On February the 16th, 2018 in the Igor Sikorsky KPI held an international conference "Formation of geospatial data in the context of building a digital society".

The conference was devoted to summarizing the results of the joint project of Vancouver Island University (Canada), Igor Sikorsky KPI and Taras Shevchenko KNU "Establishing the basis of the spatial data infrastructure: providing a base in the Ukrainian government to support sustainable economic growth" (2012-2018).

The purpose of the educational project was to create the basis for the geospatial data infrastructure deployment in Ukraine through the implementation of appropriate training programs and advanced training of civil servants. The basic structure for the project implementation in Ukraine was the Geography Department of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University and World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development (WDC-Ukraine, wdc.org.ua) of the International Council for Science (ICSU), which operates on the basis of the Igor Sikorsky KPI.

During the project, 6 Ukrainian trainees were trained in Canada and are currently teaching in Ukraine, 153 students from 52 state organizations and enterprises were certified by Vancouver Island University. The project has developed six unique author training courses that are certified by Vancouver Island University and Igor Sikorsky KPI.

The conference was attended by about 120 people. Among them are representatives of local authorities, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services, the structures of the State Geo-cadastre, National Space Agency of Ukraine, the Japanese project "Creation of a National Geospatial Data Infrastructure in Ukraine", sectoral and profile research and education organizations, project participants.

The Igor Sikorsky KPI pro-rector of International Relations, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Serhiy Sidorenko, Director of Development of the Canadian Embassy Bronwyn Cruden and deputy dean of the Geography Faculty of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University Sergei Zapototsky addressed welcoming speeches to the participants of the Conference.

In her speech, Ms. Cruden especially noted the stable results within of the project, their significance for the international scientific community and highly appreciated the coordinated work of the joint Canadian-Ukrainian team.

In the first part of the plenary session, Professor Michael Govorov, Vancouver Island University, the manager of the project "IPA-education in Ukraine" reported on the project’s results and achievements; Victor Putrenko, the project manager and head of the laboratory of geographic information systems WDC-Ukraine told about further development and support of the project and the deputy director of the Ukrainian Center for Gender Education of Igor Sikorsky KPI Yulia Strebkova revealed the gender component of the project.

Special attention was paid to the competition among the graduates of the project for the best cartographic web application. The Jury was presented with eight authors' works devoted to topical issues of socio-economic development in Ukraine and in the world. According to the results of the competition, the winners received honors and memorable gifts. Also the graduates of the educational program got the VIU certificates and Igor Sikorsky KPI certificates.

In the second part of the plenary session the results of the Japanese-Ukrainian project "Creating NIGD in Ukraine" (NIGD - National Infrastructure for Geospatial Data) were presented and the prospects for building NIGD and developing standards for the national economy, land and town inventory management were discussed.

During the plenary session a memorandum on the expansion of cooperation between the Ihor Sikorsky KPI, WDC-Ukraine and Vancouver Island University in the direction of developing educational standards and training specialists in the field of geomatics was signed.

After the break, the conference participants continued work in the format of a round table discussion on the potential of the development of geoinformation technologies in Ukraine and the coordination of further joint actions on the definition and formation of a unified state policy on the creation, operation and development of NIGD in Ukraine.

According to the results of the conference, it was determined that the project was generally implemented successfully, all the main objectives of the project were achieved. As a result of the project implementation, the basis for the implementation of NIGD in the real economy has been formed in Ukraine: a world-class program for the specialists training in the field of geoinformation technologies has been introduced, more than 150 specialists have been trained in this direction, an expert council in the field of geomatics has been set up (for expert examination of projects, normative legal base, etc.) and the graduates of the project association was created (for the exchange of experience, providing interaction between specialists in the field of geoinformation technologies). The World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development of the International Council for Science has been recognized as the center of expertise and training in geomatics.

In the photo: the director of development of the Canadian Embassy Bronwyn Cruden

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