infoDev, a donor-funded agency of the World Bank, together with Geo-Information Communication (GIC) and ESRI Canada, are convening a stakeholder discussion on developing a national spatial data infrastructure (SDI) for Uganda. Participation at the event is free and interested stakeholders are invited to attend, in particular representatives from ministries, NGOs, academics, the donor community, the private sector and all who need to use geographically-referenced data on a professional basis.

A national SDI may be defined as the technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data.  To achieve these objectives, good coordination between all the national stakeholders is necessary and the definition of protocols and standards is therefore of utmost importance. A national SDI is the bedrock on which a whole host of applications can be built, such as monitoring development outcomes, land use management, siting public facilities such as school, health centres, etc.

Through this project, the World Bank will be providing technical assistance to the government of Uganda, via the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) on necessary steps to establish a national SDI. The aim of this meeting is to meet with stakeholders and to receive their inputs in helping to shape the project.

The event will be hosted by the World Bank office in Kampala, from 2-4 pm on Wednesday 15 September. For more information, contact Amadra ori-Okido (amadra@gic.co.ug) or Tim Kelly (tkelly@worldbank.org) and for venue information contact Clare Busingye (cbusingye@worldbank.org or +256 41 302243).

The draft agenda is below:

02:00 – 02:10                     Opening Remarks, Dr. Kisamba Mugerwa, Chairman, NPA 

02:10 – 02:25                     Background. objectives and timeframe of the Technical Assistance for SDI Project, Dr. Tim Kelly, World Bank 

02:25 – 02:40                     Development and Implementation of Uganda SDI, Mr. Amadra Ori- Okido (gic) and Lynn Charles Holstein, Esri Canada

02:40 – 02:55                     Regional SDI Experience, Dr. Hussein Farah, Director General, Rcmrd

02:55 – 03:40                     Discussion – Comments from Stakeholders, Possible Structure of a Multiagency Steering Committee; Possible Formation of Interest Groups 

03:40- 03:50                       next steps    - Dr. Tim Kelly

03:50 – 04:00                      Closing Remarks, Mr. Bernard Muhwezi, Chairman, Geo-IM Working Group/UBOS Contact Person