Latest Contributions by WilliamTarpai

@StevenAustin    Absolutely correct....  for those in GIS leadership who can also push the SDG challenge forward --  From July 7–15, 2026, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and its partners will host a series of key events alongside the 2026 UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.  https://www.unsdsn.org/news/the-sdsn-at-the-2026-un-high-level-political-forum/?utm_source=SDG+Academy+community&utm_campaign=f202e4e7fd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_01_07_04_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-1f0cb4da80-599509367&mc_cid=f202e4e7fd&mc_eid=ac585669f8 Science Day 2026: The Science-Policy Imperative in the Final Stretch to 2030 and Beyond July 9, 2026, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM | Online & Conference Room 3, UNHQ, New York    Accelerating Energy System Innovation and Transition for Equity and Resilience to Advance Global Sustainable Development July 10, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT | ECOSOC Chamber, UNHQ, NY   Data for Development: Strengthening Partnerships and Financing for the SDGs. July 15, 2026, 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM EDT  online only   ... View more

happening on the east coast as the UC 2026 begins on the west coast -  From July 7–15, 2026, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and its partners will host a series of key events alongside the 2026 UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.  https://www.unsdsn.org/news/the-sdsn-at-the-2026-un-high-level-political-forum/?utm_source=SDG+Academy+community&utm_campaign=f202e4e7fd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_01_07_04_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-1f0cb4da80-599509367&mc_cid=f202e4e7fd&mc_eid=ac585669f8 Science Day 2026: The Science-Policy Imperative in the Final Stretch to 2030 and Beyond July 9, 2026, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM | Online & Conference Room 3, UNHQ, New York    Accelerating Energy System Innovation and Transition for Equity and Resilience to Advance Global Sustainable Development July 10, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT | ECOSOC Chamber, UNHQ, NY   Data for Development: Strengthening Partnerships and Financing for the SDGs. July 15, 2026, 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM EDT  online only   ... View more

@StevenAustin  Absolutely fantastic group of GIS leaders. Allow me to urge GIS leadership to spend some time reviewing the 2026 Sustainable Development report https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/profiles/.   lots of incredible data for helping to speed up the final results of countreies by 2030 against all 17 of the SDGs.   @EzraCheruiyot and I would love to engage any wishing to help out in Kenya.   Bomet County is an excellent place to visit near where Tanzania and Uganda boders with Kenya are found. ... View more

@StevoRobinson  Great post and lots of great work being done in Australia and New Zealand to achieve successful SDG outcomes https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/profiles/.   Check out the good work being done against all 17 SDGs in those 2 countries. ... View more

Wow, It took me quite a while as I went through the entire agenda, before searching for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)- but very pleased to find that @LanceOwen  and @VanessaKnoppke-Wetzel will be hosting a session on July 16.  For those who aren't familiar the  SDGs are a global 15 year challenge (2015-2030), that world leaders in September this year during the annual United Nations General Assembly will be discussing how the best results might be achieved by 2030.  Spend time reviewing what Prof Dangermond has done to improve UN SDG successful outcomes.       Sustainable Development Community Conversation   Join sustainable development thought leaders and GIS professionals who are using the geographic approach to unite people, empower positive change, and build a more sustainable future for all. Stop by and join in the conversation at the... Topic: Sustainable/Global Development. Thursday, Jul 16 2:30 PM - 3:15 PM PDT.  Speakers Lance Owen and VANESSA KNOPPKE-WETZEL ... View more

@JonathanRatner1  Thanks for posting.  On one hand, I tend to agree that most users don't need high levels of complexity, I have also observed teams that require high levels of complexity. There is a great article by Clavine Anavilla on linkedin. 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝟐𝟎 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. When most people think about infrastructure, they think about what they can see.  A highway cutting across a landscape. A new railway line. A water treatment plant supplying a growing city. Transmission lines stretching across rural communities. What they rarely think about is what happens before the first shovel enters the ground. Yet this is where the story of infrastructure success or failure often begins. For years, discussions around Africa's infrastructure deficit have focused on one recurring theme: a lack of financing. Governments need more money. Development banks need to lend more. Private investors need to invest more.  But Kenya's experience tells a slightly different story. This realization sits at the heart of the G20's Roadmap to Infrastructure as an Asset Class, a framework developed to answer a deceptively simple question: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞? The answer is not a single policy, financing instrument, or institution. It is an ecosystem.  Kenya offers one of the most interesting case studies for understanding how that ecosystem is built. This article is focused on Project Development, and so its about teams, but also about 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 which can bring us to the wide range from an individual to teams.   This gets me to the point, I'm hoping to make - work arounds.  I'm hoping your post encourages others who may be able to present solutions for you.     Keep it up. ... View more

