Geoinformation policy in East Africa
Kalande, W. and J.D. Ondulo
Triggered by global trends, economic and political reasons, the republics of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda signed the East African Cooperation treaty in 1999 thus bringing the East African Community into being. This has led to considerable increase in demand for cross border Geoinformation (GI) exchange in the regional bloc. Infrastructure (Railway and road network, airports and coastal ports), Natural resources (Lake Victoria, tourists sites), telecommunication (common mobile providers and subscribers), Institutions (hospitals, banks, schools and colleges) just to mention a few are now legally and commonly shared by the citizens of the 3 member states. Coping with this increased demand for cross border GI amidst the numerous challenges in the effective generation, management and use of GI in decision making in the region dictates that GI policies for the candidate member countries be harmonized to agreed standards before integration. Questions then arise; do these countries on individual basis have Geoinformation policy in place? Where not in existence, what efforts are being made and at what level? Are there any efforts in coming up with a regional policy? The paper highlights the current status of GI policy in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, the efforts and possibilities in coming up with a regional GI policy.
Event: XXIII International FIG Congress : Shaping the change
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