SPC Geoscience Division

Tuesday, 20th March, Suva - Using the right tool for the right job is a common mantra amongst data specialists, but in the Pacific, access to, and more importantly, knowledge about relevant software tools is not readily available.

In the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) domain, undertaking even basic tasks entails using expensive proprietary software solutions. These software solutions are beyond the budget of many government and academic GIS units in the region, and this has resulted in rampant piracy and illegal use of such software.

Seeing a need for freely available GIS software, which has no licensing restrictions, SOPAC Division of SPC actively advocates the use of, and subsequently, provides relevant training on Free and Open Source (FOSS) Geo-spatial software through the work of its SOPAC Division.

In a recent training trip to Solomon Islands Power Authority, Mr Edwin Liava'a, Utilities GIS Specialist, SOPAC Division, deployed FOSS GIS software on their network and conducted relevant training. The software package he used was specifically built for Pacific Islands GIS Units by SOPAC Division.