Thanks for contributions to a successful GISCA 2019!

The annual ‘GIS in Central Asia’ Conference - GISCA2019 was successfully completed May 30-June 1 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. GISCA 2019 was organized locally by the the Austria-Central Asia Centre for GIScience - ACA*GIScience at the Kyrgyz State University of Construction, Transport and Architecture (KSUCTA) with support from the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet, the Austrian Academy of Sciences’ Commission for GIScience and industry partners Trimble International, GeoTwo, Korea and KyrgyzGeoTech LLC. In 2019, GISCA was focused on the theme "From Spatial Data to Spatial Intelligence". Geographic Information Science as a conceptual foundation, Geoinformatics as the methodology and GIS as software technology are powerful instruments for linking information across different sources by location. GISCA 2019 pre-conference workshops were organized for  postgraduate students and young researchers from Central Asian Universities. 

The OpenStreetMap Workshop incl. Mapping Party gave a general introduction to OSM as well as its data structures, incl. the OSM tagging system. Moreover, by the example of an OSM mapping party (field work and computer work), participants could gather experience on editing data in OSM and learn about the relevance of this type of OSM event. The mapping party was focused on the urban green and related infrastructure in Bishkek.

The workshop "Introduction to Drone Aerial Imaging for Mapping and Surveying" covered the fundamentals and principles of aerial imaging to enhance commercial UAS operators’ knowledge in mapping with drones by understanding how to accurately plan and collate this imaging from various UAS platforms and digital sensing techniques. Workshop participants have completed practical exercises in order to produce and present enhanced geospatial products with photogrammetry and GIS applications through classroom and practical-based learning.

The Organizing Committee appreciates the active involvement of all GISCA 2019 participants in the conference activities and invites all interested parties to the next GISCA 2020 planned for June 1-2 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan!

GISCA 2019 conference >>> and workshop >>> photos are available on Google Drive for public access. 

eLearning in Central Asia: Benefits and Challenges

Already more than one decade ago Geo-Informatics (GI) was introduced at Central Asian Universities as a separate subject. Nowadays, Geo-Informatics is a widely recognized and rapidly developing field.

The demand for GI experts is increasing, and thus the need for solid GI education. Currently, the number of experts and students in this domain is very limited compared to existing demand. Of course teaching GI requires substantial computer and connectivity (Internet) resources, trained faculty, the provision of adequate study material and lifelong learning.

To address this situation, the implementation and use of eLearning is slowly gathering interest across Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). Now, what are the benefits and challenges regarding eLearning, particularly considering these countries as former Soviet Union republics? Which recommendations can be given to enjoy the benefits and to face the challenges of eLearning?

For dealing with these questions a survey (directed towards teachers working at Central Asian universities) was conducted. The questionnaire is still open for everyone who is interested and having experience in teaching GI in Central Asia. It is also possible to participate in this survey just following to this link https://surveymonkey.com/r/P8V5RDN.

If you are interested in the results of this survey you are welcome to our conference GISCA´19 (https://gisca2019.wordpress.com).

Invitation to Research Conference - National University of Uzbekistan

On October 19-20, 2018 the EU-Uzbek DSinGIS project is inviting to attend the International Scientific and Practical Conference on "Scientific - research work in the field of Geoinformatics: current state and prospects" to be held at the National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent.

Main conference topics will be:

• Geoinformatics in geodetic operations. 
• Thematic cartography, web-cartography, mapping services and its applications. 
• Cadastral services in the management of natural resources. 
• Geoinformatics in environmental protection, rational use and management of land and water resources. 
• Application of geoinformation technologies in architecture and construction. 
• Geospatial analysis and modeling. 
• Processing and analysis of remote sensing data. 
• Geoinformation technologies in the education system. 
• The role of geoinformation technologies in the Earth sciences.

The conference is aiming at professors, teachers, young scientists, undergraduates, outstanding students and specialists in this field communicating their scientific research and results: presenting inventions and proposals that reflect original ideas with papers relating to the topic of the conference.

Important dates: 

• August 10, 2018: Deadline for Abstract submission 
• September 20, 2018: Deadline for Paper submission 

For further details please refer to >>>http://www.dsingis.eu/dsingis-conference-october-19-20-2018-at-the-national-university-of-uzbekistan/

"Spatial Representations and Spatial Data Infrastructures" Workshop at ACA*GIScience

Dr. Ainura Nazarkulova, University of Salzburg - Z_GIS, currently an Erasmus+ Visiting Researcher at KSUCTA is conducting a Workshop on "Spatial Representations and Spatial Data Infrastructures" at ACA*GIScience hosted at Kyrgyz State University of Construction, Transport and Architecture (KSUCTA).

