In partnership with the Agency of Innovation and Digital Technologies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held practical seminar "Using Open Data and Geographic Information Systems for Analysis and Planning of ICT Infrastructure" (Dushanbe, Tajikistan).
The event was held with the support of a joint project by the ITU and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, titled “Broadband Connectivity for the Unconnected”. This project is aimed at supporting ITU Member States in developing reliable and sustainable telecommunications infrastructure. Under the project framework, various technical solutions, trainings, and assistance are offered to countries to enhance their capacity in developing broadband telecommunications infrastructure.
More than 20 specialists in telecommunications infrastructure development and assessment, information security, system administrators, engineers, planners, analysts, and other technical specialists underwent training during the event. ITU experts shared their experience on developing the use of open data and geographic information systems for analyzing and planning ICT infrastructure.
The practical seminar program comprised both theoretical and practical components, which included exercises and quizzes.
At the opening, Hakim Ismoilzod, First Deputy Director of the Agency of Innovations and Digital Technologies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, delivered a welcoming speech on behalf of the Agency of Innovations and Digital Technologies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. He emphasized the importance of cooperation and the expansion of ICT infrastructure planning in Tajikistan.
On behalf of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Program Coordinator of the ITU Regional Office, Farid Nakhli, delivered a speech in which he outlined the priorities for using GIS to make well-founded decisions on the development of ICT infrastructure.
During the first day of the program, the participants studied and practiced such topics as ICT infrastructure business planning and the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in the business planning process, the fundamentals of GIS and geospatial data (types of geospatial data and formats for representing data on ICT infrastructure). The topic of data standardization was also examined: data quality investigation, validation, conversion into the necessary formats, and visualization.
During the second day of the program, participants familiarized themselves with the analysis of the required coverage and capacity of mobile communication networks using open static geospatial data, and they also practiced developing algorithms and models in QGIS.
At the conclusion of the event, under the coordination of ITU experts, the participants split into teams and collaboratively carried out practical exercises to apply the acquired knowledge on the analysis and planning of ICT infrastructure, based on an examination of a district in Tajikistan using QGIS.
The practical seminar is designed to enhance skills in working with geographic information systems and their use for mapping, analysis, and planning of ICT infrastructure. It is aimed at improving the theoretical and practical skills of participants in collecting ICT infrastructure data, identifying underserved areas, applying GIS tools, and utilizing models of telecommunication technologies for testing and comparing selected connectivity scenarios.
