How Can GIS Transform Your Work? Here’s How OMDTZ is Making an Impact
By Iddy Chazua, Amour Nyalusi, and Johanes Machela
Have you ever considered how spatial intelligence impacts daily life and global challenges? If not, it’s time to recognize that, nowadays, across various sectors, location intelligence offers deeper insights into different scenarios, helping us understand the relationships between events over space. For example, in the case of flooding, analyzing the relationship between flooded houses and factors like river basins, solid waste management, drainage systems, elevation, and soil characteristics provides more insight. Similarly, while every village may have a hospital, assessing the maximum distance people must walk to reach these health facilities sheds light on accessibility challenges. Overall, spatial intelligence plays a key role in understanding how the location of one event influences the occurrence or prevention of another event.
In Tanzania, OMDTZ has been championing the use of geospatial technologies by supporting organisations in designing and implementing GIS solutions, conducting capacity-building initiatives, and offering hands-on support. Over the years, OMDTZ has had outstanding mapping projects, demonstrating the efficiency and usefulness of GIS. Notable initiatives include the nationwide mapping of mill machines in Tanzania funded by the World Food Program — Tanzania (WFP), where the geodata helps to understand the spatial distribution of mill machine types, provision of fortified food, etc. Additionally, significant work has been done in solid waste management and flood resilience with the World Bank, both of which showcase the power of geospatial technologies. Through these initiatives, OMDTZ continues to bridge the gap between geospatial technology and real-world applications, ensuring that individuals, organizations, and communities are equipped with the skills and tools necessary to leverage GIS for sustainable development.
In supporting organizations and institutions in tailoring GIS solutions to meet their specific needs, OMDTZ provides customized assistance. Some of the training OMDTZ conducted are
EUDR Compliance Training — Embu, Kenya
A 5-day intensive GIS training in Embu, Kenya, for Fairtrade Africa’s coffee program team, focused on building the skills necessary for land use monitoring, deforestation tracking, and mobile-based data collection to comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), effective in December 2024. This training equipped participants with essential GIS skills to monitor agricultural supply chains for deforestation-free products, ensuring smallholder farmers’ continued access to the European Union market. Participants learned how to track deforestation using satellite imagery, map farm boundaries with GPS points, and apply spatial analysis techniques to assess compliance with EUDR standards. A key part of the training included fieldwork in Mirichi Village, where participants mapped farmland boundaries and gathered GPS data, allowing them to practice real-world GIS applications in agriculture. This hands-on training approach ensured that participants were not only familiar with the tools but also confident in applying them to monitor land use and deforestation, contributing to EUDR compliance.
GIS Technical Assistance Training in Nyarugusu and Nduta Refugee Camp
The Open Mapping Hub — Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), with Support from Caribou Space under the UKHIH funding, works with OMDTZ in designing and conducting 10-day workshops in Nyarugusu and Nduta Refugee Camps to equip UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Danish Refugee Council / Dansk Flygtningehjælp, and Norwegian Refugee Council with comprehensive GIS training. The training covered data management, GIS fundamentals, remote sensing, and utilizing tools like OpenStreetMap, KoboToolbox, and ODK. Participants practiced digitizing data and field data collection, working with the iD Editor, JOSM, and the Field Mapping Tasking Manager. They also had the opportunity to conduct a spatial analysis using ArcGIS Pro and QGIS and created interactive maps with uMap and ArcGIS Online. The training aimed to equip participants with essential geospatial skills to enhance environmental management, disaster resilience, and resource planning. By integrating GIS technologies, these organizations are better prepared to make data-driven decisions and improve their humanitarian impact.
Industry training program
Since 2020, OMDTZ has been working with the word bank and later with Resilience Academy to support university students by equipping and exposing them to open mapping techniques, geospatial tools, and the significance of geospatial data in urban planning, urban resilience and other sectors. The program usually takes place during the summer break, and the students are trained for up to 2 weeks before they apply their skills in the field. During the program, student “mappers” gain different skills, such as using and accessing geospatial tools and data for visualization and improving their understanding of the connection between geospatial data and urban planning and resilience. Also, they have been trained on how to conduct surveys and how to interact with the local community to get accurate information. By integrating hands-on training with extracurricular activities, students gain a competitive edge in the global GIS market, ensuring they are well-prepared to make a meaningful impact in their future workplaces and the communities at large
If your organization requires GIS support or training, OMDTZ offers tailored training programs to meet your specific needs. Whether you are looking to build internal GIS capacity, integrate geospatial solutions into your workflows, or explore new applications of location intelligence, we can provide hands-on training and expert guidance. If you are unsure about how GIS can benefit your organization, we also offer presentations showcasing various use cases and exploring potential applications of GIS in your activities. Contact us to discover how geospatial technology can enhance your work and drive greater impact.
