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There has been a bit of confusion about the upcoming WhereCampAfrica. Early in 2009 we collectively made a decision to hold the event in West Africa.

Calling All Comers: The GIS Event You Don’t Want to Miss

Announcing WhereCampAfrica - Mali to be held in Bamako this April!

We are hoping to combine this WhereCamp with the 2nd annual African geospatial week being hosted at the ICRISAT headquarters in Mali. There are some ideas to combine this with GIS training and mapping parties as well so stay tuned.

WhereCampAfrica - Uganda was attended by over 40 people with many more visiting throughout the day. Software developers from Appfrica Labs, the Development Seed, Grameen App Labs and DM Solutions mixed with students, GIS professionals, and government agencies. Everyone was entertained by some lively debate with the Google Map Maker team over licensing rules of Map Maker data in Africa after Robert Soden from the Development Seed officially launched their new "Map Box" S3 based tile server.

We are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. A few points:

* You will have to pass through security at the Speke Resort in Monyonyo.
* The event is happening in conjunction with AfricaGIS, I will post a few signs so folks can find their way.
* We are expecting name tags at the AfricaGIS registration desk. They can point you in the right direction.
* Lunch is being provided thanks to our generous sponsors!
* I have asked a few people to speak about the work they do. If you would like to present, please come prepared with a short 5-10 minute presentation.

WhereCampAfrica is almost upon us. Registrations continue to add up. The team at Apprica Labs will be in attendance. Along with FortiusOne and the Development Seed from the United States. Google Outreach and members from the Map Maker team will also make an appearance. I'm hoping to lead a discussion with representatives from Open Street Map as well. I am hoping that many people attending the AfricaGIS conference will also attend WhereCamp.

WhereKampala is confirmed for Friday October 30th near Kampala, Uganda. Several sponsors including Google and ITC have stepped up with generous donations to help defray costs. Please help spread the word and promote the event.

The Map Kibera Project has now tentatively secured funding for an initial set of mapping parties in and around both Nairobi and Kampala. We are now scrambling trying to set schedules and plan local logistics as well as recruit some local volunteers.

If people local to either Nairobi or Kampala are interested in attending the mapping parties please let me know.

If you haven't done so already, please check out the Map Kibera page. I've been doing some homework on previous slum mapping efforts ( http://bit.ly/FQsiX) and most seem to rely on high-cost remote sensed data interpretation or house to house surveys. While I think these efforts have enormous merit for specific uses, I also believe a great deal of benefit can come from an approach which is low-cost, low-tech and community based.

Most of the blog entries prior to WhereCampAfrica related to logistics for the event. Now that the event is just a distant memory I have removed the old entries. No new news on WhereCampAfrica Bamako. I do have some verbal commitments for sponsorship which is very encouraging. It will be in either late April or early May of 2010. Hope to see everyone there. In the meantime check out Map Kibera.