Keynote Speaker
Information
- Date: 17 Jun 2012
- Time: 2:00 - 4:00 pm
- Organizer: Google Earth Outreach
- Theme: Means of implementation (financing, technology)
- Perspective: Global California
- Language: english
- See Keynote Speaker
- See instructors
From the Ground to the Cloud: New Tools for Sustainable Development
Summary
The Internet is a democratizing force which offers new means of implementation for sustainable development. Digital inclusion policies promote increasingly broad and timely access to socio-environmental tools and information throughout the developing world. The Web creates new possibilities for collaboration and transparency, enabling unique partnerships. Cloud-computing can support unprecedented analysis and dissemination of large global datasets, and visualization methods can support more rapid and informed decision-making and public education. For example, Google Earth and Maps are used globally today by more than a billion people in more than 40 languages.
This SD Learning Event presents a new set of technology, tools, case studies and partnerships in support of sustainable development. Participants will gain an overview and hands-on technical experience with the full suite of Google mapping tools ?from the ground to the cloud?. They will learn how to leverage these tools to manage and promote sustainable development. Google along with Brazilian nonprofit partner organizations Imazon and Amazonas Sustainable Foundation will share best practices and success stories in the use of these tools to build an Amazon Deforestation Alert System powered by Google Earth Engine.
This SD-Learning Event will span one 2.5 hour session.
Please note: Participants in this course will need to bring their own laptops. Since there is only one outlet in the room, please bring laptops fully charged.
Introduction
The Internet is a democratizing force which offers new means of implementation for sustainable development. Digital inclusion policies promote increasingly broad and timely access to socio-environmental tools and information throughout the developing world. The Web creates new possibilities for collaboration and transparency, enabling unique partnerships. Cloud-computing can support unprecedented analysis and dissemination of large global datasets, and visualization methods can support more rapid and informed decision-making and public education. For example, Google Earth and Maps are used globally today by more than a billion people in more than 40 languages
Objective
This SD Learning Event presents a new set of technology, tools, case studies and partnerships in support of sustainable development. Participants will gain an overview and hands-on technical experience with the full suite of Google mapping tools ?from the ground to the cloud?. They will learn how to leverage these tools to manage and promote sustainable development. Google along with Brazilian nonprofit partner organizations Imazon and Amazonas Sustainable Foundation will share best practices and success stories in the use of these tools to build an Amazon Deforestation Alert System powered by Google Earth Engine.
Programme
During one 2.5 hour SD-Learning Event sessions, participants will gain an overview and hands-on experience with:
- Google Earth Engine: analysis of global satellite imagery archive to measure deforestation, degradation, land cover change and more
- Imazon Deforestation Alert System, powered by Google Earth Engine: an online validation and reporting tool for monitoring deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon
- Android / Open Data Kit : open source field data collection toolkit and community engagement via mobile devices
- Google Earth Builder: geospatial data management and cartography for organizations and governments on mobile and desktop platforms
Method
Participants will learn how to use Google?s mapping tools through hands-on exercises with the in-person support of technical experts from Google and representatives of Imazon and Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, organizations with direct experience using these tools for sustainable development and deforestation monitoring in the Brazilian Amazon. Imazon and Amazonas Sustainable Foundation will share case studies which illustrate their unique collaborative engagement of local communities, municipal governments and NGOs in combination with Google's cloud-computing resources and data.
Impact
This training will give organizations and governments direct exposure to new implementation methods for sustainable development which leverage modern technology. Participants will gain access to the resources Google has committed to support developing world nations, scientists, civil society and indigenous peoples. In providing this technology transfer and capacity development, we hope these institutions will be strengthened, which can lower their barriers to more informed and sustainable practices.
Keynote Speaker
Senator Eduardo Braga, Senator of Amazonas, Brazil
Eduardo Braga is the actual leader of Brazilian government at Federal Senate. Only one year after being elected senator, he was appointed as one of the most influential person at the Parliament. Braga is also the president of the Senate’s Science and Technology Commission. He began his political career at 21 years old as a City councilor in Manaus. In 1986, he was elected as a State representative of Amazonas and four years later was elected as a Federal Deputy, getting at that time the majority of votes in his political party. In 1992, Eduardo Braga was elected Deputy Mayor of Manaus and took over the City Hall in March 1994. As a Mayor he carried out innovative work in areas such as infrastructure, health, education, and housing which transformed the capital of Amazonas. Braga left the City administration in 1996.
In 2002 he returned to the public life being elected as the Governor of Amazonas and was reelected in 2006. For the following eight years, Eduardo Braga was responsible for remarkable programs including the Green Free Trade Zone which led to the development of Amazonas’ midland, and Prosamim, a basic sanitation program responsible for the greatest urban transformation in the capital in the last 50 years. Bolsa Floresta was another program of his government which consisted in rewarding the efforts of Amazonas’ inhabitants towards conserving the forest within protected areas such as the Conservation Unit State (UCE) areas. Whilst governor he created at the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, the key climate change initiative of his administration. He is the author of the first Climate Change and Environmental Conservation Act in Brazil, which consolidates the State's commitment to its people, the forest, technological developments and well-being of the Planet. Braga also coordinates nationally the Social and Environmental Program of his political party - Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) - which gives special attention to issues related to environment and social development.
As a senator he advocates for sustainable development, regional integration, political and electoral reform, and other relevant topics to the Amazon region and Brazil. Along with three former Brazil’s presidents and other former governors, Braga took part in debates on relevant issues such as the change of Brazil’s current political and electoral systems. Recently appointed as the Brazilian government leader at the Senate, he has been responsible for important political articulations and victories on issues voted by the Parliament. Eduardo Braga is a graduate in Electrical Engineering of the Federal University of Amazonas.
