Capacity Building
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE SERVICE OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN WEST AFRICA
SERVIR puts science at the service of society by building the capacity of regional and national organizations that have demonstrated their ability to work with governments and people and have the capacity to use Earth observation data to understand, predict, and act at the local and regional levels.
Capacity Development. SERVIR WA 2 will continue to evolve approaches toward capacity building that were established in Phase 1 and promoted by SERVIR Global. In this context, a multidimensional approach toward capacity building will be applied. This approach takes from the construct promoted by UNDP and is tailored to the specific goals and needs of SERVIR. Capacity building has three foci: the individual, the institution, and the enabling environment. Five broad categories of capacity will be enhanced: consultation and needs assessment, service design, EO capabilities, data infrastructure and the deployment of services.
SERVIR 2 will support capacity within the enabling environment necessary for the effective use of EO for decision-making will be primarily via the hub engagement in regional and international fora, such as its developing engagement with ECOWAS as well as CEOS, GEO, AfriGEO and UNECA-led efforts.
Ultimately, of course, the overall effectiveness of each service will be demonstrated through its ability to affect decision-making by end-users who then contribute to a more robust enabling environment for evidence-based decision-making. SERVIR 2 will continue to support institutional capacity among its consortium members in terms of strategic planning, financial and administrative capabilities (aimed towards certification to receive and manage donor funds), and as certified data archives according to CoreTrustSeal standards through the support of CIESIN.
The consortium recognizes that AFRIGIST has taken the coordinating role in providing core training capabilities in collaboration with phase 1 consortium partners, some of whom provide expertise, and NASA who provides additional expertise (through SCO, SME and AST). Certain core capabilities training has been provided (GIS, SAR, LiDAR, ML, GEE). There are now options for core training that may be explored, particularly NASA ARSET, Copernicus e.g. in terms of AI, ML and DL as well as advanced SAR or SAR-optical fusion training. AFRIGIST is well-placed to facilitate this to a greater degree than AGRHYMET, and for that purpose the consortium intends to continue AFRIGIST’s direct involvement in SERVIR WA through a subaward, estimated at USD 300k over the LOP based on historic rates. Training workshops organized by AFRIGIST will be used as a channel for sourcing quality applications for the Small Innovations Grants Program which will be concurrently implemented with AIMS.
https://servir.afrigist.org is a platform to provide access to courses and course materials managed by AFRIGIST.