GEM Master and PhD students as well as several young researchers are attending this workshop to learn about the foundations of Spatial Data Infrastructures.

In addition, new technological developments and international project opportunities are presented and discussed in this workshop.   

From Editor-in-Chief Dr Nitin Kumar Tripathi for the IJG Vol.14, No 1, January-March 2018 Special Issue on GISCA'17

‘GIS in Central Asia’ Conference - GISCA 2018

The annual ‘GIS in Central Asia’ Conference - GISCA 2018 "Geoinformatics for Regional Development" has issued the Call for Papers and has opened registration for the conference scheduled for June 14-17 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The main objectives of this English language conference are to bring together GIS academics, researchers and practitioners from Central Asian and other countries and to encourage international cooperation and knowledge exchange in GIS education.

Key themes (additional themes and sessions are welcome) of the conference are:

• GIS for Regional Sustainable Development
• GIS for Environmental and Ecosystem Management
• Development of Spatial Data Infrastructures
• GIS for Disaster and Emergency Management
• GIS and Digital Humanities
• GIS for Business and Logistics
• New Trends and Technologies in Surveying, Cadastre and Land Management
• Professional and Continuing Education in Geoinformatics
• Remote Sensing Applications
• GIS for Public Health
• Geo-Information technology for natural and cultural heritage management
• Tourism and GIS.

GISCA 2018 is being organized locally by the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University with support from the Research Centre for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (Almaty) and the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The GISCA conference series and its publications are managed by the Austria-Central Asia Centre for GIScience - ACA*GIScience supported by the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet and the Austrian Academy of Sciences’ Commission for GIScience. The conference looks forward to additional sponsorship from the Geoinformatics industry.

The conference committee accepts scientific papers on the stated conference themes with a focus on the Central Asian Region. Active participation in the conference is invited via presentation of a paper or poster, or through workshop attendance. Accepted papers in English will be reviewed and published in the News of Al-Farabi KazNU. Selected papers will be recommended for publication in the International Journal of Geoinformatics (http://e-geoinfo.net).

We request to disseminate this CFP to all interested GIS educators and professionals. The deadlines are March 31, 2018 for submission of paper abstracts and May 14, 2018 for accepted full papers by email to gisca18@aca-giscience.org. All information about GISCA 2018 registration, preliminary agenda, paper submission and visa application procedures are available at https://gisca2018.wordpress.com.

Conference secretary: Dr. Gulnara Nyussupova, gisca2018kz@gmail.com
Tel/Fax: +7 727 377 3335 (1227) / +7 727 221 14 88
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Al-Farabi avenue, 71
Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan

Course on Cloud-based GIS at CAS-XIEG

Working with geospatial technologies today is trending towards online applications, in many cases replacing desktop software installations with browser-based access to online functionality. Approx. 30 graduate students and faculty met at the Xinjiang Institute for Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Urumqi from Nov 2-5 for an experience in leveraging the rich collection of services offered by global spatial data infrastructures.

Prof Josef Strobl from Z_GIS challenged the participants to compile, design and share their first online maps, and to recognize the differences between traditional static maps vs dynamic, interactive map-based interfaces at the core of online geo-media. One full day was dedicated to creating decision-support information from available data through spatial analytics, before everyone embarked on the journey to build a web-app as well as a storymap to ‘communicate spatially’ with their respective target audiences.

Participants from all across Central Asia (and Rwanda) accepted this challenge, built valuable skills and will implement their new competences in their thesis projects and professional as well as academic environments. Thanks are due to Prof Alishir Kurban and his team from CAS-XIEG for organizing this workshop, and for providing an excellent learning environment. Looking forward to seeing lots of shared maps, apps and storymaps online in the future!

CAS-XIEG >News

GISCA'17 in Dushanbe successfully completed

The GIS in Central Asia Conference – GISCA 2017 under the motto ”GIScience for Sustainable Development" was held August 28-30, 2017 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The main objectives of this English language conference were to bring together GIS academics, researchers and practitioners from Central Asian and other countries and to encourage international cooperation and knowledge exchange in GIS education and science. GISCA 2017 was organized by and at the Institute of Water Problems, Hydropower and Ecology (IWPHE), Academy of Sciences of Republic of Tajikistan (AS RT) jointly with the Austria-Central Asia Centre for GIScience (ACA*GIScience) and the GIScience Commission, Austrian Academy of Sciences. 

