GDEST AFRICA: GEOSPATIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The U.S. Department of State, through the office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary, conducts a series of biand multi-lateral studies to examine advanced and advancing science and technology. These studies, called the Global Dialogues on Emerging Science and Technology (GDEST), examine a specific area of emerging interest in different regions of the world. The GDEST for 2008 examines geospatial science and technology in Africa. The GDEST activities are intended to contribute to global security, address human aspects of sustainability, and advance opportunities for shared knowledge on emerging science and technology (ST (2) analysis of regional challenges to Africa, which examines analytical and visualization tools that bring science into the decision process; and (3) understanding opportunities, constraints, and approaches for getting valid data in a timely and affordable manner in a useful format, and how they can be shared among collaborators.