BGR Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe

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BGR helps set up a geoportal for Africa

Report of the project:

AEGOS - African European Georesources Observation System. Logo

Bandiagara Falls in Mali. Knowledge about georesources – a key to further economic development of AfricaBandiagara Falls in Mali. Knowledge about georesources – a key to further economic development of Africa Source: BRGM

Many African countries provide a large spectrum of georesources. To improve the sustainable use of this geopotential in the future, BGR supports the set-up of a geodata infrastructure for Africa as part of the project CORDIS EU research results: African-European Georesources Observation System (AEGOS) . AEGOS is planned as an effective management system providing data and information on the geopotential of natural mineral resources, as well as the georesources geothermal energy and groundwater. These data and information is to be made available via the internet, not only for political and economic decision makers but also for the general public.

In addition to geological institutions in Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Zambia, South Africa, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda, the project also involves nine partner institutions from Europe. In addition to Germany which is represented by BGR and the engineering company Ingenieurbüro Beak Consultants GmbH (Freiberg), work on setting up AEGOS is also supported by Belgium, Finland, France,the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and the Czech Republic. The project also incorporates the expertise of international organisations such as the Centre Internationale pour la Formation et les Echanges en Geosciences (CIFEG), the European Commission Joint Research Center (EU-JRC), the Southern and Eastern African Mineral Center (SEAMIC) and the Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA). The project is financed by the Europäische Kommision CORDIS, 7. Rahmenprogamm (RP7).

The activities are currently focused on jointly elaborating the criteria for the geo-information system involving African and European experts. AEGOS is designed as a geoportal from which customers can obtain products in future such as maps of natural resource deposits, geothermal sources, or groundwater deposits. Uniform standards ensure that the data can be used by all network participants. AEGOS follows the specifications developed by the OneGeology project – the first geological world map with interoperable data at a scale of 1:1 million made available in the internet, as well as the regulations for creating a geodata infrastructure in the European Community Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE). From 2012 onwards, AEGOS is scheduled to be implemented in the African partner countries of the project.

AEGOS project structure. BGR is involved in two of the nine working groups (WP 6 and 8). The groups are managed by African as well as European organisationsAEGOS project structure. BGR is involved in two of the nine working groups (WP 6 and 8). The groups are managed by African as well as European organisations Source: BGR

BGR is involved in two of the nine AEGOS working groups. These are concerned with the development of business plans for the future management of AEGOS and strategies for capacity building and training of the African partner organisations.

Two meetings took place at BGR in Hannover in November 2009 to discuss diverse topics.

“Detailed information on georesources facilitate their sustainable use and are the key to the further economic development of many African countries. This also benefits other countries with a strong demand for natural resources caused by the continual growth of the global population,” says Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Alheid, Head of the Department “Geoscientific Information and International Cooperation”.

Contact:

    
Dr. Kristine Asch
Phone: +49-(0)511-643-3324

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