On 8 October 2010, the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) signed the cooperation agreement that established the tenth UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office (RSO). UWI is the first university to host an RSO and to contribute its experience and capabilities to the UN-SPIDER by doing so.
The RSO aims at:
- Providing the leadership that drives the rationalization, integration, and development of all initiatives in disaster risk reduction and disaster management within the University of the West Indies;
- Mobilizing resources to supplement those provided by the University of the West Indies, to advance the university’s disaster management programme;
- Developing partnerships and other collaborative mechanisms that allow the University, its students and staff to maximize the effectiveness of their interventions in disaster management to advance sustainable development in the Caribbean region.
- GIS and Photogrammetry Laboratory
- BSc in Geomatics
- MSc in Geoinformatics
- Short-courses in all areas of geoinformatics
The RSO employs five faculty members and four technical staff with expertise in the following areas: Remote Sensing, GIS, and GPS
Infrastructure:
- Software: ERDAS Imagine, IDRISI, and ESRI Suite
- Hardware: GIS and Photogrammetry Laboratory for 30 persons with internet connection and multimedia teaching equipment
- Video conferencing facilities
- Base digital spatial database for most of the Caribbean countries
- DEM of most of the Caribbean countries
- LANDSAT imageries of most of the Caribbean countries
Head of Institution
Dr Barbara Carby
Director Disaster Risk Reduction Centre
The University of the West Indies
13 Gibraltar Camp Way
Kingston 7
JAMAICA
Telephone: 1-876-977-1659
Fax: 1-876-977-1658
Email: cadeauspets@yahoo.com or barbara.caby@uwimona.edu.jm
