ST ANDREW, Jamaica — Hundreds of secondary school students were exposed to geographic information systems (GIS) and technologies, during the 20th GIS Day National Exposition held at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, on Wednesday (November 16).

The event was hosted by the National Spatial Data Management Branch in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, and was held physically for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The day saw students interacting with industry and educational institution stakeholders, and participating in several competitions guided by geographical concepts, principles and applicability.

Montego Bay High School grade-11 student, Jo-Anna Hill, told JIS News that she has a growing interest in the field and hoped to learn more about available career options.

“I’ve done a bit of my own research on GIS technologies, and it’s definitely something that interests me,” she said.

Another grade-11 student, Delano Richards, who attends St James High School, noted that his interest in geography is linked to his future career goal.

“I want to be an architect. So, if I am building a house for a client, [geography] will help me better understand the land and what to do [in relation to preparing different types of foundations],” he stated.

Against that backdrop, Head of the UWI’s Geography and Geology Department, Dr Sherene James-Williamson, said the institution is looking to expand its GIS programme offerings at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

“We will continue to train students and professionals in the use of GIS. We will continue to use it in our research and development, and we will continue to plug, where we can, into the overall development of Jamaica,” she declared.

In highlighting GIS technologies’ effectiveness in tracking COVID-19 infections island-wide, Deputy Principal of the UWI Mona Campus, Professor Ian Boxill, indicated that the Mona Geoinformatics Institute (MGI) also assisted the National Vaccine Task Force in evaluating the status of COVID-19 vaccine take-up.

“MGI and their involvement facilitated targeted vaccine drives in communities that had high vulnerabilities and low vaccine uptake,” he emphasised.

Professor Boxill said GIS technologies have the potential to make a profound impact on road repairs, utility distribution, housing development and response to climate change.