AEGOS Project

AEGOS is an EU funded project that contributes to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The aim was to create a Spatial Data Infrastructure for Georesources in Africa, modernizing and making accessible data and knowledge on African geological resources including mineral resources, raw materials, groundwater and energy. Georesources are an important factor for the sustainable development of Africa and the EU-Africa Partnership. For that reason it is important to continue and initiate new partnerships for implementing AEGOS decisions and to promote the re-use of public data through combinations and modelling in environmental, social and economic contexts in support to sustainable development policies. To improve AEGOS it is necessary to create international cooperation and develop a task force between African and European research institutes, as well as organisations involved in Solid Earth data collection, conservation, processing and dissemination that jointly hold a unique archive of Africa-related geological and georesources observation data and knowledge.

 

SIGAfrique Network Project

The SIGAfrica Network project (Système d’Information Géologique pour l’Afrique) aims to contribute to sustainable development throughout the continent by developing regional policies based upon the promotion and publication of Earth Sciences information regarding Africa, especially devoted to the promotion of mineral and water resources, through an improved role of the national geological surveys.

The project has built a strong geoscientific partnership in Africa for improving local skills, and sharing knowledge and experience between Africa and Europe as well as between African countries. Among other activities, synthetic geomaps have been produced, common research actions at the regional scale have been developed, and training programmes for African operators have been organised (11 thematic workshops). The SIGAfrique Network Project, planned to run for 3 years, from March 2003 to December 2005. More information at http://www.sigafrique.net

 

African Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure (ARSDI)

The African Regional Geospatial Data Infrastructure (ARSDI) is an initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The implementation of such an infrastructure improves regional scale development decision-making, as well as ensuring that reliable information is easily available for policy, investment, planning, management, monitoring and evaluation purposes at the regional and sub-regional scales. Transportation planning, rural economy & forestry, health, security, emergency planning, etc. need to be equipped to answer “where” questions from a regional perspective.

 

Geoscience InfoRmation in AFrica Network (GIRAF)

The GIRAF Mission is to support the contribution made by knowledge-based geoscience information to improving the environmental & economic prosperity of people in Africa. GIRAF aims to build a pan-African geoscience information knowledge network of geological surveys, universities and companies in order to exchange and share geoscience information and good practices.

 

Network for the Co-operative Management of Environmental Information in Africa (EIS-Africa)

EIS-AFRICA is a pan-African membership organization working to improve use of geospatial and environmental information to enrich policy debate and support decision-making for the well-being of Africa’s people. For over 10 years, EIS-AFRICA has played a guiding role in the formation of environmental information systems at national and sub-national levels on the African continent. As a pan-African network organisation, EIS-AFRICA has been particularly successful in creating awareness about the need for stakeholders to work together within and among countries, and share common data architecture and information resources.

 

African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD) Project

The African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD) initiative takes the Preparation for Use of MSG in Africa (PUMA) project a stage further by extending the operational use of Earth observation technologies and data to environmental and climate monitoring applications.

The AMESD initiative’s objective is to provide all African nations with the resources they need to manage their environment more effectively and ensure long-term sustainable development in the region. Most importantly, AMESD aims to improve the lives and prospects of the 350 million disadvantaged people in Africa currently enduring poverty and hardship, whose livelihoods depend heavily on their environment.

 

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security-Africa initiative (GMES-Africa)

Following the Maputo Declaration, the GMES Africa initiative is now being established within the framework of the EU-Africa Strategic Partnership on “Science, Information Society and Space”, in accordance with the Lisbon Process for GMES and Africa.

The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa and African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) countries (GMES Africa) initiative aims to improve capacities and develop infrastructure for the effective and consistent exploitation by African users of Earth Observation (space and in-situ) data, technologies and services in support of environmental policies for sustainable development in Africa and ACP countries.

 

Regional Visualisation and Monitoring System in Africa (SERVIR-Africa)

SERVIR integrates satellite observations and predictive models with other geographic information (sensor and field-based) to monitor and forecast ecological changes and respond to natural disasters. In 2008, NASA and CATHALAC partnered with the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) based in Nairobi, Kenya, and together they began setting up SERVIR’s Africa hub. The SERVIR-Africa project builds on RCMRD’s existing strengths and augments RCMRD’s data management and training capability. These efforts complement RCMRD’s core mission and provide a springboard for the development of applications customized for RCMRD’s 18 member states.

 

EuroAfrica-ICT Project

EuroAfrica-P8 is a FP7 project funded by the European Commission (DG CONNECT) and spanning 27 months (January 2012 – March 2014) with the aim of strengthening ICT research and policy links between Africa and Europe under the 8th Strategic Partnership (P8). The project provides evidence-based recommendations to the European and African Union Commissions for future cooperation initiatives, and intends to enhance the participation of African organisations in FP+ ICT collaborative projects.

 

GEO broadcasting Network (GEONETCast)

GEONETCast is a global network of satellite-based data dissemination systems providing environmental data to a world-wide user community.

The aim of GEONETCast is to strengthen international cooperation on global Earth Observation. GEONETCast is a milestone in the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), coordinated by the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observation (GEO).