Event Summary
Speakers
- Caroline Gevaert, Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence, University of Twente, World Bank
- Nuala Cowan
Description
Wednesday November 21, 9:00 – 12:30, Room 6
Speaker bios
Caroline Gevaert is an academic researcher who has spent the last four years investigating the use of drones for mapping deprived areas. After two Master degrees, she took her expertise to the field (with a drone in hand) in 2015 to collect images to support of urban upgrading projects in Kigali, Rwanda.
Her interests lie in connecting state-of-the-art artificial intelligence for image interpretation with local knowledge. Current activities include collaboration with the Ramani Huria participatory mapping project to address flood vulnerability in Dar es Salaam, adapting cutting-edge machine learning algorithms to map slums, and addressing the practical bottlenecks of large-scale drone projects.
Nuala Cowan is a member of the Open Data for Resilience (OpenDRI) Team at the World Bank. As part of GFDRR Labs (Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery), OpenDRI works with governments to embrace open-source tools and data, and supports local communities to play a greater role in risk management through projects like community mapping. Nuala is a core team member on the Open Cities Africa project, a cohort of eleven city teams, working toward the collaborative collection of disaster risk management data for their cities.