In 2002 he returned to the public life being elected as the Governor of Amazonas and was reelected in 2006. For the following eight years, Eduardo Braga was responsible for remarkable programs including the Green Free Trade Zone which led to the development of Amazonas’ midland, and Prosamim, a basic sanitation program responsible for the greatest urban transformation in the capital in the last 50 years. Bolsa Floresta was another program of his government which consisted in rewarding the efforts of Amazonas’ inhabitants towards conserving the forest within protected areas such as the Conservation Unit State (UCE) areas. Whilst governor he created at the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, the key climate change initiative of his administration. He is the author of the first Climate Change and Environmental Conservation Act in Brazil, which consolidates the State's commitment to its people, the forest, technological developments and well-being of the Planet. Braga also coordinates nationally the Social and Environmental Program of his political party - Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) - which gives special attention to issues related to environment and social development.
As a senator he advocates for sustainable development, regional integration, political and electoral reform, and other relevant topics to the Amazon region and Brazil. Along with three former Brazil’s presidents and other former governors, Braga took part in debates on relevant issues such as the change of Brazil’s current political and electoral systems. Recently appointed as the Brazilian government leader at the Senate, he has been responsible for important political articulations and victories on issues voted by the Parliament. Eduardo Braga is a graduate in Electrical Engineering of the Federal University of Amazonas.
Instructors
Instructor 1
Rebecca Moore (Google)
Engineering Manager, Google Earth Outreach and Earth Engine
Rebecca Moore conceived and leads the Google Earth Outreach program, which supports nonprofits, communities and indigenous peoples around the world in applying Google's mapping tools to the world's pressing problems in areas such as environmental conservation, human rights and cultural preservation. Rebecca also initiated and leads the development of Google Earth Engine, a new technology platform which supports global-scale monitoring and protection of the earth?s environment. Rebecca received a bachelor?s degree with honors from Brown University in Artificial Intelligence and a master?s degree from Stanford University. Her personal work using Google Earth was instrumental in stopping the logging of more than a thousand acres of redwoods in her Santa Cruz Mountain community.
Rebecca Moore conceived and leads the Google Earth Outreach program, which supports nonprofits, communities and indigenous peoples around the world in applying Google's mapping tools to the world's pressing problems in areas such as environmental conservation, human rights and cultural preservation. Rebecca also initiated and leads the development of Google Earth Engine, a new technology platform which supports global-scale monitoring and protection of the earth?s environment. Rebecca received a bachelor?s degree with honors from Brown University in Artificial Intelligence and a master?s degree from Stanford University. Her personal work using Google Earth was instrumental in stopping the logging of more than a thousand acres of redwoods in her Santa Cruz Mountain community.
Instructor 2
David Thau (Google)
Dr. Dave Thau is the senior developer advocate for Google Earth Engine - Google's geo analysis platform. He has 20 years of industry experience developing Internet-based applications, for past 10 years focussing on image databases and geospatial systems in ecology, biodiversity, and the study of land change. He has also authored a best-selling computer science textbook that has been translated into 7 languages, and published scholarly papers in the field of data management. Dave holds degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a doctorate in Computer Science from the University of California, Davis.
Instructor 3
Carlos Souza Jr. (Imazon)
Carlos Souza, Jr. is a recognized leader in rainforest conservation, co-developing, in Imazon, the first independent deforestation monitoring system for the Brazilian Amazon. At Imazon, Carlos heads efforts in technical mapping and satellite imagery. In 2008, the Brazilian government launched a new policy to control illegal deforestation, focusing on ?hot spot? deforestation municipalities identified by Imazon. Educational background: Geologist (UFPA). Masters in Soil Sciences with emphasis in Remote Sensing (Pennsylvania State University, EUA). Ph.D. in Geography (California University, Santa Barbara, EUA).
Imazon is a non-profit research institution classified as a Civil Society Public Interest Organization (OSCIP), whose mission is to promote sustainable development in the Amazon through studies, support for public policy formulation, broad dissemination of information and capacity building.
Imazon is a non-profit research institution classified as a Civil Society Public Interest Organization (OSCIP), whose mission is to promote sustainable development in the Amazon through studies, support for public policy formulation, broad dissemination of information and capacity building.
Instructor 4
Gabriel Ribenboim (FAS)
Gabriel launched in 2011, the International Program at Fundação Amazonas Sustentável (FAS), a Brazilian private foundation dedicated to poverty alleviation and environmental conservation in the Amazonas state. In 2008, he launched FAS? Special Projects area and developed in 2009, the ?Bolsa Floresta Association and Income Generation Project?, a R$ 30 million project financed by the Amazon Fund (BNDES) and FAS to support social empowerment in 15 local associations and finance in yearly basis, sustainable entrepreneurships in 15 state protected areas from 2009 to 2014. In 2008, he coordinated the validation of the ?Juma Sustainable Development Reserve REDD Project?, the world?s first gold level REDD project under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance. Since 2004, he is testing technology features applied to environmental conservation, monitoring and financing. Since 2010, he is leading the Street View for the Amazon Project ? a pioneering project with Google to collect 360 imagery in protected areas of the Amazon. Since 2011, is supporting FAS? community forest monitoring program with the use of Open Data Kit technology to monitor deforestation, threats and carbon stocks within protected areas.
He is member of the Community Forest Monitoring Working Group, the Committee for Social Environmental Principles and Criteria for REDD+ in Brazil and the Voluntary Carbon Market Committee at FIESP-Brazil. He is an observer member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changes since 2007. He has BA in Biology from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
He is member of the Community Forest Monitoring Working Group, the Committee for Social Environmental Principles and Criteria for REDD+ in Brazil and the Voluntary Carbon Market Committee at FIESP-Brazil. He is an observer member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changes since 2007. He has BA in Biology from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil.