development and Planning in Mwanza and Dodoma and conducted mapathons in over 20 universities around the world.
Our mapping is in two phases – firstly online volunteers trace roads and buildings from satellite images via the HOT tasking manager, then volunteers on the ground add names of villages, offices, churches, shops and other points of interest using a free smartphone app Maps.Me and printed fieldpapers. Community groups discuss the annotated fieldpapers with village leaders and then take a picture of them with their phone and email it to their paired volunteer - an advanced remote mapper from anywhere in the world. They then input this information into OpenStreetMap and produce a printable map of the village which they email back.
We helped organise the first State of the Map Tanzania, a 3 day mapping training event in Dar es Salaam in December 2017, and a 3 day training event in Mwanza for Open Data Day in March 2018.
Our talk will feature an overview of how we have mobilised such a large community of global mappers, the difficulties we have faced and the advice we have for other countries seeking to replicate this crowdsourced mapping model. We will also talk about the challenges faced by field mappers in remote Tanzania and what they can gain by working together with remote mappers from all around the globe to help map their communities and develop their GIS skills.
We will also talk about 3 examples of the impact that maps are having on the remote rural communities where are groups are based, namely;
How maps can help protect girls at risk from FGM
How maps can help villages acquire Village Land Use Plans and mitigate local land disputes
And how maps can show the extreme distances that students have to walk to school and thereby convince potential donors on the need for school hostels

María Arias de Reyna who is a software engineer working for GeoCat mostly on GeoNetwork Opensource project, where she is one of the main maintainers. María is a member of some Woman in Tech associations, the Local Spanish-Speaking Chapter and the President of OSGeo.

Abstract:

OSGeo is the main organization of GeoSpatial Technologies in the world. We are a big family based on GeoSpatial open source software. But, do we fully understand our ecosystem and how each part interacts and benefits from the rest? Are we aware of all our ramifications? Do we know what OSGeo can do for us? And do we know what we can do for OSGeo? How can OSGeo help build a better world? Can OSGeo help me?

Denise McKenzie who is an Aussie who lives in England in the historic town of Winchester. She joined OGC in 2012 and spends her time managing the Communication and Outreach program globally for the consortium. The program handles the planning and execution of marketing, communication and education to raise awareness and increase implementation of open geospatial and location standards by technology providers and users worldwide. Part of Denise's role is to oversee all OGC Alliance Partnerships including representation at the United Nations Global Geographic Information Management (UNGGIM) committee and recently she has joined the Board of the AGI in the UK. Prior to her role with OGC, she worked for over 12 years with the Victorian Government (Australia) in areas of strategic policy, collaboration and innovation

Abstract:

For centuries we have been making maps to help us better understand the world in which we live. They are the tool by which we share knowledge and information about our amazing planet. Since the late 1960s our maps have been digital and with each passing year of innovation the amount of data about our world has continued to increase. But are we able to access it? Or understand it? Or most importantly share it. Join me to learn more about how OGC and the global open standards community is evolving and enables us to build a better collective understanding of our world and make better evidence based decisions so that we improve the planet for everyone and everything that lives here.

Ms. Khadija Abdulla Ali is a drone pilot for the Zanzibar Mapping Initiative, Uhurulabs, and Wingcopter. She was trained by senseFly and Drone Adventures and has worked with WeRobotics and the World Bank on several drone projects, specializing in geo-tagging, large scale aerial mapping, and 3D modeling. She holds a degree in Information Technology and Application Management at the State University of Zanzibar. She believes in science and technology can change the life humanitarian and brings hug impact to community

Abstract:

The Zanzibar Mapping Initiative (ZMI) is creating a 2,300km2 high resolution map of the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, using low-cost drones instead of satellite images or manned planes. ZMI is a cooperative project between the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar (RGoZ). COSTECH agreed to provide its in-house expertise and drones to support the creation of a new aerial base map of Zanzibar for the Zanzibar Commission for Lands (COLA).

The State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) was enlisted as a partner in the activity to benefit from the student expertise and technical capacities of SUZA’s now internationally recognized Drone Lab. Several SUZA students, equipped with experience in drone piloting and data processing, worked alongside COLA to implement the project. Additionally, drone manufacturer SenseFly provided eBee drones for the project as well as the operational and technical support of its staff through the voluntary organization Drone Adventures.

Dr Tubolayefa Warekuromor is an information systems and environmental management professional with a PhD in Geography, environment and disaster management, and an MSc in Management information systems from Coventry University, UK. Her principal research interests lie in the areas of spatial data infrastructures, information systems, decision support, open source geospatial technologies and its prospects in improving public health and environmental management. She is currently working in the department of Planning, Research and Documentation (the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, Nigeria), to conduct research and implement systems (and processes) that will improve spatial data access, distribution and utilisation in Nigeria, and across Africa.

Abstract:

Attempts to implement the NSDI in Nigeria have been hindered by a number of financial, technological, methodological and political challenges. A fundamental objective of an SDI is to integrate data from different sources, in the right format, and enable the interoperable access to that data via the clearinghouse. To date, the Nigerian clearinghouse is not fully operational. Free and open source geospatial technologies offer cost effective ways to deploy scalable, secure and interoperable SDIs but they are yet to be fully exploited. We will discuss these opportunities as well as its prospects of encouraging innovation, bottom-up deployments and increase partnerships arrangements.