Geographic Information System (GIS) Day 2020 |19 November 2020
Alvin Alcindor of the GIS team makig his presentation (Photo: Joena Meme)
‘250 years Mapping Competition 2020’ winners rewarded
Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is a growing industry across the globe and our beloved country remains among one of the best African countries with advanced spatial geographical systems.
Principal secretary for Lands, Fanette Albert, made the statement yesterday, during the ‘250 years Mapping Competition 2020’ prize giving ceremony, an event which coincided with the world GIS Day which was also yesterday.
The ‘250 years Mapping Competition 2020’ was organised by the Centre for GIS within the Ministry of Lands and Housing as an activity to mark world GIS Day, celebrated this year, on November 18.
The competition took the students through a quick historical journey in Victoria, aimed at creating more awareness of GIS technologies among the young generation while at the same time linking it to the country’s history.
Using the Survey123 application all participants had to locate and take pictures of several historical landmarks/places and answer accompanied questions related to the History of Seychelles.
All the clues and places the participants needed to locate were found in the town area, while winners from the secondary and post-secondary categories were the first three submitting all correct answers using the same application.
PS Albert said the organising team was pleased to see a good turn of enthusiastic students coming from secondary schools and post-secondary institutions across Mahé who registered to take part in the first-ever GIS competition.
She added that through the competition, the students were taken through a quick historical journey across Victoria through a story map.
She added that the student made history by being able to read a live story through spatial dimensions of maps instead of a book.
The secondary school category had a total of 66 participants, producing a tight result among the top three teams.
The first-place winners of the category were Saeed Simeon and Adrielle Deletourdie of Belonie secondary school, while Eliza Pool and Emmanuella Mohamed Ali of the Independent School were the group’s runners-up.
Plaisance secondary school’s pair of Kyle Corgat and Jakirah Radegonde finished third in the group.
The winners received their prizes from GIS director Francis Cœur de Lion.
For the post-secondary institutions, Pervis Camille and Peter Uzice from the International School were the winners, finishing ahead of Sharon Bonne and Sophie Gonzalves of the Seychelles Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture.
The grand winners in the category were Loïc D’Offay and Daniel Ferley.
They received their prizes from PS Albert.
To end the ceremony, all those present had the chance to view a story map to commemorate 250 years of Seychelles through a presentation by Alvin Alcindor of the GIS team.
The GIS team would like to thank all its sponsors for their support in making the first ever mapping competition possible.
They are the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), Cable and Wireless, Laxmanbhai & Co. Seychelles (Pty) Ltd., H Savy Insurance and the Property Management Corporation.
GIS Day is an opportunity for all GIS enthusiasts, hobbyists, professionals, researchers, students and those in applied sectors to commemorate the legacy and utility of a system that has redefined the way we interact with the world, broadened the horizons of our minds and whetted our innovative zeal.
GIS Day was the brainchild of Esri, the global leader in spatial and location intelligence that certainly needs no introduction, to enhance global geospatial awareness and show the myriad applications of GIS. Ever since it was first observed in 1999, it is observed with gusto each year on the third Wednesday of November.
Roland Duval
