An analysis for identification of research and development needs and opportunities at local and regional levels will be made by (1) compiling previous analysis, documents and reports in these fields, (2) elaborating a survey questionnaire and distribute among relevant stakeholders in both countries, (3) Analysis of information and survey, focusing development needs, priorities and opportunities (4) Integrate the results in a written report.

• • • List of proposed members of the Advisory Board (Armenia)
    • List of proposed members of the Advisory Board (Kyrgyzstan)
    • Questionnaire students: English, Kyrgyz, Armenian.
    • Questionnaire stakeholders: English, Kyrgyz, Armenian.

Two dissemination events, one per partner Country, will be organized to disseminate the results of the survey and analysis of local and national research and development needs in the field of GIT. Teachers, managers, postgraduate students and local stakeholders will be invited.

Two National Research Nodes (NRN) will be created by country. NRN are non-physical research centres to promote the collaboration between partner universities in research and development in Geoinformation technologies (GIT). Once created, a part time person will be hired to promote the exchange of ideas, activities, joint thesis at post-graduate level, etc., providing sustainability to the NRN.

Each partner country will select between 10 and 14 suitable candidates from strategic stakeholders in the areas of innovation applications in GIT. The board will be composed of representatives with management tasks from government bodies, agencies, GIT industry and higher education partner institutions. The Board will have annual meetings and will advise the NRN-GIT in each partner country during and after the project.

Research in new geoinformation technologies (GIT) requires the acquisition of modern equipment for practices and projects, such as processing and mapping hardware (PCs, servers, etc.) and software to analyse images and other geospatial data, including specialised photogrammetric, GIS and 3D visualisation software.

Create/update research and innovation labs in GIT: (1) The rooms for GIT laboratories will be prepared in advance; (2) Installation and testing of equipment; (3) Short training of software by EU staff and students; (4) Opening ceremonies will be programmed.

In order to implement a successful curricula reform at postgraduate level in the use of modern GIT, applied training should be accomplished by teaching staff that will be in charge of developing course contents and teaching materials. Therefore, training of teaching staff from partner country universities will be carried out through intensive courses by European partners. 

In order to implement a successful curricula reform at postgraduate level in the use of modern GIT, applied training should be accomplished by teaching staff that will be in charge of developing course contents and teaching materials. Therefore, training of teaching staff from partner country universities will be carried out through intensive courses by European partners. 

The quality plan will be created at the beginning of the project by VUB, who has a large experience in definition and performance of such tasks. During the project, all partners will participate in quality control activities and surveys organised by VUB.

The coordinator will visit partner countries once per year. During the visits, the following activities will be carried out:

• • • Receive feedback and reports from partners about the development of project activities and potential problems
    • Meet students and social stakeholders to collect opinions about project implementation and dissemination
    • Analyse the relationship between partners and identify communication lacks
    • Discuss and propose solutions to improve the efficiency of the project

The first kick-off meeting will be in Bishkek co-organised by KSUCTA and KSMU.

• • • The partners will be introduced
    • The project proposal will be revised
    • A project management group will be formed
    • A quality committee will be formed
    • Quality plan draft will be discussed
    • A work plan will be done for the first year.

The project coordinator will make sure that all the activities of the project are well organised, that the funds are transferred as needed to complete all the programmed outcomes, all the requirements and doubts of partners are solved during the execution of the project.

There will be a total of 5 meetings of the project management committee: 1 in the first year, 2 in the second year and 2 in the third year. In order to be cost-effective, they will be programmed together with other activities of the project (intensive courses and workshops, quality control).

One-on-one videoconference meetings will be organised among partners as a complement to the annual meetings, in order to address specific aspects or management problems of the project that may require fast communication.

Three project websites will be created: a principal one by NUACA in Armenia, a second one for Kyrgyzstan by KSUCTA, and a third one for management documentation by UPV. They will be connected to social networks (Facebook, Twiter,…).

Activities:

• • • Digital and printed promotion booklets and brochures of the project will be published during the first year in partner countries.
    • NRN-GIT will be promoted in events, booklets, brochures and reports by PCs.
    • GIT labs will be promoted by means of opening ceremonies, booklets, brochures and reports at the end of the first year, by all partners involved.
    • Workshops will be advertised by mailing, in digital form and short descriptive digital brochures to target stakeholders.
    • Electronic technical booklets will be published through internet and distributed.

