Digital Earth Africa at GEO Symposium 2023 and Open Data & Open Knowledge Workshop

16 Jun 2023

Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) attended the Group of Earth Observations (GEO) Symposium 2023, followed by the Open Data and Open Knowledge Workshop, in Geneva, Switzerland from 13-16 June 2023. The objective of the workshop was to draw on GEO's previous accomplishments to highlight how GEO can accelerate equitable access to Earth observations (EO) and develop and share information that leads to impact. The theme of the Symposium was “Stand out in the crowd: GEO Work Programme for Nature, People, and Planet.” The Workshop had over 150 participants attending physically and over 100 participants connecting online, including GEO Member states, participating organisations, associates and other stakeholders.

Dr Kenneth Mubea, DE Africa Capacity Development Lead, presented at several sessions at the GEO Symposium 2023, including Interactive Dialogue on Post-2025 Strategy and the GEO Work Programme: Strengthening the operating model of GEO for Post-2025, and Flash Talks: Mobilising resources for the GEO Work Programme, highlighting progress by DE Africa since its inception to date, empowering countries access analysis ready free data, and continental services such as water observation from space (WOfS), crop land, and coastlines, enabling policy makers make informed decisions in management of natural resources.

At the Open Data & Open Knowledge workshop, Kenneth presented on DE Africa at several sessions including: Open Space-based Data and Data Cubes (featuring open data initiatives: Brazil Data Cube, Swiss Data Cube, Humanitarian Data Cube and DE Africa), Towards Open Knowledge (highlighting progress made by GEO Knowledge hub including experiences from DE Africa, Publishing Open knowledge packages in the GEO Knowledge Hub and, and experience behind GEO Knowledge Hub) and Open Earth Observation (EO) Applications, Open EO Applications by GWP Activities (GEO Knowledge Hub experience, CropWatch -GEOGLAM, Human populations in the world’s mountains -GEO Mountains) and Practical demonstration: Operation applications on DE Africa.

*Dr Kenneth Mubea engaging with various stakeholders at the GEO Symposium and Open Data & Open Knowledge Workshop in Geneva, Switzerland*

FROM LEFT: Prof. El-Askary M Hesham (Egypt) , Lulu Makapela – CSIR, Dr. Tidianne Ouattara-Africa Union, Charles Maina – Kenya Space Agency, Kofi Asare-Ghana Space Science and Technology Centre, Ernest Acheampong-GEO Capacity Development Coordinator, Hamdi Kacem-Africa Union and Ken Mubea - DE Africa — FROM LEFT: Prof. El-Askary M Hesham (Egypt) , Lulu Makapela – CSIR, Dr. Tidianne Ouattara-Africa Union, Charles Mwangi – Kenya Space Agency, Kofi Asare-Ghana Space Science and Technology Centre, Ernest Acheampong-GEO Capacity Development Coordinator, Hamdi Kacem-Africa Union and Ken Mubea - DE Africa

Geo Symposium and Open Data Workshop offered opportunities for connecting with partners from all over the world and establishing friendships that will blossom at the Geo Week 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa from 6 – 10 November 2023.

Group of photo showing Diversity and Inclusion at the Open Data & Open Knowledge workshop #ODOK including Bente Lilja Bye (Norway), Anastasia (RCMRD), Nancy Searby (NASA), Tinyiko Ntshongwana (Department of Science and Innovation in South Africa), Mandira Shrestha (ICIMOD, Nepal), Dan Irwin (NASA), and Lulu Makapela (CSIR/ South Africa Geo) — Diversity and Inclusion at the Open Data & Open Knowledge workshop #ODOK including Bente Lilja Bye (Norway), Anastasia (RCMRD), Nancy Searby (NASA), Tinyiko Ntshongwana (Department of Science and Innovation in South Africa), Mandira Shrestha (ICIMOD, Nepal), Dan Irwin (NASA), and Lulu Makapela (CSIR/ SA Geo)

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