The International Open Source Network (IOSN) ASEAN+3 and InWEnt Capacity Building International, Germany in collaboration with the The State Ministry for Research and Technology (RISTEK), Republic of Indonesia are inviting both government and non-government organizations (NGOs), IT small-to-medium enterprises/businesses (SMEs/SMBs), developers, experts, trainers and users of Free/Open Source Software (F/OSS) disaster management information systems to a Training of Trainers (ToT) for FOSS Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with Sahana.

The training will be held at the PDII-LIPI in Jakarta, Indonesia from March 24 to 28, 2008. This activity is in response to the great demand and interest for a follow-up training as a result of the successful conduct of an earlier ToT on FOSS GIS for Disaster Management held last October 2007 in PDII-LIPI in Jakarta, Indonesia.


InWEnt-IOSN Training on Free/Open Source Software-based Geographic Information Systems with Sahana Component (code: TOT FOSS-GIS Sahana Indonesia)

The State Ministry for Research and Technology (RISTEK), Republic of Indonesia

Venue: BPPT Building II, 3rd Floor Jl. M.H. Thamrin No. 8, Jakarta 10340, Indonesia

24-28 March 2008 (8:00am–5:30pm)


BACKGROUND

Accurate and timely dissemination of information remain to have a critical role in alleviating potential damage in lives and properties even before disasters strike. However, in times of crises, when communication infrastructures become unreliable, access to quality and timely information becomes a severe problem.

Not only owing to its location within the restless Pacific Ring of Fire but also where the major oceans of the world meet, the Southeast Asian region has been a "supermarket of natural disasters." In the same note of being part of the world's largest archipelago, Indonesia has earned the same "nickname" in recent years due to its frequent earthquakes, destructive tsunamis and climate-changing volcanic eruptions. Among other disasters, the floods in recent months in this country have been a crippling occurrence that has become more periodic as before. Disasters in various forms seem to have been taking turns to strike different areas of this nation.

When disasters strike, disruption of communications most often results to lack, if not a total cessation of information flow, which in turn hampers relief efforts in areas where these resources are needed most. It has been considered that the non-existence of disaster management information systems have been a frequent consequence of its non-affordability and a serious lack of awareness on its importance.

Although many disaster management information systems exist, many of them are proprietary and expensive. Free and/or open source software (FOSS) introduce new ways of developing software that promote community participation and business cases for local IT companies. Non-proprietary disaster management information systems are already available, but with the recent floods in Jakarta on January and February of this year, it became more apparent that there is still a lack of people knowledgeable in the installation, configuration, and use of these systems.

This activity aims to increase the number of potential developers, experts, trainers and users of FOSS disaster management information systems, so they can be quickly deployed in times of disaster and are able to offer more efficient and effective services (physical or virtual) to the affected communities. Of equal importance is the focus on enlarging the base of local small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in the field of IT, who shall be empowered to offer related FOSS-services to users of FOSS disaster management information systems.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an emerging technology that has proved to be useful for disaster management as well as local resource management and environmental impact assessment, to name a few. FOSS GIS tools and applications already exist, which can be used by local governments in their various information and communications technology (ICT)-based departments and ministries for informed decision-making.

This training program brings experts together who have applied FOSS-GIS tools in their work for the purpose of enabling them to train others on FOSS GIS in their respective communities. The target audience will be composed of both government and non-government organizations who have ICT training as part of their mandate, plus local IT-SMEs (small-to-medium enterprises) already engaged in this market. It is intended to prepare them to use and support FOSS-based GIS applications as well as train other people on the use of FOSS-GIS, especially in disasters.


Some of the expected outputs from this training are:

- A corps of trainers familiar with the use and support of FOSS GIS tools
- Learning material for FOSS GIS that can be used for future local training
- Course design which can be replicated in local training for SMEs
- Organize a stronger and wider base of Sahana trainers and users for Indonesia



OBJECTIVES:

- Participants will be able to understand main concepts of GIS; install, configure and use FOSS GIS applications; apply FOSS GIS tools for practical purposes (disasters, resource management, data visualization, etc).
- Participants to know about Sahana and its features and applicability to disaster management as a stable and mature FOSS GIS application, particularly to Indonesian situations.
- Participants to know about business possibilities with FOSS-GIS services.
Develop a corps of trainers in Indonesia is able to train others how to use FOSS GIS tools and applications.



