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27 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland and Beijing, China - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Geneva School of Economics and Management of the University of Geneva and the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set global standards for SDG Education and Open Innovation.
The three documents were virtually signed by United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR, Mr. Nikhil Seth, the Dean of the Geneva School of Economics and Management of the Univ...
The recent visit of the Secretary-General to the UNOSAT team set the tone of the new management phase at UNOSAT, which is now a recognised centre of excellence within the United Nations system in the areas of satellite analysis and geospatial information. While the visit of the Secretary-General confirms this recognition and is a reward to the staff, it also shows the gradual gain of importance of satellite derived information for the work of the UN. UNOSAT has spearheaded innovation in satellite analysis since its creation in 2000.
Photo Credit © UNITAR/UNOSAT,&nbs...
9 August 2022, Geneva, Switzerland – In July 2019, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Wuhan University (WHU) to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and innovation capacities for remote sensing through the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT). Two years and a pandemic later, the collaboration keeps strong, with new WHU students starting their traineeships at the UNOSAT headquarters in Geneva.
“This collaboration with Wuhan University is a great opportunity for us to increase our research...
31 March 2021, Copenhagen, Denmark - UNITAR-UNOSAT and the University of Copenhagen co-organized and delivered a 3-week Masters level course entitled “Geo-information in disaster situations” from 8 to 26 March 2021. The beneficiaries were fourteen University of Copenhagen students registered in the Master of Disaster Management programme. Instruction during the first week focused on an introduction to remote sensing, data analysis, cartographic modelling and essential software applications and was delivered by the University of Copenhagen., The second week was helmed ...
This successful methodology has already been used in several capacity development projects run by UNOSAT for UN member states and a few international organizations. The methodology combines capacity development in situ with transfer of knowledge, including UNOSAT generated best practices, and technical assistance when needed.
The Geospatial Information course offered within the curriculum of the Master of Disaster Management at Copenhagen University is open each year to applicants taking the Master course in Copenhagen. UNOSAT is planning to offer soon a similar course to ...
In the wake of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which claimed over 230,000 lives and left millions displaced, the urgent need for a coordinated disaster response system among international agencies, governments, and humanitarian organizations became glaringly evident. In response, the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) was established to bridge the gap between real-time disaster data and response capabilities. Integral to this effort was UNOSAT’s development of the Satellite Mapping Coordination System (SMCS) in 2010, following the Haiti earthqu...
31 August 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - Over the summer, UNOSAT introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based method in its operational emergency mapping service. By reducing the process to a fraction of the time normally needed.
"This fully automated processing method is a game changer for humanitarian rapid mapping operations and a great tool for national disaster management authorities”, Einar Bjørgo, Director, UNOSAT.
Thanks to its extensive experience in rapid mapping, UNOSAT has collected a vast library of historical flood datasets, which ar...
The devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti resulted in an outpouring of relief and an unprecedented variety of crowdsourcing efforts. UNOSAT was heavily involved in damage assessment and analysis activities, ingesting data from the crowd but also synthesizing lessons learned from previous emergencies. The work was conducted in integrated and participatory involving the European Commission Joint Research Centre and the World Bank-GFDRR, the Haitian National Centre for Geo-Spatial Information, Swisstopo and the University of Zurich. This widespread effort combined im...
While UNOSAT has consistently met high standards in very short delivery timelines, the new Data-in-hand strategy is an attempt to routinely approach actual near-real-time analysis. Francesco Pisano, Manager of UNOSAT, says “this level of responsiveness is not new at UNOSAT. What is new is our strategy to make this a standard feature. We keep looking downstream at user requirements in the field and we equip ourselves with what it takes to do better each time in responding to these”. In commenting on the attempts being done in some quarters of the GIS and space communities to...
7 June 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - IPP CommonSensing aims to support the three selected Commonwealth Small Island Developing States (SIDS) by improving national climate resilience through the use of satellite remote sensing applications. To address climate challenges faced by the partner countries, the consortium has pioneered an innovative project delivery structure, in which a geospatial information portal (the IPP CommonSensing platform) with four web applications – a climate information app, risk information app, map explorer app, and a decision support system – and dat...