CartONG 347d ago

This conference was organized by CartONG with Ground Truth Solutions on March 24th, 2025, as part of the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week in Geneva and remotely. While Geographic Information Systems are now well known in the aid sector, few organizations have managed so far to leverage GIS to actively pilot their humanitarian response organizations. A decade ago the same could be said of Médecins Sans Frontières, where the use of commercial maps was widespread but own mapping capability was non-existent. GIS is now used on a daily basis on MSF's most critical field operations: from response to epidemics such as Ebola, to managing the safety of its personnel in the field, to transportation planning, to managing refugee camps, etc. But, how did we get there? For the last 10 years, MSF has structured its own capacity to deliver GIS services, supported by CartONG among others, to its current form, the GIS Centre. CartONG helped MSF set up a GIS department within the movement, culminating in the creation of the MSF GIS Centre. Serving the NGO's field missions, the GIS Centre centralizes requests for the creation of static and dynamic maps for field operations. This session will review the steps taken by MSF to structure a mapping production offer, taking into account the challenges of managing sensitive data, face technical hazards on the field and collecting data in difficult areas. The panel will discuss how to set up a GIS service and on-demand cartographic offer useful to field responders. This session will inform GIS specialists on how to win the buy-in of operations for the adoption of GIS as a support activity how to convince colleagues from operations to endorse GIS, and how to build fit-to-purpose regular or emergency response mapping services.