GISCorps: GIS Professionals Volunteering for Communities in Need 2015 Levin College Research Conference August 20, 2015 Mark Salling, PhD, GISP
Summary History/Model/Volunteers GISCorps Missions WHO Volunteers presentations Q & A
History of GISCorps GISCorps started with a simple idea and question: Would GIS professionals be willing to volunteer their time and expertise for a short time to communities in need?
GISCorps Mission A Program of Urban and Regional Information System Association (URISA), GISCorps coordinates short-term volunteer GIS services to communities in need worldwide
Areas of Service Services provided to assist with: Humanitarian Relief & Human Rights Disaster Response Conservation & Wildlife Environmental Quality GIS Education (K-12 & non K-12) Micro-lending Health & Human Services NGO Coordination Expert Crowdsourcing
GISCorps Model GISCorps Core Committee (CC) is responsible for: establishing relationships and partnerships with recognized agencies & associations such as UN agencies, GSDI, Peace Corps, and... evaluating/screening agencies after receiving a request for volunteers to make certain their objectives are in synch with GISCorps and URISA developing job descriptions selecting a Project Manager screening and evaluating volunteers - matching volunteers expertise with project s needs putting the volunteer in contact with the Partner Agency monitoring and evaluating the outcome
GISCorps Model (continued) Projects are Remote or On-site GISCorps does not pay for its volunteers expenses, on-site or remote missions, the Partner Agency does A recent change in policy allows for provision of minimal assistance to qualified projects
Volunteers Profile GISCorps Volunteer Count (2003-2015) 4000 3800 3500 3400 3000 2490 2700 3000 2500 2100 2000 1650 1500 930 1215 1000 500 41 70 270 0 Oct-03 Oct-04 Aug-05 Oct-05 Apr-08 Sep-09 Sep-10 Oct-11 Jul-12 Jun-13 May-14 July-15 Currently have over 3,800 volunteers & 2,200 registered friends
Volunteers Locations +/- 3,800 (July 2015) volunteers reside in 98 countries 78% of them reside in the US and Canada
Volunteers provide expertise in: Capacity Building (training & technical workshops) GIS Needs Assessment & Strategic Planning Building/Designing/Cleansing spatial & nonspatial database Remote Sensing Spatial Analysis & Modelling Geo-coding Application development Quality Control
Missions 2004-2015 As of July 2015, engaged in 167 missions in 59 countries; deployed 907+ volunteers: 38 on-site missions; deployed 88 volunteers 129 remote missions; deployed 819 volunteers Deployments are to emergency (61) as well as non emergency (106) missions (36% DR)
Missions Locations (in 59 countries)
GISCorps Missions 2004-2015 (July) Total: 167 projects & 907 deployed volunteers 244 250 208 200 150 137 100 78 50 2 2 47 13 12 8 9 9 50 14 12 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Projects 2 8 9 9 14 12 8 26 24 20 21 10 Volunteers 2 47 13 12 50 20 50 78 137 39 208 244 20 8 50 26 24 39 20 21 10 Projects Volunteers
Missions 2014-2015
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOT) Nepal Earthquake 49 volunteers digitized various features Total time reported at: +/- 470 hours
UNOCHA & ACAPS Nepal Earthquake Cleansing Nepal s Census Data Volunteers: Mark Salling & Charlie Post
NetHope Ebola Response Project East Africa Various GIS related tasks & products 9 Volunteers: German Whitley, Liz Dow, DeAnna Hohnhorst, Melodie Grubbs, Katie Mayr, Alice Pence, Nathan Shemella, Grace Lee & Carol Kraemer
National Association of County and City Health Officials NACCHO Ebola Response Maps Generating Static and Online Maps Volunteer: Ian Dunn
Kabale University Uganda Teaching GIS & Remote Sensing Volunteers: Joey Abrams & Adam McKay
Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN)/UNOCHA Typhoon Pam Social Media Early Indication Maps & Health & Medical Update Maps Volunteers: 17 volunteers
Mimika Land Rights Project West Papua Remote Sensing/Change Detection Volunteer: Mike Alonzo (CA)
DHN/Humanity Road Philippines Typhoon Hagupit Catalogue all Published Mapping Products Volunteers: Leonard Olyott & Keeve Brine
DHN/Standby Task Force Philippines Typhoon Hagupit/Ruby Classify Social Media Posts on MicroMappers 15 GISCorps Volunteers
USGS/iCoast US/NY/NJ Crowd Sourcing Post Sandy Images Pilot Project: Did the coast change? 111 GISCorps Volunteers
Kabul Polytechnic University Afghanistan Teaching GIS & Remote Sensing to KPU Faculty Volunteers: Heath Robinson & Stephane Henriod
International Rescue Committee (IRC) DRC Digitizing Health Zones & Publishing on AGO Volunteers: Barry Gauthier and Dimo Diakov
1947 Partition Archive Project India/Pakistan Publishing Web Application of Events Volunteer: Jason Lampel
World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) Publishing Event Info Using Tableau Volunteer: Katie Mayr
Young Voices For The Planet Creating a Story Map Volunteer: Pamela Bond
WFP/iMMAP North Korea Digitizing the Base Map Volunteers: 86 volunteers; 5 year project
Missions in progress 1. An expert volunteer geocoder/programmer assisting a project in Guatemala; geocoding locations of microinsurance holders; a prototype 2. Volunteer assisting in creating a new web map Laos: Map Our World app 3. The Uyghur Human Rights Project - China: mapping incidents of violence and arrests 4. TerraWatchers: crowd sourcing project: examine archaeological sites for evidence of looting and other military-related damage; 96 volunteers 5. Geotag-X: UNOSAT/UNITAR, crowd sourcing project; 74 volunteers
Missions 2014-2015 Ebola Project with the World Health Organization (WHO) Jeff Pires (Geneva) Charleen Gavette (Liberia) Leslie Zollman (Ghana)
At the heart of volunteerism are the ideals of service and solidarity and the belief that together we can make the world a better place. Volunteers do not ask, why volunteer?, but rather when?, where? and how?. These dedicated and courageous individuals are important partners in the quest for a better, fairer and safer world. Kofi Annan, 5 December 2003 www.giscorps.org info@giscorps.org