The Hong Kong Geographic Information System Association (GISA) has officially launched the Geo-mentorship Programme on 18th November 2015 in Hong Kong to mark the occasion of the worldwide Geographic Information System (GIS) Day 2015.

GIS Day is an annual global event that serves as a channel to promote the use of GIS and its benefits made to our communities. It provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society. The launch of the Geo-mentorship Programme in Hong Kong will greatly help to attain the goal.

The aims of the Geo-mentorship Programme are:

• To introduce the GIS technology to the teachers and students of the primary and secondary schools;
• To enlighten them with the concept of GIS and its power in processing enormous amount of geographic information, and its applications in their teaching, studies and extra-curriculum activities, particularly those relating to geography.

The approach adopted in this programme is to train-the-trainers, in that the teachers are trained by Geo-mentors who include undergraduates, graduates, practitioners, academics, in the field of GIS, and subsequently, the trained teachers will train their students in using the GIS technology and apply it in their studies. Then depending on the progress made and interest shown, the Geo-mentors will assist in the development of applications of the choice of the teachers and students.

As a first move of this initiative, the Geo-mentorship Programme Team has already reached out to some local schools in the GIS Day Events held from 19 to 20th November and introduced them the concept of GIS, its possible applications and success stories from other schools.

Esri China (HK) supports the Programme by donating software, including ArcGIS Online and Desktop, to the GISA for the Geo-mentors to develop the GIS applications for demonstration to the teachers and students.

To know more about GIS day and past success stories, please visit its official site.