Last week, Ariel Núñez, a member of the GeoNode community, participated at a workshop in Grenada entitled "Data Management using Open Source Software in the Caribbean" in which he lead two sessions: one two-hour training for forty participants on using GeoNode and another two-hour training for twenty participants on installing and customizing GeoNode.
Seven countries and six regional entities participated in the workshop, including UNDP, CDEMA and the CCRIF. Many of the participants had already deployed their own GeoNodes with support from The World Bank, bringing the total number of GeoNodes in the region to six: St Lucia, Grenada, St Vincent, UWI Trinidad, Haiti, and the CCRIF. While all the projects are in the very early stages, there's a strong commitment to promoting data sharing between agencies across the Caribbean—not to mention a lot of excitement towards using open standards and better collaborating around disaster risk data more generally.
Quote of the day: "a wave of excitement has taken over the country," from Jim Joseph, the St Lucian delegate in reference to their GeoNode project.
Posted at - Oct. 12, 2011, 9:52 a.m.