@EzraCheruiyot Imagine students seeking opportunities beyond the classroom to do good their their communities.   Can't wait to see what discussion take place this year at UC2026....  Can achieving successful SDG outcomes through mapping and spatial analysis in Africa be a major discussion topic? ... View more

@JeffreyThompson2    Really appreciated your mentioning the 'sands of time, and then posting a solution to the question you posed.    With the 2026 User Conference and 2026 United Nations General Assembly about to happen, there are lots of work being done to ensure both are successful events.   ... View more

@efeaizesogie Great questions, and the answers really depend on where you are located in our world today.  Lots of high paying jobs are becoming available for those who have honed their mapping and spatial analysis skill sets..... ... View more

@EzraCheruiyot  Wish we could attend this session together.  It would be incredible to collaborate with ESRI professionals with experience in rural development.   I would suggest we start with maps covering the 3 nations that come together near Bomet County, Kenya's borders (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). @TPerraultPNW Perhaps we can engage with you separately about differences in delivering strategic organizational objectives depending upon whether in the US or Kenya..... ... View more

Thanks @IzabelaMillerGC  for posting.  I had to read your post several time before giving you kudos...  As I was listening to the UN 2.0 Week program https://www.linkedin.com/events/7472478396183146496/.  I reread yoiur post yet again.  This session asked:  What should the United Nations system of the future look like, and what trade-offs are we willing to confront to get there? This session surfaced the choices and trade-offs that shape action, inaction and the future of multilateral cooperation.   Clearly the framework, I would like to see my ESRI Community colleagues more involved with is the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) challenge ... View more

Thanks @JamesPardue2  Great suggestions.  It is absolutely amazing how big this  year's UC will be.  The Stakeholder Engagement and Capacity Building sessions are incredible.  I only wish it were possible to have included https://www.un-two-zero-week.org/programme-2026#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=a359dfde-2121-4c1d-8b34-1a76b10d0200. sessions  with conversations, practical learning and collective actions for speeding up acheivement of successful SDG outcomes in the rest of this decade.   ... View more

Wish I could have helped get more than a few young GIS professionals from East African countries enrolled and able to attend the GIS Leadership Summit.  @EzraCheruiyot   Thanks to Books for Africa, books and reconditioned computer equipment was delivered to rural Bomet County.  It would be great to entice some of those speakers for the Leadership Summit willing join in this conversation to explore mapping opportunities to  the growing list of successful projects.  add to https://un-two-zero.network/all-projects/#explore . ... View more

@EzraCheruiyot   Thanks for your good works in Kenya.  I agree with your comments about opportunties with the leadership gap....    I commented this week at the opening session of a UN Behaviorial Science event.  "Still 4 more years left in the 15 year SDG challenge, so lots of time to improve rankings. Urging US to submit a VNR at UNGA between now and 2030 is very important. Very pleased to see SJSU collaboration developing between the Kenyan National Library Service with Books for Africa. California State Universities has 23 campuses, and University of California has 10 campuses - all in the state of California. Involving students and their professors by providing entryways for active involvement with counterparts around the globe is an idea that needs further discussion"....   Let's begin to provide more possibilities to learn and hone skill sets allowing development to take place, even in the most rural regions of this world. ... View more

@EzraCheruiyot.  GIS LEADERSHIP is certainly important as we enter the last 4 years of the 15 year Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) challenge.   Spend some time reviewing the UN 2.0 library https://un-two-zero.network/all-projects/#explore.  I wonder how many we might be able to add using GIS in east Africa in the next 4 years? ... View more