21.10.2013
On October 21-27, 2013, a delegation from National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" and Shevchenko Kyiv National University visited Vancouver Island University (VIU, Canada), and this visit was devoted to the signing of the cooperation agreement between the universities in scopes of the Project "Laying the Foundation for a Spatial Data Infrastructure: Building Capacity within the Ukrainian Government to Support Sustainable Economic Growth" supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada.
Among the members of the delegation were Konstantin Yefremov, Director of the World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development (WDC-Ukraine) of NTUU "KPI", and Viktor Putrenko, head of the Laboratory of Geographical Information Systems of WDC-Ukraine. The purpose of this project is to develop and deliver educational programs for Ukrainian state institutions in order to support the development of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The main objectives of the project are to develop six educational programs for Ukrainian NSDI specialists, to carry out the internship of Ukrainian instructors in Canada, to deliver training courses for Ukrainian civil servants who are responsible for implementation of NSDI in Ukraine.
A series of meetings and study tours has been held in scopes of the visit. At the official reception with David Witty, Vice-President of VIU, the presentation of the universities, which will participate in the project, took place, and there was agreed the signing of cooperation agreements. There have been held a number of meetings with Graham Pike - Dean of the Faculty of International Education, John Black - Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Huizhu Liu - Chair of Computing Science Department, and during these meetings it was agreed to develop the relations and deepen scientific collaboration between the universities. The delegation got familiar with the organization of the educational process with the specialty of geographic information systems and remote monitoring of the Earth. For this purpose the specialized computer training classes and laboratories for students’ practical work have been visited, and the members of the delegation participated in the workshops delivered for students. The delegation meeting with a group of experts who will participate directly in the development of training courses was an important aspect of the visit. The Canadian group is led by Professor Michael Govorov and Professor Alan Gilchrist, Chair of Geography Department.
During the tour across the campus of VIU, the delegation had the opportunity to become acquainted with the peculiarities of structure and functioning of the university, to visit the library, training laboratories, research centers and sports complex.
Beginning of cooperation between NTUU "KPI" and VIU offers new opportunities for the development of educational projects in the field of geoinformation technologies and increases the practical value of the work results of the university - a flagship of technical education and science in Ukraine.
