Franklin, a GIS Coordinator here at eHealth Africa (eHA) has been recognized as a rising star to look out for in the geospatial industry the inaugural Geospatial World 50 Rising Star list published by Geospatial Media. We are excited to congratulate Ifeanyi Franklin Ike on this accomplishment. We had a brief chat with Ifeanyi about this accomplishment.
Ifeanyi Franklin Ike
You were recently listed among the 50 rising stars to look out for in 2021 on the geospatial media, how does that make you feel?
This recognition comes as a bit of a surprise to me that out of all nominated young persons in the geospatial world, my contribution to the geospatial industry in Nigeria has been appreciated. It makes me feel excited and zealous to do even more. This could have come at no better time than now, when fatigue was already setting in for the work done for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response. I feel more energized to contribute more.
Since last year, Ifeanyi has been working closely with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to provide geospatial and data solutions to support the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a member of the multi-partner team that developed an assessment tool for checking health care workers' preparedness for COVID-19 response. Ifeanyi also designed the web and mobile geospatial analytics tools for tracking COVID-19 outbreak in the country. He also designed the data collection platform for the First Few Cases of COVID-19 (FFX) study in Nigeria and the dashboard for the COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) distribution in Nigeria.,
Can you tell us what geospatial data is and what the geospatial industry is all about?
In the first place, data is a set of information that has been translated into a form that can be processed. Geospatial data can then be said to represent the sets of data that are linked to specific/known locations in space (the world).
Over the recent years, the geospatial industry has grown beyond imagination with potential for more growth. In our world of today, the application of location-intelligent (geospatial) algorithms in our daily engagements have developed drastically. So it is safe to say that the geospatial world is the backbone of most modern technological developments and will continue to do so in the unforeseeable future.
Can you tell us about your work, what you do around geospatial data?
I’m a data scientist with a special interest in geospatial data analysis, especially as it relates to the Global Health Informatics Strategy (GHIS). I employ insightful location-based analysis in creating solutions that help to support effective data-driven decision-making, especially in the public health sector. This passion for creating public health solutions using geospatial data was and remains my motivation for joining eHA.
What impact can you say your work has had by using geospatial data?
My work using geospatial data has positively impacted the Public Health space. My use of geospatial data has supported the design of solutions that are geolocation-centric, bringing out varieties of insightful information which have supported public health decision-making across different organizations.
Some examples include contributing to the designing of the following tools:
eHA's PlanFeld application geodatabase
The vaccine delivery optimization tool for eHA
Sampling scripts for the National Micronutrient and Food Consumption survey in Nigeria
M&E tools for the tracking of World Bank COVID-19 grants to support IAP implementation in States
What is the future of geospatial data? How will it help the world solve problems?
As I mentioned earlier, geospatial data, geospatial technologies, and geospatial skillset forms the backbone of modern technological developments and will continue to do so in the next unforeseeable part of the future. With the global shift away from the era of the industrial revolution to the information age and the continuous increase in the need for location intelligent applications in our day-to-day endeavors, the future is very bright for the geospatial industry. I’m therefore excited to belong to the geospatial family of this generation and thankful to all my colleagues at eHA for the wonderful geospatial work we are doing together.
Let’s keep pushing. Thank you
Congratulations once again to Franklin, continue the outstanding work you are doing in the geospatial industry.