Geo4Dev: Making Geospatial Data and Tools More Accessible for a Better Understanding of Developing Countries
What is Geo4Dev?
The Geo4Dev initiative connects the needs of international development projects to relevant fast-paced innovations in geospatial analysis. The initiative is formed out of a collaboration between New Light Technologies, the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) out of UC Berkeley, and 3ie, and has held yearly workshops and symposiums since 2017. These events have connected researchers, governments, students, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international development professionals from around the world, exposing them to challenges and opportunities in the field. Each symposium has provided training and workshops to bridge the gap between the challenges in the industry and relevant geospatial solutions.
In November of 2020, The Geo4Dev partners announced the official launch of the Geo4.dev website. This online platform, developed as part of the Geo4Dev initiative, hosts a curated selection of crowd sourced research, training material, datasets, and more, all of which relate directly to the topic of international development and geospatial analysis.
What’s new?
Just this month, Geo4Dev launched a host of new functionalities for the Geo4.dev website! You can now reach out to the Geo4Dev partners directly through an integrated contact form, find tons of new content, and upload content directly to the database. Sharing your work and connecting with the community has never been easier!
Why should you care?
Geo4Dev was founded with the belief that a rising tide lifts all boats. The ability to contribute and share your work (and all other helpful content) through our database increases the utility of the Geo4.dev platform, ultimately narrowing the divide between geospatial data, analysis, and the development issues that need them the most.
We need your contribution to help Geo4Dev grow! Your contributions of data and knowledge will both maximize the exposure of your work to key players in the international development field, such as the World Bank, and increase your potential for new collaborations with other stakeholders.
How can you participate?
You can contribute to the Geo4Dev platform by adding datasets, tools and research! If you published a paper, wrote a white paper, or developed a dataset relevant to Geo4Dev`s objectives- we want to know about it! Participation is free and easy. Visit our site at Geo4.dev, register for a free account, and click the “Add Dataset” button on the Library page. That’s it! All content will be reviewed by the Geo4Dev development team, and once your content is approved, you will be notified, and the content will be shared publicly on our platform.
What’s next for Geo4.dev?
Ultimately, Geo4Dev is about building a global support community, making geospatial solutions accessible to anyone, and creating new partnerships. By consolidating and curating the widely dispersed geospatial resources available online, Geo4.dev strives to become the first stop for the entire global development community to find solutions to their geospatial challenges. The Geo4dev team plans to continue building out the platform to host a range of custom tools and tutorials that support the global development community. With your involvement, we can make this goal a reality. We look forward to continuing this journey with you!
Your contribution will help Geo4Dev grow!