PARTICIPATION CRITERIA:

As the training will primarily focus on advanced technical aspects of FOSS-GIS and Sahana other than basic concepts, it is very important that each participant has the following qualifications:


- Experience in the use of FOSS-GIS applications in business and workplace.
- Basic computer and networking knowledge, i.e., printing, opening, saving and renaming files, etc.
- Experience working in Linux OS environment an advantage.
- Proficient with electronic mail and the world wide web.
- Experience in training others on ICT.
- Committed and has ability to support the training of other people in their home agency on how to use FOSS-GIS and in local IT-SMEs (mandate of training IT-SMEs).
- Engagement in local market for FOSS-GIS services a plus.
- Residency in Indonesia; willing to travel to training site in Jakarta (see venue details above) on own expense; willing to cover own accommodation costs.
- To achieve gender balance, females are strongly encouraged to participate.

This training is designed to reinforce participants' current knowledge on FOSS-GIS and further enable them to acquire additional working knowledge and learn how to use FOSS-based GIS applications.




HOW TO APPLY:

Interested individuals are invited to apply for participation by sending responses using the downloadable forms (odt or pdf format) below to: asean3[AT]iosn[DOT]net

Application deadline: 03 March 2008

Application Form (downloadable below in odt or pdf format)

To apply, please provide us with the following information:

1) Personal Details Name: Gender: Nationality: Country where you live and work now: Affiliation/organization, please include designation/position: Email: Address: Mobile phone number (or any contact number) and emergency contact number:

2) How far do you live from the training site (see above)?

3) Have you trained others on the use of information and communications technology? If YES, what was the topic of the course and when was the last time you gave this course?

4) How do you fulfill the participation criteria (see above)




FUNDERS AND IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS:

State Ministry of Research and Technology (RISTEK), Government of Indonesia

The State Ministry of Research and Technology established in 1962 has the responsibility to assist the President of the Republic of Indonesia in formulating national policies and implementing coordination in the field of research, science and technology.

http://www.ristek.go.id//



InWent Capacity Building International, Germany
InWEnt or Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung (Capacity Building International, Germany) GmbH is synonymous with human resources and organisational development in international cooperation. Its education, exchange and dialogue programmes that offer places for about 55,000 individuals every year make InWEnt a very large-scale joint undertaking of the German Federal Government, the federal state governments and industry. The courses offered by InWEnt address specialists, executives and decision-makers in industry, politics, administration and civil society. InWEnt works with partners in developing countries, transition states and industrialised nations.

InWEnt promotes FOSS in Southeast Asia through its it@foss program.

URL: http://www.inwent.org/

it@foss supports the development and application of local innovative software solutions and business models based on free and open source software (FOSS) in the ASEAN region.

it@foss promotes FOSS in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam at four (4) levels:

- Awareness + Knowledge: We aim to enable software developers, decision makers and businesses to make sound assessments on benefits and risks of FOSS solutions and to stimulate their sharing of experiences.
- Development + Cooperation: We contribute to building an active FOSS developer community that collaborates on locally adapted software products, receiving support and ideas through regional and international networks.
- Business Models: We facilitate cooperation between European and Asian companies, to inspire and strengthen the development of viable and sustainable FOSS-based business solutions.
- Education + Dissemination: We empower multiplying organizations to cooperate and to competently train others on FOSS applications and opportunities, in order to increase users' familiarity with FOSS.

URL: http://www.it-foss.org/



International Open Source Network (IOSN)

IOSN is a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Centre of Excellence in Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) for the Asia-Pacific region. It was established by UNDP Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) in 2002 through the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. Through a virtual secretariat and now a network of sub-regional centres, IOSN South Asia (Chennai, India), IOSN Pacific Islands Countries (Suva, Fiji), and IOSN ASEAN +3 (Manila, Philippines), it shapes its activities around FOSS technologies and applications; awareness and advocacy; and capacity building initiatives.

IOSN ASEAN+3 sub-regional centre for the Southeast Asian countries is based at the University of Philippines Manila. The geographical mandate of IOSN ASEAN+3 encompasses Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea. IOSN ASEAN+3 is tasked specifically to facilitate and network FOSS advocates, experts, and developers in these 13 countries to foster the adoption of FOSS. The vision is to have developing countries in these countries achieve rapid and sustained economic and social development with the utilization of affordable yet effective FOSS ICT solutions to bridge the digital divide.

URL: http://www.iosn.net/