An industrial PhD thesis is a research developed within a company (private sector company, public sector or public administration) in any area of ​​knowledge, industrial research work or experimental development. It pretends to promote research in the business sector and the participation of the industry in doctoral programs, encourage the transfer of knowledge in the university and its environment, and promote the labour insertion of interested young people.

In order to implement a successful curricula reform at postgraduate level in the use of modern GIT, applied training should be accomplished by teaching staff that will be in charge of developing course contents and teaching materials. Therefore, training of teaching staff from partner country universities will be carried out through intensive courses by European partners. 

In order to implement a successful curricula reform at postgraduate level in the use of modern GIT, applied training should be accomplished by teaching staff that will be in charge of developing course contents and teaching materials. Therefore, training of teaching staff from partner country universities will be carried out through intensive courses by European partners. 

In order to implement a successful curricula reform at postgraduate level in the use of modern GIT, applied training should be accomplished by teaching staff that will be in charge of developing course contents and teaching materials. Therefore, training of teaching staff from partner country universities will be carried out through intensive courses by European partners. 

Two transversal trainings (workshops) will be organized by EU partners. On one side, a four days workshop in Quality assurance in Higher education will take place in Ljubljana (UL) with the participation of experts from EU partner universities and invited experts for training in good practices in quality assurance and implementing EU standards, supplement of the title, ECTS implementation, etc.

In this task, each partner university will create interdisciplinary curricula in GIT at master and/or PhD level adapted to their needs, and will develop course contents and teaching materials. The reform of curricula or creation of interdisciplinary doctorate per partner country university will be focused in the application of new Geoinformation Technologies and modern equipment to the relevant research topics identified in WP1, integrating topics and involving external stakeholders from administration and industry in the definition of goals.

Development of new course contents in GIS, applied photogrammetry, remote sensing, geodesy, 3D visualization, etc. For each course, the following information will be included: course name, semester, ECTS, learning goals, skills, prerequisites, theory lessons, practical exercises and projects, bibliography and other sources, teaching staff, and other information required by each university regulations.

The quality plan will be created at the beginning of the project by VUB, who has a large experience in definition and performance of such tasks. During the project, all partners will participate in quality control activities and surveys organised by VUB.

The coordinator will visit partner countries once per year. During the visits, the following activities will be carried out:

• • • Receive feedback and reports from partners about the development of project activities and potential problems
    • Meet students and social stakeholders to collect opinions about project implementation and dissemination
    • Analyse the relationship between partners and identify communication lacks
    • Discuss and propose solutions to improve the efficiency of the project

Independent international experts and consulting will evaluate the project in situ at the end of the second year, they will meet the main actors (teachers, students, administration and industry), visit the new GIT laboratories, analyse the curricula development, and quality assurance outcomes, that will be presented to them by each partner. They will write an evaluation report highlighting the main advances, relevant issues and providing suggestions to the partners to improve the results. This will complement the evaluation at institutional and national levels performed during the project.

The project coordinator will make sure that all the activities of the project are well organised, that the funds are transferred as needed to complete all the programmed outcomes, all the requirements and doubts of partners are solved during the execution of the project.

There will be a total of 5 meetings of the project management committee: 1 in the first year, 2 in the second year and 2 in the third year. In order to be cost-effective, they will be programmed together with other activities of the project (intensive courses and workshops, quality control).

One-on-one videoconference meetings will be organised among partners as a complement to the annual meetings, in order to address specific aspects or management problems of the project that may require fast communication.

Three project websites will be created: a principal one by NUACA in Armenia, a second one for Kyrgyzstan by KSUCTA, and a third one for management documentation by UPV. They will be connected to social networks (Facebook, Twiter,…).

Activities:

• • • Digital and printed promotion booklets and brochures of the project will be published during the first year in partner countries.
    • NRN-GIT will be promoted in events, booklets, brochures and reports by PCs.
    • GIT labs will be promoted by means of opening ceremonies, booklets, brochures and reports at the end of the first year, by all partners involved.
    • Workshops will be advertised by mailing, in digital form and short descriptive digital brochures to target stakeholders.
    • Electronic technical booklets will be published through internet and distributed.

This group of tasks will be focused on promoting the maintenance of the achievements and philosophy of the project in a long-term basis, involving the Advisory Board, Higher education institutions, students and society in promoting ideas and activities that ensure the sustainability. The cooperation agreement after creation of NRN-GIT signed by universities, industry and administration will define the future activities and rules for the research collaboration, and will create an important link for the exploitation and sustainability of the project. During the projects, meetings and workshops will be programmed to attract stakeholders and promote sustainability.

