Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM
Calls being made to recognise and embrace GIS
Geographical Information System (GIS) may be a foreign term to many people. However, keen efforts are being made to ensure that it is not only known, but also widely used.
Zoe Walker
This is according to Zoe Walker of GeoTech Vision, which has its operation at 50 Brickdam, Georgetown. Waller holds a place on the GIS Committee that coordinated activities to mark GIS day last week.
GIS is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage and present all types of spatial or geographical data, which GeoTech specialises in.
But according to Walker, there are a number of people who have been utilising GIS and are not even aware of this. “If you are familiar with things like Google Earth or searching for something on a map on your computer, you are actually using a GIS system…” explained Walker.
She continued, “Behind the scenes somebody took the time to gather that information so that we can actually look on a map and our devices and know where we are so it is a very important field.”
GIS day is internationally observed during Geography Week, the third week of November, and occurred on November 18 last.
According to Walker, the purpose of GIS Day is mainly to raise awareness among people who aren’t familiar with this field. She informed too that among the primary targets are the “upcoming generation…So most of the activities are geared towards children and helping them to learn about it.”
Moreover, Walker disclosed that for the past three years efforts have been geared towards students and helping them to learn about GIS. On the day of the observance the GIS Committee, according to Walker, spearheaded a geography quiz which saw the participation of a number of schools. This activity was venued in the Education
Participants at the recent GIS exhibition
Lecture Theatre of the University of Guyana (UG).
The event was supported by Giftland and Southland International which sponsored prizes for the competing schools.
Other agencies also participated in the observance of GIS day which included an exhibition at the on the University’s Turkeyen tarmac. According to Walker, “This year the University helped to host GIS day and we combined the efforts with other agencies.”
Among the participating agencies that are known to actively utilise GIS are the Guyana Forestry Commission, the Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project, and the Environmental Protection Agency along with some individuals.
Walker informed that although “GIS is up and coming in the Caribbean” it is developed throughout the world.
“What it allows you to do is to visualise any kind of information that is on the earth in a computerised environment and helps to see relationships; you can pick up different trends and come to better decisions,” Walker added even as she stressed the need for more people to not only embrace GIS but also to recognise its importance in their everyday activities.
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