INTRODUCING THE NEW DIMENSION OF OPEN STREET MAPPING TO THE FUTURE DISASTER MANAGERS OF BANGLADESH
Posted by Maliha Mohiuddin on 17 August 2016 in English. Last updated on 19 August 2016.by Maliha Mohiuddin
Every year Bangladesh is affected by the devastating natural and human-induced disasters . It is one of the most vulnerable countries because of the geographical location as well as meteorological characteristics. According to Country Disaster Risk Management Status Report 2016, during the 10-year time frame of the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005 to 2015), over 700 thousand people lost their lives and the total economic loss was more than $1.3 trillion. We all know that it is impossible to turn the scale of vulnerability into 0% but we can reduce the risk and vulnerability by merging with the new technology .The new dynamism of Open Street Mapping can create a huge difference by contributing to the humanitarian purpose . Open street Mapping is a free licensed mapping system , anyone can get free data for using the web -based mapping and anyone can edit the maps. With the collaboration of Dhaka City Red Crescent Unit (BDRCS) and OpenStreetMap Bangladesh community (OSMB), have arranged two days training for the students of Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies. The main vision of this OSM training for the disaster management students was enriching their skills by using the open geographical data to identify the hazard , disaster , the vulnerability of any area , navigational and other humanitarian purposes . Moreover, the IDMVS faculty wanted to improve the capacity of the students, to do web –based map analysis instead of social mapping in their academic research. In 12 -13 August 2016 , the TOT (Training of Trainers ) on OpenStreetMap (OSM) was conducted at Lecture Theatre Building [First Floor] , University of Dhaka, Dhaka. This training was started from 09.00 am -05.00pm and it solely attended by the 20 students of Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability studies , University of Dhaka .