Prof. Joao Porto de Albuquerque from the University of São Paulo will offer a seminar on the subject of “Disaster Mapping 2.0: Volunteered Geographic Information in Disaster Risk Management”. The seminar targets Master’s and PhD students from the faculties of business administration (Wirtschaftswissenschaften) and geoinformatics who are interested in international development, disaster research and humanitarian assistance.

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) describes the use of Web applications to supply geographical information on a voluntary basis, with prominent examples being OpenStreetMaps, Wikimapia and Google Map Maker, but also Social Media Platforms (like Twitter, Instagram etc.) and mobile applications. VGI has gained much attention after the Haiti 2010 earthquake, where pertinent technologies made an effective entry into disaster management.

The seminar explores relevant theory in the areas of: VGI, Social Media, Web 2.0, Crowdsourcing and Neogeography in introductory lectures, supported by exercises that will make use of specific applications and cases. This first part will happen from October 29-31 in Leo 1.2. PhD Students will work on a final paper to be handed over in January 2015, when there will be a final meeting for presenting and discussing the results. The seminar will be held in English.

To participate, please send an email to daniel.link@wi.uni-muenster.de until Wednesday, October 22.