The organizers are grateful for sponsorship and support from by Trimble, the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet and the Research Centre for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (Dushanbe). The GISCA conference series and its publications are managed by ACA*GIScience with support from Eurasia-Pacific Uninet and the ÖAW GIScience Commission. 

A post-conference workshop on "Geo-ICT for nature-based tourism and recreation" was conducted by Dr. Sabine Hennig from Z_GIS. More than 80 conference participants from European and Central Asian countries have shared scientific research presentations and discussions, experiences and findings of international initiatives on GIS education and research. 

On the occasion of GISCA’17, ACA*GIScience will again publish a special issue on GIS (including Remote Sensing, Spatial Statistics and related geospatial applications) in Central Asia. The issue will be published in the International Journal of Geoinformatics (journals.sfu.ca/ijg). The deadline to submit complete papers for review is October 15. For any questions, please contact the editors by email . We are looking forward to a high quality journal issue representing the state of the art of geospatial methods and applications across the Central Asia region.

'gSmart' congratulates SelCom Chair Prof. Dr. Béla Márkus

Our warmest congratulations go to the gSmart project Selection Committee Chair  Prof. Dr. Béla Márkus. Happy 70th birthday Béla! We wish you all the best and success for the future!

Project partners are very grateful for his tremendous support and for sharing his great experience! We are all hoping that the very kind, personal and professional collaboration will be maintained!

See also https://unigis.net/news/congratulations-prof-dr-bela-markus/

‘gSmart’ scholars leaving University of Sopron

‘gSmart’ scholars @ University of Sopron (former University of West Hungary) succeeded in enhancing their quality in teaching, research  and learning of Geoinformatics. The University of Sopron hosted 25 ‘all level’ scholars from Central Asian Universities. In total 8 Master Level scholars successfully finished their studies in Hungary and have now returned to their home countries to either work in the local Geoinformatics industry, teach or continue their studies at a higher education institution. Please see below title of Mater’s Theses and links to personalized documentation of activities.

>> Individual e-portfolios and Project website >> http://em-gsmart.zgis.net 

gSmart Meeting @ GI_Forum conference in Salzburg

A small group of gSmart project partners got together to discuss lessons learned and future activities, during the GI_Forum conference in Salzburg.
The meeting started with an excursion to the Landscape Lab in Koppl, close to Salzburg. Hermann Klug, head of this Z_GIS research group provided detailed information and insights to participants.
This last face-to-face gSmart meeting highlights the close end - July 14, 2017 - of the Erasmus Mundus mobility scholarship project (http://em-gsmart.zgis.net/).

gSmart - Erasmus Mundus mobility scholarships

The creation of a strong presence and brand for Geoinformatic studies and job opportunities in Central Asia and Europe is clearly the anticipated long-term impact of the gSmart project. An Erasmus Mundus funded mobility project for all levels. >> http://em-gsmart.zgis.net

The project will finish in July 2017, we invite you to explore achievements and experiences of scholarship holders:

>> Bachelor
>> Master
>> PhD
>> PostDoc & Staff

Dr. Sabine Hennig back at ACA*GIScience

Dr. Sabine Hennig from Z_GIS, University of Salzburg is again teaching at ACA*GIScience in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan within the Erasmus+ faculty mobility program. 

During her academic visit to Kyrgyzstan in April and May 2017 Dr. Hennig is going to teach advanced Geoinformatics and Web-GIS courses to postgraduate students and teachers of KSUCTA and Osh Technological University. In addition, we are glad to have her support in advising MSc and PhD students on their research activities as well as in development of teaching materials. 

GISCA'17 Dushanbe - Call for Papers

The annual ‘GIS in Central Asia’ Conference - GISCA 2017 is scheduled for August 28-30 in Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan. The main objective of this English language conference aims at bringing together GIS academics, researchers and practitioners from Central Asian and other countries, thus to encourage international cooperation and knowledge exchange in GIS research, education and practice.

GISCA 2017 is being locally organized by the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan with support from the Research Centre for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (Dushanbe) and the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The GISCA conference series and its publications are managed by the Austria-Central Asia Centre for GIScience - ACA*GIScience supported by Eurasia-Pacific Uninet and the Austrian Academy of Sciences’ Commission for GIScience.

Call for Papers: the conference committee accepts scientific papers on Geoinformatics themes with a focus on the Central Asian Region. Reviewed and accepted papers in English will be published in the proceedings volume of GISCA 2017 and recorded in RSCI (РИНЦ – Russian Scientific Citation Index). Selected papers will be recommended for publication in the International Journal of Geoinformatics.

