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Chris Mannaerts

ITC develops monitoring systems on Cape Verde islands

Together with the National Institute of Agricultural Research and Rural Development of the Republic of Cabo Verde (INIDA), the Faculty of ITC opened a new Geospatial Lab facility in the heart of Santiago Island. The Prime Minister of Cabo Verde, his Exc. Dr. Ulysses Correia e Silva, together with the Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Dr. Gilberto Silva inaugurated the facility on 15 March.

The lab facility is part of a cooperation that develops the national capacity for mapping the rural space in the Republic of Cabo Verde using medium to high-resolution satellite data. ITC also aids INIDA in building a Water & Food Security Monitoring system with near-real-time satellite observations. Dr. Angela Moreno – Director of INIDA – and attending ITC staff gave a short talk on the potential of Earth Observation for monitoring natural resources and the development of Earth Observation-based information services for government and society.

Pictures: Chris Mannearts & Radio Televisão Cabo Verde RTCV via Facebook of Office Prime Min./Gvt

INIDA – ITC Cooperation

For several years, the Republic of Cabo Verde – a  small island development state, 500 km off the coast of West Africa – has been investing strongly in digital technologies. The Government of Cabo Verde wants to closely monitor and evaluate the impact of weather and climate on the state of the rural environment. The INIDA – ITC cooperation also provides the necessary tools to monitor the wellbeing of the local people, including the water resources and the agricultural production of the area.

More information

UT staff of WRS-ITC and LISA execute this project. Dr. Chris Mannaerts, Associate professor at the Department of Water Resources (WRS; Faculty of ITC), is the project lead for ITC. The project builds further on the near-real-time observation Earth Observation data technologies, developed by the University of Twente and ITC – WRS. The project will also deploy innovative cloud-based computing assets as a use case for other African countries and Small Island Development States. UT and INIDA will jointly develop these assets.

K.W. Wesselink - Schram MSc (Kees)
Science Communication Officer (available Mon-Fri)