GITA, a non-profit educational association headquartered in Colorado and GPC-GIS, a private sector consulting company based in Abu Dhabi, jointly announce the formation of a collaborative partnership to design, develop and conduct educational events to raise the awareness, knowledge, expertise and professionalism of the rapidly evolving geospatial workforce in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region.
The partnership will deliver education and training services under the title “Project GEMENI,” an acronym for the “Geospatial Education in Middle Eastern Nations Initiative.” Project GEMENI is expected to include a combination of seminars, workshops and in-depth courses focused on a variety of subjects related to the critical aspects of designing, developing and implementing geospatial projects and applications throughout the MENA Region.
GPC-GIS will retain exclusive rights to represent GITA events and programs in the Region and will be primarily responsible for marketing, promotion and local facilitation of GEMENI regional events and services. GITA will serve as primary educational content provider, utilizing its established network of qualified subject matter experts under the coordination of Talbot J. Brooks, Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Information Technologies at Delta State University.
Robert M. Samborski, GITA’s Executive Director, said, “We welcome this extraordinary opportunity to help shape the future of geospatial professional development in this critical part of the world. GITA is an association exclusively dedicated to furthering education and awareness of geospatial information
GITA and GPC-GIS Announce Education and Training Partnership
and technology. In doing so, we seek to raise the professional standards of geospatial practitioners worldwide. Project GEMENI will benefit existing and future geospatial practitioners in the MENA Region, but also will accrue to GITA members and constituents in North America and elsewhere. We look forward to working with GPC-GIS as partners in this important venture.”
According to Mark Sorensen, General Manager of GPC-GIS, “The Eye on Earth Summit in Abu Dhabi is indeed an auspicious occasion to launch Project GEMENI. Geospatial Information Technology and Services is such an important component of global sustainability and access to societal data. The beneficiaries of Project GEMENI education and training will be in the forefront of achieving the objectives and aspirations of the Summit as professional development and expertise in using geospatial technology advances throughout our region.”
Initial course offerings are being planned for the region in January 2012