48 DAR folk beef up geotagging skills
MONITORING the status of support services projects implemented in far-flung areas within agrarian reform communities (ARCs) nationwide will now be easier for the technical staff of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) after they have acquired additional skills on geotagging applications.
Atty. Milagros Isabel A. Cristobal, undersecretary for Support Services Office (SSO), said that the 48 DAR technical staff who completed the “Capacity Building for DAR Staff on the Operation of Geo-tagging Camera Application Software and Use of the Geo-mapping Google Platform of ARC-ARC Cluster” held in Davao City are from Ilocos, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao and Caraga regions.
“Training on geotagging and geo-mapping is important in preparing relevant reports on ARC and ARC Cluster maps for integrated area development planning, project development as well as monitoring and evaluation (M&E),” she said.
She said the DAR-SSO, through the Climate-Resilient Farm Productivity Support Program (CRFPS), has recognized the need to adapt to new technologies to monitor and evaluate its projects for transparency and real-time monitoring.
The training aims to equip the DAR staff with updated technology and upgrade their skills in geotagging and geo-mapping as applied in project monitoring and evaluation activities and in the preparation of ARC and ARC Cluster development plans.
Cristobal disclosed that the participants were trained on Global Positioning System (GPS)-based data acquisition, photo geotagging and organization, ARC mapping for data processing, sharing and dissemination to enable effective management and delivery of support services.
“Geo-tagging and geo-mapping technologies are standard requirements of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and other oversight agencies in the submission of project proposals for funding and in the sustainability monitoring of projects in line with evidence-based planning and project monitoring,” she added.
To accommodate participants in other regions and provinces, the activity will be held in three different batches in Aklan on July 17 to 21, Palawan on July 31 to August 4 and Baguio on August 14-18.
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