…Wants Ondo Govt To Establish SGIS
Government at all levels have been called upon to deploy Geographic Information System(GIS) to tackle security disaster and agricultural challenges in the country.
A Professor of Environmental Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko(AAUA), Prof. Ebenezer Ogunbadewa made the call on Tuesday while delivering the 25th Inaugural Lecture of the institution.
He emphasised on the necessity of establishing a national geospatial agency to coordinate the development and application of GIS to address various challenges facing the nation.
The lecture entitled: “Visualization Without Barriers: The Quintessence of Geospatial Technology in Environmental Management,” was delivered by Prof.Ogunbadewa, who highlighted the role of GIS in educational administration through online classes, attendance tracking and enrollment projections as well as in healthcare for epidemiology, needs analysis and service inventory.
Giving his recommendation, the Inaugural lecturer defined GIS as a computer-based system that has the capabilities to input, store, manipulate, analyse and display output of geographically (spatially) referenced information about anywhere on the earths surface in a database system, using appropriate software.
Prof. Ogunbadewa seized the opportunity to call on Ondo State Government to create a State Geographic Information System (SGIS) to harness its potential benefits for socio-economic development of the state without delay.
He advised that government at all levels should develop geospatial data infrastructure for storage, management and sharing of geospatial information.
The erudite professor added that through this hi-tech, federal, state and local governments could build capacity and expertise through training and education programmes which would invariably have positive impact on the environmental health, security, satellite revisits period, natural resources management, climate change, disaster management, agriculture, and forest management, among many others.
He explained that “In security enforcement, GIS is beneficial for surveillance, intelligence gathering, smart barcodes, creating virtual boundaries and crime spot identification.”
According to him, GIS could be employed in election results transmission and analysis, voter registration, infrastructure planning, maintenance, business management through demographic and market analysis and site selection.
The professor, therefore, charged policy-makers to development of policies and regulations to support the use of GIS and protect privacy and security.
He also recommended that geospatial technology should be integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and unmanned aircraft systems like drones for the development of the nation in all spheres.
Prof. Ogunbadewa, therefore, emphasised on the need for adequate support for research and development to enhance technology applications and collaboration with international organizations to share knowledge and best practices.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the university, who was the chairman of the event, Prof. Olugbenga Ige, explained that inaugural lectures are platforms and opportunities for professors to share their research findings and ideas for the benefit of the society.
Noting that inaugural lecturers are expected to propose solutions to societal needs, the Vice Chancellor acknowledged the inaugural lecturer, Prof. Ogunbadewa, as an eminent scholar whose wealth of experience would undoubtedly benefit the society.