International Training workshop on Big Data for Science and Sustainability

Opening ceremony of training workshop

Opening ceremony of training workshop

The CODATA PASTD – IGU joint action of the International Training workshop on Big Data for Science and Sustainability in Developing Countries was successfully held from 17th -19th March, 2017 in Hyderabad, India. Training workshop is academic event of The Xth IGU International Conference on “Urbanization, Health & Well Being and Sustainable Development Goals”. Supported by the International Geographical Union (IGU) and Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR, CAS), the Hyderabad training workshop is one of CODATA PASTD’s three capacity building activities in 2017. Other training activities will be held in Madagascar in September and in China in November.

The training course introduces young scientists to the ideas of open data, data sharing and data publication.  The training also covers Big Data, data analysis and applications in order to develop skills as ‘data scientists’.  The three day training workshop included lectures and hands-on practice, which aims to develop the skills and capacity necessary for preservation of and open access to research data in developing countries.

Prof. R..B.Singh, Vice Chairman of the International Federation (IGU), delivered an opening speech

Prof. R..B.Singh, Vice Chairman of the International Federation (IGU), delivered an opening speech

Prof. R.B.Singh, Vice President of the International Geographical Union (IGU) and Co-Chair of Strategy and Policy Sub-group of CODATA PASTD, and Yukio Himiyama, President of the International Geographical Union, attended the opening and closing ceremonies respectively. 56 students from 13 universities in India attended the training courses. CODATA PASTD member, Dr. Yunqiang Zhu, Co-chair of Capacity Building Sub-group of CODATA PASTD and professor from IGSNRR, CAS, and Dr. B. Srinagesh from Osmania University organized the training as co-chairs. Chinese scientists worked along with Indian colleagues to give courses on open Big

Yukio Himiyama, President of the International Federation (IGU), awarded a certificate to the trainees

Yukio Himiyama, President of the International Federation (IGU), awarded a certificate to the trainees

Data discovery, data publication and sharing, the Indian Earth observation system, geospatial data interoperability, geospatial data infrastructure and data sharing principles.

Participation in the training workshop was active and enthusiastic and students reported the results were beneficial and favourable. Professor R. R. Shingh, and Dr. V. Raghavaswamy, Deputy Director of the National Remote Sensing Centre, India, expressed their hope that the PASTD training course will continue in future and cultivate new generation of young data scientists with growing awareness of developments in data science and the benefits of international cooperation.

The closing ceremony of the training workshop

The closing ceremony of the training workshop