Journalists in Ghana have attended Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) workshops to promote the use of surveying techniques for socio-economic development in the country
According to Opti-cal Survey Equipment Ltd, more than 30 journalists from print and electronic media outlets across Ghana participated in the Accra-based workshops, entitled ‘Harnessing Geospatial Science and Technology for Socio-economic Development – The Role of Ghanaian Media’.
Kwami Ahiabenu II from the Africa Media Forum for Geo-information Systems (AMFGIS) said that educating journalists was a key way of implanting information about the technology into communities.
“Geospatial science and technology have a lot of opportunities to stimulate Ghana’s socio-economic development, and journalists have an important role to ensure increased awareness of these opportunities and the workshop is coming at a right time in this direction,” he commented.
The workshops were jointly organised by AMFGIS and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), along with Penplusbytes, the International Institute of ICT Journalism.
Aida Opoku-Mensah, ICT development director of UNECA, claimed that decision makers need to understand the strategic importance of surveying, mapping, GIS, Global Positioning System (GPS), earth satellite observation and other forms of geospatial technology.
“Africa and Ghana cannot do without the use and exploitation of geospatial technology, whether for its use in elections that ensures the accurate mapping of constituencies, or mapping disease-prone areas for decision-making, as well as assessing the environmental impacts of mining, oil exploration,” Opoku-Mensah added.