We encourage dissemination of this CfP to all interested GIS researchers, educators and professionals. The deadline for submission of papers is July 27, 2017 by email to the address: gisca17@aca-giscience.org

EPU Central Asia 'Novruz' event in Vienna

The Austrian Eurasia-Uninet (EPU) initiative on March 22nd had invited scholars, students and officials from Central Asia and anyone involved with regional projects to the Austrian University of Veterinary Medicine. The aim of this meeting was the sharing of experiences, building of networks and development of plans for further cooperation.Several gSmart students from Villach used this opportunity to connect with the wider community involved with this region.

Dr Ainura Nazarkulova from the University of Salzburg started the conference with a presentation of the Austria - Central Asia Center of GIScience. She highlighted the overall mission of this center, introduced the GISCA series of conferences and focussed on the capacity building initiatives including Tempus and Erasmus projects as well as the UNIGIS distance learning program.

This presentation set the stage for a series of short presentations on topics like historical as well as modern Silk Road, resource and forest management in the region and cultural specifics connecting the past with the present.

EPU hopefully with continue to support the cooperation of Austrian with Central Asian universities, and to serve as a hub as well as a 'crystallization point' for joint research and capacity building.

Recommended Reading: GISc&T Educational Directions

Strobl, J. 2017. Geographic Information Science and Technology: Educational Directions. The International Encyclopedia of Geography. DOI: 10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg1026

Abstract
Geographic information science and technology education has evolved into a multidisciplinary undertaking supporting academic and professional qualifications and professions. With strong conceptual foundations in geography, motivated by application domains including planning, ecology, engineering, and infrastructure management, and facilitated by technologies and computer science, educational programs and underlying curricula are now offered worldwide. This entry explores the academic backgrounds, curriculum initiatives, and models for study programs in, for example, geoinformatics, including traditional frameworks as well as continuing education, distance learning, and noncredit and informal learning. Best practice by worldwide institutions and actors is well documented through collective experience as a foundation for developing new directions accommodating novel technological and conceptual developments.

'The International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment, and Technology' >> Link to all abstracts.

gSmart scholars in Sopron, HU

From February 1, 2017,  the University of West Hungary Faculties of Sopron had been restructured and renamed to University of Sopron.

gSmart scholars are ‘incomings’ in Sopron at the University of Sopron, former UWH. This project partner university is currently hosting 6 Master level students, 2 PhD students, and 1 PostDoc researcher. 3 MSc students have already successfully finished their studies as well as 2 bachelor level exchange students. You will find more information about those scholars on their individual gSmart e-portfolios.

University of Sopron, Faculty of Forestry
Institute of Geomatics, Forest Opening-up and Water Management
Department of Surveying and Remote Sensing
gSmart contact in Hungary: Prof. Andrea Pődör and Prof. Géza Király

'gSmart' publications in International Journal of Geoinformatics

'From Central Asia to Europe: Erasmus Mundus "gSmart" Student Mobility' provides a detailed description on mobility statistics and the interactive and dynamic maps on gSmart mobilities from Central Asia to Europe,  in the current issue of the International Journal of Geoinformatics. Four other publications of gSmart scholars can be found in this journal.

>> gSmart Story Map
>> gSmart Project (link to publication)
>> International Journal of Geoinformatics
>> GISCA proceedings

Erasmus Mundus funded mobility for staff (faculty) and PhD students aims to generate a benefit from research collaboration and exchange visits at an European host university. Joint publications, capacity building and knowledge transfer are key to generate a benefit to all parties involved.

gSmart News: Dr. Manfred Mittlböck teaching in Kyrgyzstan

With MSc Students of OshTU

Visiting Professor Dr. Manfred Mittlböck from Z_GIS, University of Salzburg is teaching MSc and undergraduate students of Kyrgyz universities within the EM gSmart project. This week he has continued his academic teaching activities in Bishkek, after the initial three weeks of his academic work in Osh city.

Students and junior teachers of OshTU, OSU, KSUCTA and other universities have attended theoretical and practical classes of Dr. Mittlböck on Geodatabases and Distributed Architecture of Geodatabases, as well as WebGIS.  

Lectures at KSUCTA

EM gSmart project under review

The gSmart project office in Salzburg is welcoming Associate Professor Huaan Fan from KTH in Stockholm as external expert. He is currently monitoring the quality of the project management with a focus on collaboration amongst partners and outcomes, particular referring to mobilities and scholarships of the Erasmus Mundus scholarship mobility project. (>> gSmart project)