Finding a Niche in GIS
SLSU is investing heavily for the incorporation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in its researches. Furthermore, it seeks to establish GIS, along with rubber, as a ‘niche’ of the university.
SLSU’s engagement with GIS began in 2013 after it availed of the Balik-Scientist program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Its chosen area for a Balik-Scientist assistance was GIS, and consequently, GIS expert Alejandro Tongco, of Oklahoma University, came to SLSU and started preliminary workshops in SLSU that year.
The Balik-Scientist is a program of the government encouraging Filipino scientists to return to the Philippines to share their expertise for the economic and social development of the country.
Formal training on GIS started in May 2014 with participants from SLSU’s five campuses. Trainees were grouped according to similar fields of expertise, and were asked to create a proposal on a pre-determined area of concern using GIS.
GIS is a system to present, manage, and analyze spatial or geographical data. Tongco is the of the website PhilGIS (www.philgis.org) which provides free Philippine GIS data for educational and non-profit use.
In 2015, a new series of GIS trainings were held in the first half of the year to expand the reach of GIS on more faculty members from the five campuses. Trainings were held successively in April – May 2015 for both basic and advanced GIS. Trainees who held on throughout the training, eventually presented proposals on their planned GIS-based research studies.
The proposal topics ranged from agriculture, fishery and animal science to engineering, disaster preparedness, business and local governance. GIS trainees in 2014 were also called to account for the team researches that supported SLSU’s priority areas for GIS applications: GIS Applications in Socioeconomic Studies Relating to Payaos of Sogod Bay, GIS-based Enrolment Modeling of SLSU Students, Evaluating Senior High School Readiness in Southern Leyte using Geospatial Techniques, Hazards Mapping of Southern Leyte, Alumni Philanthropy and Management using GIS Techniques, GIS Based Campus Asset Management, Crime Mapping and Analysis for Sogod, Southern Leyte, Curriculum Design for a 4-year Degree Program in Bachelor of Science in Geographic Information System Technology, Technology Needs Mapping in Selected Haiyan Affected Areas in Eastern Visayas, and Charting Knowledge Management in Southern Leyte Division Towards the Full Implementation of the K to 12 Curriculum.
In June 2015, Tongco, the VP-RDE office, and instructors trained in GIS from Computer Science and Information Technology Department, went on a GIS information drive in high schools Saint Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) high school, Sogod National High School and Sogod Central School – SPED.
After planning the creation of the SLSU GIS Tech Center in 2015, meetings were held at the beginning of 2016 to increase the completion of GIS-engaged researches and to map out the strategies of the GIS Tech Center.
GIS Tech Center responsibilities are ironed out in a Jan. 14, 2016 with the GIS Tech Center Coordinators: Renlyn Benton (Coordinator for GIS/GPS and R&D), Czarina Ancella G. Gabi (Coordinator for GIS Database Development, Programming, and Web GIS) and Ramon Fernandez Jr. (Coordinator for Remote Sensing and Extension). For more on the GIS Tech Center, see related story Coming Soon: the SLSU GIS Tech Center.
SLSU faculty members with pending GIS researches are gathered in a Jan. 15, 2016 meeting with VP-RDE Francis Ann Sy and Balik Scientist Alejandro Tongco to discuss obstacles and strategies to complete the conduct of GIS-engaged researches.
Officials from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) listen to a March 14, 2016 presentation of the refined proposal Coconut Tree Mapping and Inventory of Carbon Sinks and Coconut By-product Sustainability by Geraldine Mangmang of the Computer Science and Information Technology Department, and the Memorandum of Agreement involving SLSU, the PCA, German firm HMP Consulting and the DTI in the conduct of the project and in the production of coconut-based products for sale in Germany and Europe. GIS will soon be used to provide data and information related to coconut in Southern Leyte. (You may also check out related story German Company Sees SLSU as Potential Partner in Public-Private Partnership).