Public-private partnership to open Geodata access for Africa
Delegates attending African Geodata Workshop in Uganda
IGS is pleased to announce its participation in a pilot project aimed at improving the availability, accessibility and usability of geoscientific data (geodata) to guide resource investment in the Eastern African Region. The pilot project, and launch of a geodata portal hosted by Uganda, will be conducted under the auspices of the African Union Commission (AUC), and is a collaborative partnership between the British Geological Survey (BGS), Geosoft Inc., IGS Ltd., the Uganda Geological Survey and the Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum.
IGS was represented by Dr Frik Hartzer, whilst Dr Peter K. Zawada, Managing Director of IGS stated “IGS was honoured to have been involved in developing the workshop agenda, and we’re pleased to be part of the committee implementing the pilot geodata project for Uganda. Public-private partnerships are a vitally important way of ensuring the availability and accessibility of geodata, and creating added value to that data, to attract inward investment in the mineral exploration sector for Africa. Exciting time lies ahead where geodata is used to create wealth and to improve the quality of life of Africa’s people.”
The workshop and pilot project are guided by the aspirations and principles of the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) and Agenda 2063, which recognizes geodata as an imperative for future development of Africa’s extractives, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, infrastructure and tourism sectors.
The initiative will be based on a public-private partnership business model for the generation, management and ownership of geodata by participating countries and it is expected to be piloted in other African countries.