International workshop where researchers and stakeholders from the two countries, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, will share their experiences and opportunities in research, innovation and development, enriching their views, creating networks of cooperation and obtaining comparative conclusions that will also be used for sustainability and exploitation purposes. With this event, both countries, which are having a parallel evolution in terms of economic development and have similar potential in GIT and lacks in environment and social issues, will receive a synergic effect that will help in the sustainability and exploitation of results.

In order to implement a successful curricula reform at postgraduate level in the use of modern GIT, applied training should be accomplished by teaching staff that will be in charge of developing course contents and teaching materials. Therefore, training of teaching staff from partner country universities will be carried out through intensive courses by European partners. 

Two transversal trainings (workshops) will be organized by EU partners. On one side, a four days workshop in Quality assurance in Higher education will take place in Ljubljana (UL) with the participation of experts from EU partner universities and invited experts for training in good practices in quality assurance and implementing EU standards, supplement of the title, ECTS implementation, etc.

In this task, each partner university will create interdisciplinary curricula in GIT at master and/or PhD level adapted to their needs, and will develop course contents and teaching materials. The reform of curricula or creation of interdisciplinary doctorate per partner country university will be focused in the application of new Geoinformation Technologies and modern equipment to the relevant research topics identified in WP1, integrating topics and involving external stakeholders from administration and industry in the definition of goals.

Development of new course contents in GIS, applied photogrammetry, remote sensing, geodesy, 3D visualization, etc. For each course, the following information will be included: course name, semester, ECTS, learning goals, skills, prerequisites, theory lessons, practical exercises and projects, bibliography and other sources, teaching staff, and other information required by each university regulations.

The quality plan will be created at the beginning of the project by VUB, who has a large experience in definition and performance of such tasks. During the project, all partners will participate in quality control activities and surveys organised by VUB.

The coordinator will visit partner countries once per year. During the visits, the following activities will be carried out:

• • • Receive feedback and reports from partners about the development of project activities and potential problems
    • Meet students and social stakeholders to collect opinions about project implementation and dissemination
    • Analyse the relationship between partners and identify communication lacks
    • Discuss and propose solutions to improve the efficiency of the project

The project coordinator will make sure that all the activities of the project are well organised, that the funds are transferred as needed to complete all the programmed outcomes, all the requirements and doubts of partners are solved during the execution of the project.

There will be a total of 5 meetings of the project management committee: 1 in the first year, 2 in the second year and 2 in the third year. In order to be cost-effective, they will be programmed together with other activities of the project (intensive courses and workshops, quality control).

One-on-one videoconference meetings will be organised among partners as a complement to the annual meetings, in order to address specific aspects or management problems of the project that may require fast communication.

Three project websites will be created: a principal one by NUACA in Armenia, a second one for Kyrgyzstan by KSUCTA, and a third one for management documentation by UPV. They will be connected to social networks (Facebook, Twiter,…).

Activities:

• • • Digital and printed promotion booklets and brochures of the project will be published during the first year in partner countries.
    • NRN-GIT will be promoted in events, booklets, brochures and reports by PCs.
    • GIT labs will be promoted by means of opening ceremonies, booklets, brochures and reports at the end of the first year, by all partners involved.
    • Workshops will be advertised by mailing, in digital form and short descriptive digital brochures to target stakeholders.
    • Electronic technical booklets will be published through internet and distributed.

The final dissemination conference will be held in Yerevan organised by NUACA and it will be open to society in general, and in particular:

• • • University staff and students
    • GIT and related industry and professionals
    • National agencies and administrations
    • Mass media

The results of the project will be presented, enhancing the sustainability issues and potential benefits for society, trying to promote links and future collaborations between local and international stakeholders. Collaboration with other Erasmus Plus projects will be searched. This conference will be right after the Intl. Workshop 2.4, in order to attract more people and stakeholders and to bec ost-effective in the travel budget.

This group of tasks will be focused on promoting the maintenance of the achievements and philosophy of the project in a long-term basis, involving the Advisory Board, Higher education institutions, students and society in promoting ideas and activities that ensure the sustainability. The cooperation agreement after creation of NRN-GIT signed by universities, industry and administration will define the future activities and rules for the research collaboration, and will create an important link for the exploitation and sustainability of the project. During the projects, meetings and workshops will be programmed to attract stakeholders and promote sustainability.