7th Utility GIS Workshop, Skyz Hotel, Kampala, Uganda

The Uganda Energy Sector GIS Working Group in collaboration with EACREEE and other partners organized the 7th Utilities GIS Conference, which was held in Kampala, Uganda 12^th – 13^th September 2018. This year the conference focused on “Geo-Intelligence for Utilities”. It aimed at initiating discussions on common mapping standards and developed a common geo-database for the energy sector in the EAC region through sharing experience among the utilities GIS experts from Uganda and other EAC countries as well as the ECOWAS region. GIS experts from different government agencies and the private sector from different countries showcased how GIS technology is used for infrastructure planning, asset management, network monitoring, and decision making.

The workshop participants came up with a number of recommendations and proposals, which included

1. Strengthening cooperation, networking and sharing of GIS-related knowledge and information between the national institutions and across the borders.

2. Establishing and strengthening of both National and Regional Energy GIS Working Groups to,

3. Develop a regional GIS-related standards and mechanism for sharing of data and information

4. Support EACREEE’s initiative to establish an EAC Observatory for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency as a regional GIS platform for sharing information on energy and related resources and infrastructures.

5. Establishment of East African Energy GIS Conference as biennial event, to be organized by EACREEE and other partners.

6. Establishment and development of capacity building on GIS applications on energy and other sectors.

The workshop was attended by over 120 participants from all the East African Community Partner States (namely Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania) as well as GIS experts from Sweden, Germany, USA, South Africa and the ECOWAS Region.