24.04.2014
On April 24, 2014 in NTUU "KPI" the meeting of the Project Steering Committee "Laying the Foundation for a Spatial Data Infrastructure: Building Capacity within the Ukrainian Government to Support Sustainable Economic Growth" funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) and implemented by Vancouver Island University (VIU) and its partners in Ukraine: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" was held. NTUU "KPI" is represented by World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development.
The main goal of the project is to provide a framework for accelerated deployment of geospatial data infrastructure for the Government of Ukraine through the implementation of training programs for civil servants. The training program for civil servants working in the field of geodesy, cartography, geographic information technology, management of land and other types of natural resources should be the main application of the project results. The program consists of 6 courses , each of which is devoted to the key direction of the national spatial data infrastructure . Courses are developed by Canadian experts, being translated and adapted in Ukraine. In the course of the project it is planned to prepare 6 Ukrainian instructors and develop distance learning programme for about 100 employees of state agencies in accordance with Canadian certification requirements. Project duration is five years.
The meeting of the Steering Committee took place in the format of the webinar, which was attended by Ukrainian, Canadian and Lithuanian experts on the development of SDI. Canadian party was represented by Dr. John Black, Dean of the Social Sciences Faculty in VIU and Dr. Michael Govorov, Project Director from VIU. Lithuanian party was represented by Saulius Urbanas, expert from EuroGeographics - the European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities. Ukrainian party was represented by Kostiantyn Yefremov, Director of WDC-Ukraine, Yaroslav Oliynyk, Dean of the Geography Faculty at Taras Schevchenko National University of Kyiv, by directors and managers of Ukrainian public organizations working in this area, and by the representative of the Canadian government from the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine.
The Steering Committee members listened to and approved the report on project activities in 2013 and plans for the project implementation in 2014. During this period, the cooperation agreements with Ukrainian partners of the project were signed, 6 Ukrainian instructors were selected, relations with nearly 20 state organizations were established and the recruitment of two groups of students was performed. Prior to September 1, 2014 the development and translation of two courses must be completed and students’ training should begin.
The Project Steering Committee discussed the importance of introducing training courses in Ukraine, noted the positive results of the previous year and made recommendations to improve the planning and preparation of training courses. The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled for 2015.
