As a follow-up of the meeting of the UNIDO Energy Technology Centres, held in Vienna in February 2011, ECREEE and the International Centre for Science and High Technology (ICS-UNIDO) joined forces on GIS planning. As an initial step, ECREEE and ICS-UNIDO jointly organized a regional training workshop on GIS Mapping of Quality Infrastructure and Services in the ECOWAS region, from 28 November to 2 December 2011, at the School of Tourism in Praia, Cape Verde.

The course brought together professionals from the ECOWAS Member States and introduce them to several GIS applications to map quality infrastructure and services at country level. The workshop focused particularly on energy and renewable energy services. With the training ICS-UNIDO assisted ECREEE staff also in the establishment of the ECOWAS Observatory for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. The Observatory will be managed by ECREEE and will provide GIS based data on renewable energy resources and other relevant planning materials.

The training materials and a photo documentation of the GIS training are available on the website of UNIDO-ICS.